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| Sunday, 22 September 2002 |
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Susanthika Jayasinghe third MADRID, Sept 21 (AFP) - Marion Jones and Maria Mutola, the two great ladies of the track, upstaged their male contemporaries here Friday on the first day of the athletics World Cup after a dramatic thunderstorm had threatened to ruin the evening. Jones, who lost her world title last year, ensured she restamped her authority on the event by remaining unbeaten in 22 races during the campaign. There was a slight sting in the tail later when the USA, with Jones running the second leg, took silver in the 4x100 relay behind the Americas. Mutola overcame a stiff challenge from Slovenian pretender Jolanda Ceplak to become the first woman to win four successive World Cup titles in an individual event. The overall standings promise a thrilling final day on Saturday as the African men, bidding for a unique fourth title, lead the United States by four points (65-61) with Europe a further point behind. The women's event sees an even tighter battle with Europe leading Russia by 63-62 with defending champions the USA in third two points behind. Jones, whose boyfriend and new 100m world record holder Tim Montgomery is sitting out the two-day competition with sore feet, was called for a false start - which next year will spell disaster as the 'one false start and you're out' rule will come into effect. However, she then powered away from the field from lane one with Jamaica's Tayna (eds: correct) Lawrence once again having to fill the runners-up spot. Sri Lanka's Susanthika Jayasinghe running for Asia was third. Jones admitted it had all nearly ended in tears as athletes struggled to cope with the wet track in the wake of the thunderstorm which had caused a 40 minute suspension. "Lane one seemed to have accumulated all the water from the storm earlier and I had it splashing in my face. "I thought: 'oh oh I don't want to end up on 'Bloopers' as that wouldn't be a great end to the season! "The time wasn't great but we all just wanted to get it over and done with," she said. Jones, who was sporting a tattoo of 'Tim' on her wrist, said she didn't know whether she had ever gone unbeaten through a season. "I may have lost some long jumps along the way which would count," she said. |
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