Jones Fails in Her Bid for Third Gold

ATHENS —  Much like the U.S. men’s 400-meter relay team, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Marion Jones need some work on their torch-passing routine.

Joyner-Kersee was competing in her last long jump competition at the World Championships, Jones her first, and the ideal story line would have gold and silver medals and a joyous embrace on the victory podium.

Reality, however, encroached hard on fantasy Saturday as neither Joyner-Kersee nor Jones won a medal.

Joyner-Kersee, 35, world champion in 1987 and 1991, placed fifth with a best leap of 22 feet 3 1/2 inches, well off the gold medal-winning distance of Russia’s Liudmila Galkina 23-1 3/4.

Jones, 21, was eliminated after her first three jumps in the final round and finished 10th. Jones was cited twice for fouls, her lone legal jump measuring 21-9.

“I won’t lie to you--I’m very disappointed,” said Jones, who later was part of the United States’ gold medal women’s 400-meter relay team, becoming the first athlete to win two gold medals at these championships.

“I’m disappointed I’m not leaving with three gold medals. I’ll take the two . . . [but] I’ve got so far to go in the long jump. I don’t feel I’ve even scraped the surface in terms of what I can do.”

Joyner-Kersee was competing in only her second meet of 1997, the first being the U.S. championships last month.

Silver and bronze medals went Niki Xanthou of Greece (22-9 1/4) and Fiona May of Italy (22-8).

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Hiromi Suzuki of Japan won the women’s marathon in 2:29:48, leading the field to the finish inside a near-empty Panathinaikon Stadium.

Only about 200 officials and members of the media were allowed inside the stadium by decree of the mayor of Athens, reportedly for security concerns in the wake of Friday’s bombing at the 1912 Olympic Stadium in Stockholm.

Portugal’s Manuela Machado finished second in 2:31:12 and Romania’s Lidia Simon was third in 2:31:55.

The top American finisher was Cheryl Collins, 25th at 2:43:42.

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With one day remaining, the United States leads the gold medal count with six, followed by Cuba, which won its fourth gold medal when Ana Quirot repeated as women’s 800-meter champion in 1:57.14.

Russia’s Yelena Afanasyeva was second (1:57.56) and Mozambique’s Maria Mutola, the 1993 world champion, third (1:57.56).

In the women’s 5,000-meter final, Gabriela Szabo of Romania won with a time of 14:57.68, followed by Roberta Brunet of Italy (14:58.29) and Fernanda Ribiero of Portugal (14:58.85).