Athletics: Resilient Jones is way out in front

MARION JONES won the women's 200 metres in 21.91 seconds, crushing the field at the Grand Prix meeting in Helsinki's Olympic Stadium last night. But the Trinidadian Ato Boldon had to fight to the tape to beat Obadele Thompson, of Barbados, in a photo finish, both clocking a time of 20.14sec in the men's race.

Jones, the world's top female sprinter, was only 0.1sec off her seasonal best of 21.81. "I felt very tired before the race because the third day in Europe is the hardest," the American said. "But this was a good start to the European tour."

Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie set his sights on the 3,000m world record but finished in 7:26.03, well off the Kenyan Daniel Komen's mark of 7:20.67 from 1996.

"I tried my best till the end because I never give up," Gebrselassie said. "Maybe the wind was a bit too much for me, but I am very happy, it is never easy to go below 7min 30sec."

Russia's Sergei Makarov was victorious in the javelin, beating a strong field that included Boris Henry, of Germany, and Britain's Steve Backley.

Tony Jarrett, winner of the 110m hurdles at the Bratislava Grand Prix on Tuesday, will replace Colin Jackson, who will be attending the wedding of a close friend, in the British team for the European Cup in Paris later this month.