Where Was The Baton?

In a very funny Visa commercial showing unprepared Olympic athletes, an American female track relay racer reaches for a baton that isn't there and asks her teammate, "Where's the baton?" In last night's women's 4x100-meter track relay, life imitated commerce (you can't call TV ads art). . . and no one was laughing.

Marion Jones, the golden girl of track and field at Sydney, failed to qualify in her specialty events at the U.S. Olympic trials last month, especially the 100-meter dash, but she did manage to qualify for the long jump and she got a spot on the relay team, and she consoled herself with the thought at least going for two medals in Athens after winning five (three golds, two bronze) in Sydney. But after coming in fifth in the long jump, which was merely a disappointment, the relay race turned out to be a disaster.

Running the second leg of the relay, Jones tried to pass the baton to Lauryn Williams, but the handoff went as smoothly as a pig on stilts and by the time Williams - who took off too soon - was in a position to grab the baton, it was too late. Because she is a decent human being, Jones consoled Williams and told her it was alright after the United States was out of the race. She was gracious about both her losses last night, and she shrugged it off as bad luck. She seemed philosophical about the whole thing.

But it still had to hurt.

Last night's results capped an annus horribilus for Jones, who got entwined in the Balco doping scandal (even though no one has actually accused her of using steroids of any kind), failed to qualify at the Olympic trials in her best events while still under a cloud of suspicion, entered Athens with less heat that she did entering Sydney, and now will leave with having had a nice Greek vacation but no medals.

Jones plans to try for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing after all. I admire her audacity in her quest for redemption, but it remains to be seen whether she can shake off her personal demons and revert to her earlier form in a later Olympiad - four years down the road. She ain't getting younger.

If it's any consolation, though, Jones didn't humiliate herself - certainly not like our Bad Dream Team in men's basketball. :-O