Jones Fastest Out of Blocks

Marion Jones, who lost her 100-meter world title to Zhanna Pintusevich-Block of Ukraine last week, gained some consolation Friday by winning their rematch in the Weltklasse Golden League track and field meet at Zurich, Switzerland.

Running into a stiff wind, Jones was timed in 10.94 seconds, ahead of Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas (10.99) and Ekaterini Thanou of Greece (11.08). Pintusevich-Block was fourth, in 11.16 seconds.

Jones, the Olympic champion at 100 and 200 meters, hadn’t lost a 100 final in nearly four years before Pintusevich-Block upset her in the World Championships at Edmonton. They are scheduled to meet again at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia on Sept. 4.

“My happiness is not as high as Mount Everest, but near to the top of it,” Jones said. “You know, it’s better to win than to lose.”

Pintusevich-Block, who lives and trains in Tennessee with her American husband, ran a season-best 10.82 seconds at Edmonton. She was well off that pace Friday.

“I was just feeling very tired,” she said. “I wanted to win, but today was not my day.”

Jones plans to run at Brussels next Friday. Pintusevich-Block is running Sunday in England and won’t run in Brussels.

Jones, who acknowledged during a conference call this week being called the world 100-meter silver medalist “is a tough one to hear,” is eager to compete against Pintusevich-Block in Brisbane.

“I’ll do my best to win the race and to make my silver medal at the World Championships feel a little better by winning it,” she said.

Olga Yegorova of Russia, who won the 3,000-meter world title at Edmonton, again fueled suspicion about her possible drug use Friday when she outkicked Gabriela Szabo of Romania to win the 3,000 in 8 minutes 23.26 seconds, the world’s fastest time this year.

Yegorova tested positive for the banned hormone EPO after a meet in Paris last month and was briefly suspended by the International Assn. of Athletics Federations. However, she was allowed to run at the world meet because the tests were not properly carried out.

She was jeered at Zurich even more energetically than she was at Edmonton, where British runner Paula Radcliffe held up a sign protesting Yegorova’s cheating.

“I want to thank the public for supporting me,” Yegorova said, although the irony might have been lost in the translation from Russian to English.

In other events, the lure of a big bonus enticed Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj to forget his plans to abandon the 1,500 in favor of the 5,000. He won the 1,500 in 3 minutes 29.06 seconds, finishing ahead of five Kenyans.

With 100-meter champion Maurice Greene sidelined because of a pulled muscle, Tim Montgomery of the U.S. won in 9.90. Dwain Chambers of Great Britain was second in 10.09, with Abdul Aziz Zakai of Ghana third in 10.15.

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Ali Saidi-Sief of Algeria, the silver medalist at Edmonton in the men’s 5,000, tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone after his race.

“There will be a hearing, and if he is found guilty, he will be disqualified and his medal will be taken away,” IAAF spokesman Giorgio Reineri said.

Saidi-Sief, who also won silver in the 5,000 in the Sydney Olympics, is the only medal winner among the three athletes who tested positive at Edmonton. The others were Romanian javelin thrower Ana Mirele Tenure and Belarus 400-meter runner Natalja Sologub.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story