Marion Jones competing in the Olympic Long Jump final in Sydney 2000 (© Getty Images)
Birmingham, UKThere were many pivotal moments at the Olympic Games in Sydney four years ago, moments that automatically held the attention of that vast crowd and almost instantly passed into athletics history. So it is somewhat ironic that one of the biggest turning points of the whole Games nearly slipped by as a bit of a side show.
When Marion Jones stood at the end of the long jump runway at the far side of the stadium, preparing for her sixth and final attempt, she wasn’t spotted by the stadium announcer and her intensely focused face did not appear on the giant screen at the end of Stadium Australia. As we all know, that was the point when Jones’ famous ‘drive for five’ came to an end, and one of the hottest stories of the Games came to a thudding halt.
Now, with another Olympics just around the corner, it all seems a long time ago. In the three and a half years since that bronze medal performance in Sydney Marion Jones has lost her world titles, split up with her husband, and taken a year out to have a baby. But in all that period Jones has not entered another long jump competition.
First long jump competition since Sydney - first ever indoors!
She will return to the runway at the Norwich Union Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham on Friday evening (20 February) a changed woman and, perhaps, a changed athlete. Not only does she have a new partner, in World 100m record holder Tim Montgomery, and a new son, but also a radically altered long jump technique fashioned by her new coach Dan Pfaff.
By her own admission Jones was never at her most graceful when jumping – relying largely on her unrivalled speed down the runway to put her amongst the best in the world. When she lines up on Friday it will be the first time she has ever jumped indoors but, more importantly, it will be her first test at an event that, she hopes, will bring her a third individual Olympic gold medal in the heat of Athens this summer. Four years without jumping is a long time, but if the improvements are as great as she hopes Jones’ jumping rivals had better be well prepared.
New coach, new technique
“I’ve learned more about the event in six months with Dan than I have in seven years competing on the circuit,” she said on Wednesday (18 Feb) from Birmingham where she is preparing for her second indoor meeting of the season. “Dan actually sat me down and we walked through my long jumping.”
“We learned mostly about my approach,” she said. “In the past I have relied solely on my speed to get the long distances. Now I’m going to take a controlled run – what we call controlled speed – and get my body into certain angles that they’ve never been in before. I’ve also improved on my landing so it won’t be such of a thud when I hit the pit.”
Jones will be aiming for that “controlled speed” on her first three jumps on Friday, after which she will just “lay it out there and see if the technique holds up”. Most likely it will still fall short of beautiful, but if she comes out ahead of a field that includes Spain’s Niurka Montalvo and Niki Xanthou of Greece, it will send out a loud message that Marion Jones the long jumper is back with a bang.
“A little nervous”
Not surprisingly, Jones admits to being “a little nervous” at the prospect, but then she was nervous too before her return to sprinting at the Millrose Games in New York last month, and she came through that 60m sprint with a victory, if not a world shattering time. Her 7.21, in her first race since the 2002 World Cup, was some way short of the 6.95 she ran in Japan six years ago, her only other international indoor meeting (she also competed once during high school).
Not a fan of indoor racing
While that rare appearance in Maebashi in 1998 made her the third fastest woman ever over 60m, Jones confirmed she will not be tempted to compete at the World Indoors in Budapest at the beginning of March whatever time she clocks on Friday, when she also lines up in her second and last 60m of the year. Jones says she has “never been a great fan of the indoor season”, so these rare indoor outings are largely about “making sure the competitive fire is still there”, and partly to fine tune the start and early part of her race in preparation for more important outdoor races.
Start under Block's scrutiny
After having to recover from a bad one in New York, Jones’ start will come under particular scrutiny in Birmingham. With Ukraine’s Zhanna Block in the line up, she knows the same mistake is likely to be punished this time. “I know Zhanna doesn’t run unless she is ready to compete,” said Jones of the woman who took her world 100m title in 2001. “So it will be a great test.”
“A year and a half is a long time away from the sport,” said Jones, who admitted that her return to action in New York had been “more challenging than I expected”. On Friday night she hopes, “to iron out some of the things that were wrong at the Millrose Games”.
Nevertheless, Jones is looking forward to the challenge with her customary smile and charm, clearly glad to be back on track – especially on this renowned fast track at the National Indoor Arena. Then she’ll return home to prepare for the outdoors, and to her son, of course.
Career plans end in 2008
Being a Mum, she says, is not only “ten thousand times better than being an athlete and more important than winning gold medals”, but also gives her “extra motivation to run fast so she can get back to him”. Tim junior has clearly given Jones a new sense of priority, and she revealed that the next Olympic year in 2008 will be her last in track and field.
In the meantime, the question of whether giving birth has made her physically stronger as an athlete is a judgement Jones will leave until the end of the season. “I feel strong and fast,” she said. “But as of now I can’t see there’s been a major change. I’ll let you know after Athens.”
By which time, of course, we’ll also know whether Jones the jumper has captured that elusive Olympic gold, not to mention the crowd’s attention.
