Hunter Makes Last Shot Count

C.J. Hunter, known before Saturday night primarily as Mr. Marion Jones, made a name for himself on the opening day of track and field’s World Championships with a last-throw victory in the shotput.

With Jones screaming support from the Estadio Olimpico stands--”Go J!”--Hunter won on his sixth put with a personal best of 71 feet 6 inches.

“When you spend an entire year training for one day, for six throws, all I could think about was that I didn’t want to go home without at least trying as hard as I could to possibly win it,” said Hunter, who was second to Germany’s Oliver-Sven Buder after five rounds.

Buder finished second at 70-3 1/2. Ukraine’s Aleksandr Bagach was third at 69-9.

In an equally compelling finish, Stacy Dragila of Pocatello, Idaho, equaled the world record of 15-1 1/4 to win the first women’s pole vault competition at a major outdoor international meet. She also won the first women’s competition in the event at the indoor world championships in 1997.

Ukraine’s Anzhela Balakhonova was second Saturday night at 14-11 after missing twice at 15-1 1/4 and once at 15-3. Dragila missed three times at 15-3, exhausted after vaulting 18 times on a hot night.

Most of the crowd, which peaked at 20,104, had left by the time the pole vault competition ended at 11:15 p.m.

“Tonight, it was too hot for a Ukrainian,” Bagach complained after the shotput.

Bagach finished first in the 1997 World Championships only to be stripped of the title after testing positive for a stimulant. He was involved in another controversy after winning the 1998 European Championship when it was alleged that he put weights in his socks to accelerate his speed during his spin. The jury allowed the result to stand.

Two-time defending champion John Godina, awarded the gold medal in 1997 with Bagach’s forfeit, finished seventh here at 66-9 1/4.

Hunter’s victory came a few hours after Jones established a meet record by running the second round of the 100 meters in 10.76 seconds, the fastest time in the world this year.

The semifinals and finals are scheduled for today in the first of her events to conclude as she tries to become the first person to win four gold medals in the same World Championships.

Asked how he and Jones would celebrate Saturday night, Hunter said, “I’ll shake her hand, give her a kiss and that’ll be that. We’ll celebrate in October.”

They were married last Oct. 3.