SHE had started raising her arms as she crossed the line. Zhanna Pintusevich-Block knew that this time there could be no repeat of the Athens story. Marion Jones was well and truly beaten; Zhanna was the new world champion in the 100 metres. Moments later, she was in tears.
A hush seemed to fall on the Commonwealth Stadium before the Edmontonians, quite a number of the Ukrainian fans among them, acknowledged the giant-killing feat by someone who was not really thought of as a serious challenger by Jones herself.
"Zhanna was the better sprinter today," Jones admitted the day her winning streak of 42 finals, dating back to 1997, ended. Zhanna had spoilt her record earlier itself, in the semfinals, but many thought that it was of little significance and the final would be a different ball game altogether.
"The semifinal win gave me the confidence. But then the final was going to be a different race. You can't make mistakes against Marion. And today I don't think I made many mistakes," said Zhanna.
She was off to the best start in the field and with Jones having a poor one, that mattered a lot. Past the 50-metre mark, Zhanna looked strong even as Jones put in everything she had to catch up with the woman in front who seemed to be running away with the gold. Zhanna finished powerfully while Jones made an awkward lunge. The replays were not necessary, but the American waited for confirmation and then went over and congratulated Zhanna. The 29-year-old Ukrainian had a personal best 10.82, Jones a modest 10.85.
Was it the start that decided the race? Jones did not think so. She had a 0.146s reaction time compared to Zhanna's 0.123s. That mattered a lot. But Jones had, in the past, caught up with rivals into the 70-80-metre mark and passed them. This time there could be no such miracle.
Since the Sydney Olympics, where she had a horrendous start (reaction time 0.223s compared to Jones's 0.189s) and finished fifth, Zhanna had practised the starts for nine months with her husband and coach Mark Block.
She had first met Block at the Stuttgart Worlds in 1993, when she made the semifinals of the 100 metres. Formerly married to high hurdler, Igor Pintusevich, Zhanna married Block, then her agent, in January 1999. She moved over to Johnson City, Tennessee, U.S., from Kiev and, after the Olympics, fired her coach, Valentine Bondarenko. Block took over.
But Zhanna's World championship dream had not started with Block. It had started with that famous loss in Athens in 1997 when she thought she had won and took off on a victory lap only to be brought down to earth when informed that it was Marion Jones who had actually won. Though she went onto win the 200m in Athens, the loss rankled for long. She had waited for this moment. Now, things were even. (Jones would avenge the loss in Zurich 11 days later. But then Grand Prix and World championships are not really the same thing.)
As Zhanna Tarnopolskaya, she had shown early promise, and by 13 she was faster than all the boys in her school. From the Soviet junior title in 1988 to the European junior title in 1991, the progression was smooth. Next year she won the European indoor 60m title and in 1993 held the world indoor 50m record, though briefly, at 6.09s.
She will now be talked of as a world champion back home, where she supports her mother and step-father. Home, incidentally, is the land of men like Sergey Bubka and Valeri Borzov, such legends. Yet, by beating Marion Jones to the World title, Zhanna has surely attained stardom. - K. P. Mohan
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