Run for Gold
Four victorious wins in the California state championship in the 100m sprint, representing Rio Mesa and Thousand Oaks High, countless wins in organized summer track and field events whispered to society that the future was approaching fast if young Jones kept up her hard work and determination. Jones’ life, now subjected to chaos and order would walk her through uneven pavements, which entailed transferring schools, juggling her track career with basketball, sacrificing a career via her Bachelor’s Degree to turn pro and even a history of drug tests and accusations of drug usage. Unfortunately, throughout Jones’ high school careers, America’s future young star dealt with many accusations that she ironically had to face in her pro track and field career. Luckily, the young track star was defended and proven innocent on charges of doping during her high school track and field career. However, little does young Jones know, her history of drug accusations and drug tests will haunt her throughout her career as a track and field star, later exiling her from her beloved sport.
Declining the 1992 Olympics as an alternate in the 4x100 m Relay, Jones focused her attention towards going to college, which later paid off as full scholarship. An alumni of the University of North Carolina, this 5’10 track and field athlete dominated and excited the basketball courts with her skills and techniques, winning the NCAA championship her freshman year. Although Jones’ loved basketball, this was not her calling. So following her passion for track and field, Jones focused solely on track and field, which paid off in 1997 when she annihilated the 1997 World Championships in Athens with a gold medal in the 100 m sprint. In 1999, society began to see an athlete who felt as though it was her obligation to “bring home wins” to her country. Furthermore, during the World Championships in Seville of 1999, Jones told the press that she would bring home four medals. Unfortunately, that goal was crushed into a million pieces when Jones received an injury to the leg in the 200m female dash. She did however, win the gold in the 100m female dash and a bronze medal in the Women’s long jump. During Olympics 2000 Sidney, Olympics’ Shirley Temple convinced her fans and the press that she was aiming to grab five gold medals. Jones finished with three gold and two bronzes, thus becoming the first woman and most significantly, the first person ever to win five medals in a single Olympics.
