RALEIGH, North Carolina, 14 August 2003 — Triple Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones hinted yesterday she would again go for multiple golds at next year’s Athens Games but would not commit herself to a target.
“I just want to go to Athens and hopefully bring home more gold medals. But to say exactly how many, I think that is a little bit premature,” Jones told NBC’s “Today” show in her first interview since the birth of her son on June 28.
Jones announced before the 2000 Sydney Games that she would aim for an unprecedented five athletics gold medals, one more than Jesse Owens or Carl Lewis. She eventually won three golds and two bronzes in the 2000 Games, the most ever in athletics by a woman in a single Olympics.
“I’m not going to make those predictions anymore,” Jones said during the interview, a year before the Athens Games open. “I’m 27 now and I’ve learned from my mistakes.”
Jones said she had been working out on the track for four weeks since the birth on June 28 of her son with her partner, 100 meters world record holder Tim Montgomery.
“About two weeks after he was born, I got back and started jogging and running,” Jones said. “Now I’m full blast and I hope to make my return pretty soon.”
The world’s top sprinter gave no date for her return and said she had no indication how the pregnancy would affect her running. “It is very difficult to say right now,” said Jones, who won gold medals in the 100, 200 meters and 4x400 meters relay in Sydney. “I know really what has helped me is that I trained the entire pregnancy. So getting back into shape hasn’t been nearly as difficult as what I thought.”
