Sprint Queen, Marion Jones who now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, was born in Los Angeles on the 12th of October 1975. 5’11” tall, she is the only female athlete to have won five medals in a single Olympic Games. She won three golds (100m, 200m, 4x400m) and two bronzes (Long Jump and 4x400m) at Sydney in 2000.
Ms Jones won the 200-metre and 4x100-metre (for the second time) world titles in 2001and retained the 100-metre world title in 2002. She also holds four of the five best times recorded in the world for the 100-metre sprint event. In 2002, Jones earned a share of the IAAF Golden League Jackpot for the third time in her career (1998, 2001 and 2002) for her seven wins on the circuit in the 100-metre sprint. She ended the 2002 campaign undefeated for the first time in her career. She was flawless with 16 wins in the 100m, four in the 200m and one in the 400m.
Ms Jones was an outstanding basketball player while at North Carolina College, whom she helped to win the NCAA title. In 1996, however, while preparing for the World University Games with the US team, she broke a bone in her foot and had to sit out the 1996 season. She says she was inspired to take up athletics after she watched the 1984 Olympics and the late Florence Griffith-Joyner (Flo-Jo) run the sprint events. Her national high school record in the 200 metres is still intact.
Ms Jones is a graduate in journalism and mass communications and made her broadcasting debut at the Grand Prix US Indoor Athletic Championships and at the US Open. She also commentated during important basketball events, and the Winter Olympics for NBC and CBS. She was featured on the covers of ‘Vogue’ and ‘Ebony’ in 2001.
Ms Jones, recipient of the USATF Jesse Owens Award in1997, 1998 and 2002, was married to shot putter J.C. Hunter, but the two separated a couple of years back. She now lives with ace sprinter Tim Montgomery, and has temporarily stopped training because she is expecting a baby in a few months time. She has promised to commence her preparations for the Athens Games by May 2004. Ms. Jones says that the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will be her last.