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Jones plans to seek world sprint, long jump golds
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Updated: 2002-12-04 09:16
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Triple Olympic champion Marion Jones said on Tuesday she was back in training for the long jump after a two-year absence and planned to seek gold medals in at least three events and perhaps as many as five at next year's Paris world championships.
"That's my goal, the 100 metres, 200 metres...long jump... and I hope to compete in one of the relays if not two," said Jones, speaking on a teleconference to announce her selection as the female winner of USA Track & Field's Jesse Owens Award.
Tim Montgomery, her boyfriend and world 100 metres record holder, won the men's honoUr.
"I'm very much looking forward to taking up the long jump again and my body is feeling some of the beginning soreness of jumping again," said Jones, who has not competed in the event since taking the bronze in an unprecedented five-medal haul at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
"I have a renewed vigour for the event."
Undefeated in 21 races over 100, 200 and 400 metres in 2002, Jones called the season a "hugh confidence builder for me".
"Not that my confidence builder was knocked off but it was jarred a little bit," the world's top-ranked 100 and 200 metres runner for six consecutive seasons said of her shock 100 metres defeat by Ukrainian Zhanna Pintusevich-Block at the 2001 world championships.
"To come back in 2002 and to win every single time I stepped on the track from 400 metres to 200 metres and, of course, 100 metres was a huge treat," said Jones, who had two victories over Pintusevich-Block among her 16 consecutive 100 metres triumphs in 2002.
TOP TIME
Still, Pintusevich-Block had the year's top time, 10.83 seconds to Jones's 10.84, something that Jones hopes to change in 2003.
Her personal bests remain 10.65 seconds in the 100 metres and 21.62 seconds in the 200 from 1998 but both she and Montgomery believe she can come closer to Florence Giffith Joyner's world records of 10.49 in the 100 and 21.34 in the 200 as the world's fastest couple spend more time breaking down their races.
The two, who began dating in the summer, spent time away from the track after Montgomery's 100 metres world record of 9.78 seconds in September.
But Jones said there was not a lot of time "to kick back" and enjoy life.
"No, we did not get engaged," Jones said laughingly. "But we are very happy and things are going great in our lives and we are looking forward to 2003."
The time to kick back, she said, will not come until after the 2004 Athens Olympics, where she and Montgomery hope to be the king and queen of sprinting.
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