Jones leaps back into Games with victory at track trials

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Marion Jones finally allowed herself to smile. And even to sob.

Showing her familiar athleticism, Jones needed just two attempts in the long jump Thursday night at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials to wipe out many of the doubts about her chances at the Summer Olympics — or whether she’d even make it to Athens.

Jones, wearing a yellow body suit with racing stripes down the sides, leaped 22 feet, 3 3/4 inches on her first attempt in the final, the best jump of the first round.

Her second jump was even better — 23-4, the second-longest jump in the world this year. It was her longest jump since 1998. She briefly nodded at her mark in the sand, then walked away expressionless.

Three nights after being unable to reach 21 feet on any of her three jumps in the qualifying round, Jones surpassed 22 feet on all six jumps Thursday in winning the competition. Grace Upshaw and Akiba McKinney claimed the other spots on the U.S. team.

The sudden revival was enough to bring back her trademark smile — after weeks of battling drug accusations and struggling to regain the form that earned her five medals at the 2000 Sydney Games.

The smile did not come easily, and Jones refused to talk to reporters after the competition.

But she did talk briefly with a microphone to the crowd after accepting her winner’s medal, and offered a mix of emotions.

“I think I had just a little bit of motivation,” she said, laughing so hard her body bent forward. “It feels really good. I had fun out there.

“So many people told me, ‘Marion have fun.’ It was very hard to keep it together today,” she said, her voice cracking as she began to sob.

Jones then walked past the main stands and left the stadium through a side entrance, avoiding the crowd of reporters.

Jones begins her bid today to qualify in the 200. Jones finished fifth in the 100 meters Saturday at the trials, failing to earn a place on the U.S. squad in an event in which she is the defending champion.

Because of an off-the-track development, there’s now a chance that Jones may get to defend her Olympic title in the 100.

Torri Edwards, who finished second in the 100 at the Olympic trials, tested positive for a banned stimulant in April and could face a 2-year suspension that would prevent her from competing in Athens.

If her appeal fails and she is banned from the Olympics, her spot in the 100 would go to two-time Olympic 100 champ Gail Devers — who finished fourth. But Devers always has wanted to win an Olympic title in the 100-meter hurdles, so she conceivably could pass up the chance to run in the 100 to focus on the hurdles.

In that case, Edwards’ spot would go to the fifth-place finisher in the Olympic trials — Jones.

In other highlights, Jeremy Wariner won the men’s 400 in 44.37 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year; Erin Gilreath won the women’s hammer throw; and Daniel Lincoln won the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase in 8:15.02. And Ann Gaffigan won the women’s steeplechase, which is not an Olympic event, in an American-record 9:39.35.