Isménia do Frederico was 29 years old at the time of the Sydney Olympics, and was making her second and last Olympic appearance, having represented Cape Verde at the 1996 Summer Olympics. In the Atlanta 100 meters she placed last in her heat with a time of 13.03 seconds. Here in Sydney, in the 100 meters, she also finished last in her heat, but with a faster time of 12.99 seconds; only the top three from each heat, plus the next two fastest between all ten heats could advance, and so Frederico was eliminated. In the event overall, the gold medal is vacant due to original gold medalist Marion Jones of the United States admitting to steroid use and forfeiting her medals and results from the Sydney Games. Officially, the medals in the event are held by Ekaterini Thanou of Greece and Tayna Lawrence (the original bronze medalist) of Jamaica sharing silver, and Merlene Ottey, also of Jamaica, the original fourth-place finisher, being awarded a bronze. Gold was left vacant because Thanou, the original silver medalist, had her own issue with missing a drug test at the 2004 Summer Olympics