Athletics: Jones hailed as the champion of true amateurs

Two of England's three Commonwealth gold medallists from Sunday's night of hope and glory turned up early to face the press yesterday. Jonathan Edwards, whose triple jump win saw him become only the fourth Briton after Daley Thompson, Linford Christie and Sally Gunnell to hold Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth titles simultaneously, was keen to get off home before next week's European Championships in Munich. Paula Radcliffe, having missed the 5,000 metres world record by just over three seconds en route to her first big track gold, had a midday flight booked so she could visit her sports masseur, Gerard Hartmann, in Limerick before she, too, returns to the competitive fray in Germany.

Both athletes, whose achievements in the last decade have earned them millionaire status, were present with their agents. Both praised the atmosphere in which they had won their titles. Edwards remained non-committal about whether he would go on to the 2004 Olympics – "it depends on which day of the week you ask me" – while Radcliffe spoke once again of her remaining goals this season at the European Championships and the Chicago Marathon in October.

And off they went, smiling. But where was Mick Jones, our new Commonwealth hammer throwing champion? The 39-year-old former warehouseman from Crawley, who does not have an agent and who has not been selected for the European Championships – much to his chagrin, as he has a qualifying mark from last year which was not allowed to count – had to be rustled up, and arrived at the press venue in a car with his mate, the England team manager, Mike Winch.

But he, too, was smiling, oh yes, as he described an athletic life that was a world away from the pair with whom he had shared a spot on the top of the rostrum the previous evening.

"I have wanted to win the Commonwealth Games since I went to my first one in 1986, where I came fourth. I didn't get picked in 1990, and I went to Victoria in 1994 with a twisted pelvis and came fourth again.

"When I got the silver in Kuala Lumpur four years ago I thought that was about as good as it got. So it was awfully special last night because I was winning it in my own back yard.

"To do it at home, to do it in front of my wife and children and friends and family, and to do it in front of a completely partisan, biased crowd... it's a bit like a film script. It was something I can take away with me forever and it was fantastic, absolutely fantastic. I won it. I've done it. This is me."

This year has been a rich one for the 6ft 2in, 18st thrower – comparatively speaking, that is, because he received a grant from Sport England to help with his Commonwealth preparations. But when that funding ends next month, his funds will dip with it, as he does not qualify to receive élite funding through the Lottery World Class Programme administered by UK Athletics. To qualify for that, Jones – who has a best of 76.43 metres – would have to throw 80.60 metres. "That's further than the guy who won the Olympics," he remarked ruefully.

It is more than a year since Jones changed his job and retrained as a sports masseur, a shift which also allowed him access to a proper hammer circle rather than the one he helped create in a strawberry field 12 miles from his home with the help of a friendly farmer. Jones put hard core down in the gateway and used it as a circle from which to pound the harvested field at lunchtimes and in the evenings.

Now, however, Jones may have to return to work to supplement his earnings, and different work patterns could emerge. The Commonwealth champion may have to return to the strawberry field.

Jones is resigned, rather than bitter, about his situation. With or without funding, he would have been a hammer thrower. And he intends to carry on at least until the next Olympics. "I am an amateur athlete," he says, with mingled pride and resignation.

His passion for his sport is palpable. "Last night was like the essence of athletics," he said. "You had a gold medal in the jumps, on the track and in the throws. All of a sudden I was thinking 'Hey, I'm with Jonathan here. I'm with Paula. This is wonderful. What a boost for throwing'." Afterwards, he simply returned to the athletes' village with, in his own words, a "silly smile" on his face.

"Some of the Aussie guys invited me back and we watched some bowls on the television," he said. "They had a bottle of Jack Daniels there – I had one glass. I'm not a big drinker. Wild scenes, eh? Rock and roll..." Jones' life may not be rock and roll, but, funding or no funding, he likes it. Funding would be nice, though