Jones takes last in first race since Olympics

WALNUT, Calif. -- Marion Jones looked slow and tired as she labored toward the finish line, bearing little resemblance to the 2000 Olympics superstar she was in Sydney.

When winner Novlene Williams won the 400 meters Sunday at the Mount San Antonio College Relays in a pedestrian 51.49 seconds, Jones was some 25 yards behind. She finally crossed the line in 55.03, sixth and last.

Running for the first time since her disastrous performance in the Athens Olympics last year, Jones obviously has a long way to go if she's to resurrect her once sparkling career.

Under the cloud of the sport's steroids scandal, she made the U.S. team in only two events last year -- the long jump and 400 relay -- and failed to win a medal in Athens.

Kevin Young, 1992 Olympic champion and former world-record holder in the 400 hurdles, watched a bit disbelievingly as Jones struggled down the stretch of the 400 at Mount SAC.

"I'm a Marion Jones fan. If she cheated, she needs to stop and work hard and get back to where she was. Only she knows for sure," Young said.

"I wish she could compete at the level she was to prove she was clean. If she doesn't compete at that level, that will bring all the skeptics."

Jones, who won three gold medals and two bronzes in Sydney, drew loud cheers from the sparse crowd of some 6,000 in the 15,000-seat Mount SAC stadium when she was introduced. One young girl yelled, "Go Marion," -- to no avail -- as Jones turned for home.

Jones and her boyfriend, sprinter Tim Montgomery, were quick leaving the stadium after her race, however. Neither would speak with reporters.

Although her specialties are the sprints and long jump, Jones often has used the 400 at Mount SAC as her season-opening race.

Jones' lackluster performances last year may have been affected because she missed training the previous year, taking time off to give birth to her son by Montgomery.

Jones, who has never tested positive for drugs and repeatedly has denied using any, has filed a $25 million defamation suit against the head of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.

She won the 400 at Mount SAC four previous times, with a best time of 49.59 in 2000. She ran the 200 at the meet last year, her first outdoor race since giving birth, and finished fourth with a time of 23.02.

Young said Jones' poor performance Sunday could be just because she's not quite sharp and ready yet.

"She's experienced; she knows how much hard work it will take," he said.

Montgomery ran the anchor leg for a 400 relay team earlier in the afternoon. The team was trailing when Montgomery got the baton, but he was unable to make up ground and the team finished third. The winning team was anchored by Maurice Greene, a former world-record holder in the 100.

Jones' defamation suit against BALCO's Victor Conte alleges that he tarnished her reputation by claiming she used drugs before and after the 2000 Olympics.

Conte and three other men are charged with participating in an alleged steroid-distribution ring.

Montgomery has been charged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency with using performance-enhancing drugs. His case, and that of sprinter Chryste Gaines, will be heard by the international Court of Arbitration for Sport. He faces a lifetime ban if found guilty, but can continue to compete until his case is decided.

Montgomery has never tested positive for drugs, but USADA charged him based on evidence in the BALCO case.

Jones' ex-husband, shot putter C.J. Hunter, retired from the sport after testing positive four times for steroids in 2000.

Jones is expected to try to make the U.S. team for the August world championships in Helsinki. She likely would compete in both sprints and in a relay or two if she does make the squad.

In other events at Mount SAC, Perdita Felicien continued her comeback by winning the women's 100 hurdles in 12.73; Wallace Spearmon took the men's 200 in 19.97; and Breaux Greer won the javelin with a mark of 287 feet, 7 inches.