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Jones Ends Season With Win

October 5, 2000 / 6:11 PM EDT / AP

Olympic triple gold medalist Marion Jones was tired but triumphant at 100 meters Thursday, ending her season with a $150,000 payday.

Angelo Taylor, also slower than his Olympic winning time, gained enough points from his victory in the 400-meter hurdles to finish atop the men's 2000 season standings in the IAAF Grand Prix.

That earned him $200,000 on top of the $50,000 for winning his race.

Taylor trailed Saudi Arabia's Hadi Soua'an Al-Somaily after the last hurdle, but overtook him just before the tape in a replay of their 1-2 finish at the Olympics. Taylor won by 0.04 seconds in 48.14.

Jones was too far behind to overtake Norwegian javelin gold medalist Trine Hattestad for first in the women's standings, even though Hattestad lost by less than a half-inch to Cuba's Sonia Bisset on Thursday.

Hattestad, who had gained bonus points with two world records this season, finished with 110 points to 104 for Jones. Gail Devers also had 104, but a tiebreaking formula gave Jones the $100,000 second prize and Devers the $50,000 third prize.

"I think Trine definitely deserves to win, with two world records," Jones said. "I just wanted to end the season with a win. You can see by the times that everybody was tired."

Jones won in 11 seconds, .09 ahead of American teammate Chryste Gaines but well behind her Olympic winning time of 10.75. Jones also has Olympic gold from the 200 and the 1,600-meter relay.

Five Olympic champions were beaten in the season-ending Grand Prix final, although it was no upset in the women's 100-meter hurdles, where Devers, the three-time world champion, rebounded from the hamstring injury that stopped her in the Olympics.

Olympic winner Olga Shishigina did not finish.

"Obviously I am sad about Sydney, but that's life," said Devers, who won in 12.85 seconds. "In the meanwhile, I've had time to speak to my coach, see a doctor, and had heavy strapping on my thigh.

"This was the secret tonight. I never felt anything in my leg until the ninth hurdle."

Hattestad came within one-half inch of winning on her last throw of 216 feet, 1 inch.

"I didn't throw too well today," she said, "but it has been a good season so I'm happy. The Olympics was greater."

Others who didn't match their Olympic success were American pole vaulter Nick Hysong, second to German Tim Lobinger; Russia's Sergey Klyugin, fifth in the high jump, where countryman Vyacheslav Voronin won; Belarus' Ellina Zvereva, second to Germany's Franka Dietzsch in the women's discus, and Algerian Nouria Merah-Benida, third in the women's 1,500, where Romania's Violeta Beclea-Szekely won.

A few performances were better than this year's Olympic best.

Germany's Heike Drechsler won the long jump with 23-2 1/2, compared to her Olympic winning 22-11 1/4.

Andy Bloom led an American 1-2-3 sweep in the shot put, beating Olympic silvr and bronze medalists Adam Nelson and John Godina. His 71-7 1/4 beat the Olympic winning toss of 69-10 1/4 by Finland's Arsi Harju, who didn't compete here.

"Today we tried to show that the U.S.A. is still a nation of great shot putters," he said.

In the hammer throw, Ukraine's Andrey Skvaruk won with 267-2, better than the Olympic winning throw of 262-6 by Poland's Szymon Ziolkowski.

Olympic champion Jonathan Edwards of Britain won by just a quarter-inch over Bulgaria's Rostilav Dimitrov in the triple jump with a leap of 56-2.

Another gold medalist, Noah Ngeny, pulled away from fellow Kenyan Bernard Lagatand won the men's 1,500.

In the absence of American gold medalist Maurice Greene in the 100, Britain's Darren Campbell, the Olympic 200 silver medalist, edged American Tim Montgomery by .02, winning in 10.25.

With Olympic winners Michael Johnson and Cathy Freeman also absent, another British runner, Mark Richardson, won the men's 400, and Jamaica's Lorraine Graham won the women's.

Ireland's Sonia O'Sullivan, the Olympic silver medalist in the women's 5,000, won the 3,000.