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Title: “See How She Runs”

Author: Ron Rapoport

Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

Price: $21.95

Marion Jones is ready to replace Mia Hamm as the most visible female athlete in the world, and Ron Rapoport’s biography comes out at the perfect time, only months before Jones launches her bid to dominate the sprint events at the Olympic Games in Sydney.

Jones is a Southern California native who played Little League in Palmdale, moved to Oxnard and became a track and basketball standout at Rio Mesa High, then transferred to Thousand Oaks for her junior and senior seasons and ended up winning nine individual state track titles.

Rapoport tells the story of how Jones made herself into the fastest woman in the world, the influence of her mother and coaches and the difficult decisions she had to make in choosing between basketball and running.

Most interesting are Jones’ teenage and college years and the turmoil she endured when she was suspended from national and international competition for missing a mandatory drug test.

If you’re a track nut, you’ll enjoy Rapoport’s inside details following Jones from meet to meet during the 1999 outdoor track season.

But for those who just want to know who Jones is and what has enabled her to reach the top, the book’s earlier chapters provide the best insight. Those who followed Jones during her prep days will enjoy the look back at some of her favorite prep moments.

Rapoport, who’s a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times but first saw Jones when he was writing for the Los Angeles Daily News, certainly can’t complain about the publicity Jones is receiving from an ongoing Nike media campaign. This book fills in the blanks just in time for Jones’ growing legion of fans to get to know her better.