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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

American Sprinters Run Wild Greene Tips Bailey In Men’s 100; Jones Dashes To Women’s Title

Associated Press

American men’s sprinting on the decline?

Not anymore.

Maurice Greene returned U.S. men’s sprinting to its once exalted position Sunday, winning the 100 meters at the World Championships and beating Olympic gold medalist, defending world champion and self-proclaimed world’s fastest human, Donovan Bailey of Canada.

It was a banner day for the United States as Marion Jones won the women’s 100, giving Americans a sweep of the two dashes for the first time since the inception of the championships in 1983.

Both Greene, 23, and Jones, 21, won with career bests and times that vaulted them into the all-time sprinting ranks.

Greene won in 9.86 seconds, matching the world championship record, and beating Bailey by .05 seconds. Jones won her 100 in 10.83, barely edging Zhanna Pintussevich of Ukraine.

“It’s not that the U.S. has died down,” an emotional Greene said after equaling the championship record set by Carl Lewis in 1991 - the last American men’s winner.

“We have tremendous sprinters in the U.S. and someone has to take charge. I’m an American, and this is what I was here for - to get the gold medal for the United States and bring it back home.”

Jones became the third straight American women’s champion, but she had to wait a couple of minutes before her victory was assured because Pintussevich was racing around like she was the winner.

“At first, I thought I had her on the lean, but she was celebrating, so I had some doubt,” said Jones, a former North Carolina basketball star. “But then I saw some Americans give me the thumbs up, so I knew I had won.”

Pintussevich was second in 10.85.

The American men had not won a 100 medal at the championships since 1993 when Dennis Mitchell got the bronze. But Sunday, they got both the gold and the bronze, when Tim Montgomery took third in 9.94 behind Bailey, the 1995 Olympic gold medalist and 1995 world champion.

Despite being subpar physically - he said he has lost 14 pounds recently because of an undisclosed ailment - Bailey finished second in 9.91.

Ato Boldon of Trinidad and Tobago, the favorite off his scintillating 9.87 clocking in Saturday’s second round and winner of his three previous heats, cramped before the race and finished fifth in 10.02, behind Frankie Fredericks of Namibia, fourth in 9.95.

Boldon and Greene both train with John Smith, and the loser was excited about his training partner’s victory. In the tunnel under the stands after the race, Boldon gave Greene a warm embrace.

Smith also was proud of Greene, who at times appeared on the brink of tears.

“I had a guy once who when he walked into school (UCLA) at 19 told me he was going to run the 400 and win the gold medal and he did,” Smith said. “It was Steve Lewis.

“This young man did the same thing. He said he’s going to win the nationals. Then he turned around and said he’s going to win the world championships, and he did.”

“What do you think of American sprinting now?” Jon Drummond, the U.S. 200-meter champion who trains with Greene and Boldon, said.

Smith also was elated that sprint domination had returned to the U.S., after its dry spell, following Lewis’ third consecutive world title in 1991 and the last of Lewis’ two victories at the Olympics nine years ago.

“I wanted, and Maurice also wanted to bring sprinting back,” Smith said. “He was bold enough like the old ones, like Carl and the rest of them, to put it on the line and say, ‘You want us, come check us.’ … You get tired of people beating up on us… .

“Now the Americans have established themselves once again as good sprinters. They never were bad sprinters. We were just going through a cycle.”

Greene’s time equaled the third-fastest of all time, behind only Bailey’s world record and Leroy Burrell’s 9.85 in 1994, and tying Lewis.

Jones’ clocking matched the eighth-fastest ever and made her the No. 6 American women’s performer in history.

Her victory followed world championship triumphs by Gwen Torrence in 1995 and Gail Devers in 1993. Devers (1996 and 1992), Florence Griffith Joyner (1988) and Evelyn Ashford (1984) have won the last four Olympic 100s.

While Greene and Jones turned in spectacular performances, Michael Johnson did not.

Lacking the aggressiveness that carried him to Olympic gold medals in the 200 and 400 last year, Johnson faded down the stretch of the second round of his 400 heat and finished fourth, barely making the semifinals.

Two other Olympic champions fared even worse.

Russia’s Svetlana Masterkova, the women’s 800 and 1,500 gold medalist, walked the final 40 meters of her 1,500 semifinal, then was carried off the track on a stretcher with a heavily taped right ankle.

Derrick Adkins, the 400-meter hurdles gold medalist, faltered over the final 20 meters and wound up fifth in his semifinal heat, failing to qualify for the final.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WORLDS AT A GLANCE A brief look at what happened Sunday in the World Championships: Gold medalists: Maurice Greene (9.86 seconds) and Marion Jones (10.83) gave the United States a sweep of the 100-meter dashes for the first time since the inception of the championships in 1983. Germany’s Heinz Weis won the hammer with a mark of 268 feet, 4 inches. Surprise: Michael Johnson turned in a poor performance in the 400, shutting down early and finishing fourth in his second-round heat in 45.39. The reigning world and Olympic champion at both 200 and 400 barely squeezed into the semifinals with the next-to-last qualifying spot. Today: Medals will be decided in the men’s 400-meter hurdles and women’s triple jump and 400.

This sidebar appeared with the story: WORLDS AT A GLANCE A brief look at what happened Sunday in the World Championships: Gold medalists: Maurice Greene (9.86 seconds) and Marion Jones (10.83) gave the United States a sweep of the 100-meter dashes for the first time since the inception of the championships in 1983. Germany’s Heinz Weis won the hammer with a mark of 268 feet, 4 inches. Surprise: Michael Johnson turned in a poor performance in the 400, shutting down early and finishing fourth in his second-round heat in 45.39. The reigning world and Olympic champion at both 200 and 400 barely squeezed into the semifinals with the next-to-last qualifying spot. Today: Medals will be decided in the men’s 400-meter hurdles and women’s triple jump and 400.