Marion Jones

Jones got off to a blazing start at the Olympics in Sydney, winning a gold in the 100-meter final, with a time of 10.75 seconds, .37 second over silver medalist Ekaterini Thanou of Greece. Jones's winning margin was the second largest in Olympic 100-meter history. On winning her first gold, Jones sobbed, "It's been my dream for 19 years, and finally it's here." She went on to win the 200-meter final by the largest margin since Wilma Rudolph won it in 1960; Jones won the gold with a time of 21.84 seconds. She and her team also took gold in the 4 × 400-meter relay. However, Jones won a bronze medal in the long jump, after fouling four times, with a distance of 22'8.5". She and another team also took a bronze in the 4 × 100-meter relay, after missing some baton handoffs. Jones passed two runners on her leg of the relay, helping to win the bronze.

After her quest was over, Jones told reporters, "The dream for five is not alive." However, she had no regrets in going for the five gold medals and said she felt the Games were an overall success. She said the fans "are what I'm really going to remember."