A look back at Marion in Sydney

If the Athens Olympics just don’t seem to cut it for Belizeans the way the Sydney games did four years ago, the reason is not difficult to find. It’s Marion Jones–or rather the lack of Marion Jones. Sure, she’ll compete Friday in the long jump–and hopefully win–as well as run a leg in the four-by-one hundred relay…But these otherwise amazing feats do not begin to compare to the excitement and suspense that marked the opening of the Sydney games, when the Belizean-American superstar faced the prospect of a possible five gold medals. And to rekindle that feeling of sheer joy felt when Marion bolted from the blocks in the hundred-metre final, we bring you that race–and its unexpected aftermath–that still brings cold seed to any Belizean viewer. The play by play comes courtesy of Lance Whittaker and Hubert Lawrence of the Caribbean Media Corporation.

[Commentators call the race in which Marion Jones wins gold by a large margin in a time of 10.75 seconds. She goes on to run her victory lap waving both the U.S. and Belize flags.]

Jones went on to win two more gold and two bronze medals. An hour long documentary on the historic 2001 visit of Marion Jones to Belize will air right here on Channel 5 Thursday night at nine.