KEEP UP WITH THIS JONES

Marion Jones probably didn’t need any added motivation in her quest to win an unprecedented five gold medals in this year’s Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

But Inger Miller gave her plenty of potential bulletin board material in a story in the Sacramento Bee last month.

Miller, who won the women’s 200 meters in the World track and field championships in Seville, Spain, last August after the favored Jones pulled up in her semifinal with lower back spasms, said she would have beaten a healthy Jones in the final.

“If Marion had run the 200 [final], I know I would have beaten her. of course,” Miller was quoted as saying. “I ran 21.77 [in the final]. She hadn’t run that fast all year. Her [personal record] was a 21.62 in altitude. I would have beaten her.”

It’s not known if Jones has been informed of Miller’s comments, but Coach Trevor Graham will no doubt let her know about them as the Olympic trials at Cal State Sacramento in July draw closer.

Jones, who won an unprecedented nine state titles during her career at Rio Mesa and Thousand Oaks highs, is two-time defending World champion in the 100, was Track & Field News’ woman athlete of the year in 1997 and ‘98, and has been the No. 1-ranked 100 and 200 sprinter in the world for the past three seasons.

But the 5-foot-10, 24-year-old speedster wants to top those accomplishments by winning the 100, 200, long jump and running legs on the winning 400 and 1,600 relay teams at the Olympics in September.

Olympic legends Jesse Owens and Carl Lewis won the men’s 100, 200 and long jump and ran on winning 400 relay teams in the Games of 1936 and 1984, respectively.

Fanny Blankers-Koen of Holland won the women’s 100, 200 and 80 low hurdles and anchored the victorious 400 relay team in the 1948 Games, but no track and field athlete has won five gold medals in the same Olympiad.

Jones was intent on winning a record four gold medals in the World championships in Seville, but ended up with only a gold in the 100 and a bronze in the long jump when the back spasms that felled her in the 200 kept her out of the 400 relay and ended her season.

Jones, who hasn’t been very accommodating with the media since graduating from high school, left Seville two days after her injury without talking to reporters. But agent Charles Wells has said several times since then his client is still intent on winning five gold medals in Sydney.

Of the five victories Jones is pursuing, the long jump is expected to be the most difficult.

That is the event Jones didn’t take up until her senior year at Thousand Oaks and it’s the one in which her technique can be described as mediocre at best and awful at worst.

Although she was the No. 1 long jumper in the world in 1998, Jones has finished 10th and third in her two World championship appearances in that event and she placed second in the World Cup in 1998.

The 27-year old Miller, who graduated from Muir High in 1990, posted career bests of 10.79 in the 100 and 21.77 in the 200 in 1999 in her first season under sprint guru John Smith. But Jones’ 10.70 clocking beat her by about a meter in the World championships and Jones has a best of 10.65.

Jones’ bests in the 100 and 200 were accomplished in the 1998 World Cup in Johannesburg, South Africa, and its sprint-friendly 5,751 feet of altitude, but 24 times she has run under 10.90 in the 100 during her young career compared to Miller’s three.

In the 200, Jones has broken 22 seconds 10 times compared to Miller’s one.

Furthermore, Miller’s last victory over Jones came in the 1990 Arcadia Invitational when Miller was a senior at Muir and Jones was a freshman at Rio Mesa.

Still, Miller is predicting two victories over Jones in the Olympic trials, which are July 14-23.

“Of course, it’s going to be an upset for her, because she hasn’t lost in so many races,” Miller said. “That’s fine with me. I’d just be happy to be the one doing it.

“The pressure’s on her to win the five gold medals she’s talking about. The pressure was on her to win the four gold medals at the World championships, which she didn’t accomplish. So the pressure’s on her. That’s fine! I’ll go out there and be the upsetter. No problem.”