Marion Jones proved as gracious in defeat as she is graceful in victory after her four-year reign as the queen of world sprinting was unexpectedly ended in Edmonton. The American was beaten into second place in the 100m final at the World Championships last night by Zhanna Pintusevich-Block, who made up for her narrow defeat to the American in Athens four years ago.
Jones, unbeaten since 1997 lost twice in one night, as the Ukrainian who had won the semi-final convincingly repeated the feat a couple of hours later. The 29-year-old broke her personal best by 0.3secs to win in 10.82, the fastest time in the world this year, with Jones second in 10.85 and Ekaterini Thanou of Greece third in 10.91.
Jones, who was even more of an odds-on favourite to complete a hat-trick of 100m titles than countryman Maurice Greene who managed the feat the day before, conceded: "I'm disappointed as I did not come for the silver. But Zhanna just beat me straight up. I am not a sore loser and you have to give credit to Zhanna. In 20 years time Zhanna's grandchildren won't remember what time she ran, but they will remember she was a world champion. I ran 10.85 which is not bad at all but it was just was not enough. In the middle of the race I broke down a bit. Now I will have to regroup for the 200m."
A delighted Pintusevich-Block added: "This is unbelievable. I have been very close to Marion all season but I didn't realise I could beat her until after the semi-final. I felt so special in between those races. What happened in Athens is just another championships. Now I can just enjoy this victory."
Filed by Shane Murray
