MONTERREY, Mexico, 13 June 2005 — Former triple Olympic champion Marion Jones labeled herself as a “long shot” to make the US world championship team after finishing a disappointing fourth in a 100 meters race on Saturday.
Training partner and world record holder Tim Montgomery was equally unhappy with a fifth-place performance of 10.43 seconds in the men’s race.
Jones clocked 11.40 seconds, more than seven tenths of a second off her personal best of 10.65 seconds, to trail former training partner Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas and two other Americans in her final tune-up before the June 23-26 US championships at Carson, California.
“I will go back home and train for two weeks and try to pull off a long shot in US nationals,” said Jones, who won gold medals in the 100 and 200 meters and 4x400 meters relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
She is scheduled to compete in the 100 and 200 meters at the US championships, which will decide the American team for August’s world championships in Helsinki.
Sturrup clocked 11.14 seconds to defeat Jones for the third consecutive race, two of them in Europe.
US Olympic silver medalist Lauryn Williams placed second in 11.30 seconds with countrywoman Muna Lee edging Jones for third in 11.39 seconds.
Montgomery, competing a day after the conclusion of a doping hearing that could result in a lifetime ban from the sport, shook his head and walked away from reporters after his race. Fellow American J.J. Johnson edged out Trinidad’s Marc Burns in a photo finish, although both men were given identical 10.18 second times. Montgomery has been accused by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) of serious doping violations in connection with the BALCO scandal, and he spent all last week attending a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing on his case in San Francisco.
