I have been saying all along that C.J. Hunter should get no special credit for being Jones' husband, nor should Jones get special sympathy for being his wife. But it would be unfair not to pay homage to Jones' power of concentration. Many athletes would be unnerved by a spouse's drug charge. Think about all that can derail. At least half of what Jones will achieve after the 2000 Summer Games will depend on image.
Gold medals are no assurance of anything.
Just ask Carl Lewis. Yet Jones competes as if this doping controversy is the farthest thing from her mind. On Tuesday night, she attended a news conference with Hunter. The next day she cruised through a pair of 200 heats and qualified for the long jump on her first try. Everyone from her mother to her agent says Marion is at her best when she gets mad.