Marion Jones

1975-

American track and field athlete

Marion Jones is widely considered to be today's greatest female athlete and one of the greatest athletes of all time. She became the first woman to win five medals in a single Olympics when she won three gold and two bronze medals in the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia. Jones has also won scores of other medals and awards, including being the unanimous choice as Track & Field News's Athlete of the Year in 1998. Jones played basketball for the Lady Tar Heels at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and may consider a future career in professional basketball, but first she has her sights set on winning track-and-field gold at the 2004 Olympics.

"I Want To Be an Olympic Champion"

Marion Lois Jones was born October 12, 1975, in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of George and Marion Jones. Her mother, a medical and legal secretary, had immigrated to the United States from Belize. When Jones was an infant, her parents divorced, leaving her mother to raise her and her older half-brother, Albert Kelly, alone. In 1983, Mrs. Jones married Ira Toler, whose death four years later of a stroke was a devastating loss to young Marion and her brother.

Jones played T-ball and soccer and took ballet, gymnastics, and tap dancing lessons. By age seven she was participating in organized track events, and by the sixth grade she was playing basketball. In 1984, she was deeply impressed by track stars Florence Griffith-Joyner, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Evelyn Ashford, and Carl Lewis as she watched the Olympic Games on television. She wrote on her blackboard at home, "I want to be an Olympic Champion." Jones later said, "I just always believed it was in my future to compete in the Olympics. I knew from about age five that someday I would do something special in life."

High School Star

In her sophomore year at Rio Mesa High School in Oxnard, California, Jones set a national high school record in the 200-meter, at 22.76, and was named Track & Field News's Female High School Athlete of the Year. The following summer, she won five state titles and set a U.S. high school record in the 200 meters (22.58 seconds). Playing basketball for Thousand Oaks High School her junior and senior years, she also trained with Mike Powell, world-record holder in the long jump. During 1992, her first year to try the long jump, she leapt twenty-three feet, the second-longest jump ever made by a high school girl, at the state championships. In June 1992, at age sixteen, Jones tried out for the Olympics and missed making the U.S. team by only .07 second. Jones received the Gatorade Circle of Champions National High School Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year Award in 1991, 1992, and 1993. She was the only athlete to win the award more than once and the first non-senior to win the award.

As a senior basketball player, Jones won the California Interscholastic Federation Division I Player of the Year award. Thousand Oaks had a 60-4 record the two years that Jones was on the team and won the state championship in 1992. Her success in both track and basketball won her an athletic scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she would play both sports.

Tar Heels Point Guard

As a 5'11" point guard with the Lady Tar Heels at UNC, Jones developed a natural leadership role and earned the nickname "Flash" for her speed with the ball. The team won North Carolina's first national championship in 1993-94. Winning All-American honors in track the following season, Jones came back in the 1994-95 basketball season to help her team finish 30-5.

In August 1995, however, Jones broke the fifth metatarsal bone in her left foot while practicing basketball at the World University Games. Missing the 1995-96 season, she broke the bone again in December while training on a trampoline. The injury dashed her 1996 Olympic hopes. While recuperating, she began dating shot putter C.J. Hunter. Her family and friends disapproved of the relationship, but Jones and Hunter would marry in 1998.

Chronology

1975	Born October 12 in Los Angeles, California
1976	Parents divorce
1983	Family moves to Palmdale, California; mother marries Ira Toler
1987	Ira Toler dies of a stroke, leaving wife to raise Marion and her brother alone
1988	After watching Seoul Olympics, Marion writes on her blackboard, "I want to be an Olympic champion."
1991	Sets national high school record in the 200-meter dash and receives invitation to appear on Good Morning America; mother moves the family to Thousand Oaks, California, so Marion can play basketball for Thousand Oaks High School; runs the year's fastest high school girls' 100-meter dash, at 11.14 seconds
1992	At state championship meet, Jones records long jump of 23', the second longest ever made by a high school girl; misses qualifying for the 1992 Olympics by only .07 second; declines offer to be an alternate on U.S. Olympic team
1993	Offered scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to play basketball; mother moves to Chapel Hill
1994	Lady Tar Heels win National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship, 60-59; earns All-American honors in four events at NCAA track-and-field championships
1995	Breaks metatarsal bone in left foot while practicing with U.S. basketball team at World University Games in August; misses entire basketball season; in December, breaks same bone again while working out on a trampoline
1996	Becomes engaged to shot putter C. J. Hunter; is unable to recover from foot injury in time for 1996 Olympic Trials; returns to play with Lady Tar Heels for 1996-97 season
1997	In March, announces she will not play with Lady Tar Heels during last year of athletic eligibility but will instead concentrate on track and field; begins training with Trevor Graham, a Jamaican track medalist in 1988 Olympics; graduates from University of North Carolina in May, wins two events at U.S. national championships, defeating Jackie Joyner-Kersee in long jump; signs a contract with Nike soon afterward
1998	Wins three gold medals at U.S.A. Outdoor Track & Field Championships, becoming first woman in fifty years to accomplish that feat; sets personal best time of 10.65 seconds in 100-meter at World Cup, fourth fastest time in history; marries Hunter on October 3
1999	Wins every 100-meter and 200-meter race she enters until world championships in August
2000	Sets much-publicized goal of winning five gold medals in 2000 Olympics at Sydney, Australia; Nike airs series of "Mysterious Mrs. Jones" television ads, in which Marion asks why women professional athletes earn less than men; wins her first Olympic gold medal, in 100-meter dash, with a margin of .37 seconds, second greatest margin in Olympic history; two days later, news breaks that husband C. J. Hunter failed tests for use of a steroid drug—Hunter denies it; Jones wins a total of three gold and two bronze medals at Sydney, the most by any woman in a single Olympiad
2001	Announces that she will file for divorce from Hunter, citing irreconcilable differences; loses the 100-meter for the first time in four years, to Zhanna Pintusevich-Block, of Ukraine, but reclaims her title in September at Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia; films public service announcements at the Olympic Sport and Immunization Festival in Accra, Ghana
2002	Records first undefeated season of her track-and-field career; debuts as CBS network television sports analyst; in December, announces she will leave coach Trevor Graham and work with Canadian Derek Hansensidebar text

Jones returned to play basketball with the Lady Tar Heels in the 1996-97 season. The team finished the season at 29-3.

Full-Time Track

By the spring of 1997, Jones decided to devote herself solely to track and field. She began training with coach Trevor Graham, a Jamaican who was a silver medalist in the 1988 Summer Olympics. Jones won the 100-meter dash and defeated Joyner-Kersee in the long jump at the 1997 U.S.A. Outdoor Track & Field Championships. At the 1997 World Championships, she won gold in the 100 meters and as part of the 4 × 100-meter relay team.

In the 1998 U.S.A. Championships, Jones won the gold in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, and the long jump. It was the first time in fifty years that a woman had achieved these three wins in a single competition. Jones was undefeated in every competition she entereda total of thirty-six-until the last one, the World Cup, where Heike Drechsler of Germany beat her in the long jump. She married Hunter in October. By the end of the year, Jones was the unanimous choice as Track & Field News's Athlete of the Year. She was only the third athlete to be chosen unanimously, after Carl Lewis and the Polish athlete Irena Szewinska.

Olympics Bound

The 1999 season again brought Jones consistent victories in the 100-meter and 200-meter, until she was forced to withdraw from competition because of back spasms while running the 200-meter during the World Championships. Seeking four gold medals in that competition, she brought home only one gold and one bronze.

As the time neared for the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Jones announced to the press that she wanted to win five gold medals, one in each event she entered. The news made headlines around the world, because no woman had ever won five golds in a single Olympics. (American swimmer Amy Van Dyken became the first woman to win four gold medals, in the 1996 Games.) NBC promised to cover Jones's quest "like a miniseries."

"The Dream for Five Is Not Alive"

Jones got off to a blazing start at the Olympics in Sydney, winning a gold in the 100-meter final, with a time of 10.75 seconds, .37 second over silver medalist Ekaterini Thanou of Greece. Jones's winning margin was the second largest in Olympic 100-meter history. On winning her first gold, Jones sobbed, "It's been my dream for 19 years, and finally it's here." She went on to win the 200-meter final by the largest margin since Wilma Rudolph won it in 1960; Jones won the gold with a time of 21.84 seconds. She and her team also took gold in the 4 × 400-meter relay. However, Jones won a bronze medal in the long jump, after fouling four times, with a distance of 22'8.5". She and another team also took a bronze in the 4 × 100-meter relay, after missing some baton handoffs. Jones passed two runners on her leg of the relay, helping to win the bronze.

After her quest was over, Jones told reporters, "The dream for five is not alive." However, she had no regrets in going for the five gold medals and said she felt the Games were an overall success. She said the fans "are what I'm really going to remember."

Awards and Accomplishments

The Laureus Sports Awards, presented at the Sporting Club of Monaco for the first time in 2000, celebrate sporting excellence across all disciplines and all continents.
1991	Set national high school record of 22.76 in 200-meter dash at U.S. Senior Track and Field Championships
1991-93	Received Gatorade Circle of Champions National High School Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year Award, only athlete to win award more than once
1993	Named California's Division I Player of the Year for basketball
1994	Named All-American in four events at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Track and Field Championships
1997	Named Most Valuable Player in Atlantic Coast Conference as member of Lady Tar Heels basketball team at University of North Carolina; won 100-meter dash at U.S.A. Outdoor Track & Field (USATF) Championships and at World Track and Field Championships; ranked #1 in the world in 100-meter and 200-meter races and named Woman of the Year by Track & Field News; International Amateur Athletic Federation Athlete of the Year
1998	Won 100-meter and 200-meter dash and long jump at U.S.A. Outdoor Track & Field Championships, first woman to win all three since Stella Walsh in 1948; won World Cup in 100-meter and 200-meter; anchored Nike international team to a new American record at 4 × 200-meter relay at Penn Relays; gold medals, 100-meter and 200-meter dash at Goodwill Games; gold medal in Grand Prix Finals in Moscow; ranked #1 in the world in 100-meter, 200-meter, and long jump by Track & Field News and unanimously chosen Athlete of the Year; won USATF's Jesse Owens Award for Outstanding U.S. Female Track and Field Athlete; International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) Athlete of the Year
1999	Won first place in 100-meter and 200-meter at U.S.A. Outdoor Track & Field Championships; won gold medal in 100-meter and bronze in long jump at World Championships
2000	At 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, won gold medals in 100-meter, 200-meter races and 4 × 400-meter relay and won bronze medals in long jump and 4 × 100-meter relay; won first place in 200-meter dash at U.S.A. Outdoor Track & Field Championships; named World Sportswoman of the Year at the first Laureus Sports Awards in Monaco; named Athlete of the Year by Associated Press, ESPN cable television network, Reuters News Service, and the IAAF
2001	Named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year; won first place in 200-meter dash at U.S.A. Outdoor Track & Field Championships; finished first in 200-meter dash and second in 100-meter at World Championships; won 100-meter dash at Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia, with a time of 10.84 seconds, breaking her own record set in 1998
2002	Gold medal in 100-meter dash at World Cup; won fifth-straight national title in 200-meter dash and fourth-straight in 100-meter dash at U.S.A. Outdoor Track & Field Championships; undefeated season in track and field, first of her career; won ESPN's Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly (ESPY) Award as Best Female Track and Field Athlete

Trouble at the Games

Only one event threatened to mar the 2000 Olympics for Jones. Two days after her 100-meter win, news broke that her husband had failed four tests over the preceding summer for use of the steroid nandrolone. Although he did not compete in the 2000 Olympics because of knee surgery, the news was unsettling for Jones. She gracefully fielded questions at a press conference, telling reporters that all those closest to her knew she was "a clean athlete." Hunter denied the accusations that he had used drugs to help him compete, and Jones supported him. However, by June 2001, Jones announced that she and Hunter were divorcing due to irreconcilable differences that had nothing to do with Hunter's two-year suspension due to the positive drug tests.

Looking to the Future

After the 2000 Olympics, Jones has continued to compete and win, although she lost the 100-meter to Ukrainian Zhanna Pintusevich-Block—Jones's first 100-meter loss in four years—as she was going through the separation from Hunter. She reclaimed her 100-meter title at the Goodwill Games and brought home her fourth 200-meter championship in the U.S.A. Outdoor in 2001. In 2002 she took the 100-meter and the 200-meter titles in that event and recorded the first undefeated season of her career. Awards and honors continued to pour in, and Jones made her debut as a television sports analyst with CBS in January 2002.

In December 2002, Jones made the disturbing announcement that she would no longer work with longtime coach Trevor Graham, switching to the tutelage of Canadian Derek Hansen. Hansen was rumored to be an associate of Charlie Francis, who damaged Olympic champion Ben Johnson's career by putting him on a steroid program. A photo of Francis working with Jones later gave credibility to the rumors.

Marion Jones is one of the most gifted athletes, male or female, of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. With her talent, leadership ability, and fresh good looks, she has become an inspiration to young women athletes the world over. They will be watching her in the 2004 Olympics, when Jones will be only twenty-eight and likely to win multiple gold medals. From there, who knows how far she will go.

"There Is Nothing Stopping Me … Except Me"

From the beginning this much was clear: Jones was a natural. By age five she was trouncing her older brother … at every game they played in their desert neighborhood of Palmdale, Calif. By eight she was winning the 100-yard dash and the 400 meter in youth track meets and leading her teams—T-ball, baseball and soccer—to victory. "I knew very early on that I was a bit different," Jones says. Her mother saw it too, and she devoted herself to helping Marion's talent find its niche. "Anything I had interest in my mom said, 'Well, let's join it. If you don't like it, we'll move on.'" In 1984, when the Olympic Games came to L.A. and Evelyn Ashford won the 100 meter and the 4×100 meter, Jones set her first big goal: to win Olympic gold.

Source: Reifer, Susan. Sports Illustrated Women, September 1, 2002, p. 90.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Address: U.S.A. Track and Field, One Hoosier Dome, Suite 140, Indianapolis, IN 46225.