While it was the 2000 Olympics in Sydney where Marion Jones made her mark — despite the controversy that engulfed the entire situation years later — she was initially seen as a serious contender for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, nearly a decade earlier. As The New York Times reported on her at the time, the 16-year-old was seen as “possibly the greatest high school runner in history,” and a likely champion to bring home some gold medals to America. So why did she decide to skip out on the international competition?
The answer was surprisingly simple, yet also tough for some people to swallow. According to Jones, her mother, and her high school track coach, she wanted to place the focus on her studies and finish high school before being drawn into a world of six-figure endorsement deals and high-stakes pressure. The risk, of course, was that the opportunity to compete on behalf of America might not come around again in four years. Jones, however, was willing to take it.
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Meanwhile, there a rumor also began swirling that she might evade Team USA altogether and instead compete for Belize, the country of her mother’s birth. When Olympic Coach Sue Humphrey heard about that possibility, she told the Times that there would always be a spot awaiting Jones on the American team. “We want Marion on our team,” Humphrey said. “The old-timers can’t go on forever. She’s our future.”
