JONES FIVE MEDALS NAMED 7th GREATEST MOMENT

 

 
Home
 
 

comments?
email us

 

 

Marion Jones winning five medals, three of them gold, at the 2000 Olympic Games was honored by USA Track & Field as the seventh greatest moment in U.S. track and field history in the last 25 years.

As a 16-year-old, Jones earned a spot on Team USA's 4x100m relay pool for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, but declined the invitation. Four years later she missed the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta due to a broken foot. When Jones finally had the opportunity to compete at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, she sought to accomplish what no woman ever had.

Jones began her quest to win five Olympic medals in Sydney with a dominant performance in the 100 meters. She was never challenged in the final, easily winning the race in 10.75 seconds, with Ekaterini Thanou of Greece the distant runner-up in 11.12.

Five days later Jones was equally dominant in the 200 meters, winning in 21.84 seconds over runner-up Pauline Davis of the Bahamas (22.27). Jones added a bronze medal to her collection in the long jump with a leap of 6.92 meters/22 feet, 8.50 inches before winning another bronze medal in running the anchor league on Team USA's 4x100m relay squad. Jones earned her final medal in Sydney by teaming up with Jearl Miles-Clark, Monique Hennagan and LaTasha Colander-Richardson to win the 4x400m relay gold in 3:22.62.

With her accomplishments in Sydney, Jones became the first woman in history to win five track and field medals at a single Olympics.

click here for other top 25 performances

click here for other special notations