American Sprinters Win Gold

By Stef Mcdonald

07/22/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

American sprinters Marion Jones, 24, and Maurice Greene, 26, were big winners at the Sydney Olympics this weekend, each winning their first gold medals in their respective 100-meter final events. Jones, who is competing in five events, has set her sights on earning five gold medals and in her first shot at gold won the 100-meter final easily in a time of 10.75 seconds. Minutes after Jones's win, Greene, the 100-meter men's world record holder, won his race in 9.87 seconds. "You work four years for something that's only going to last nine seconds. It's hard to do," Greene was quoted as saying. "I'm overjoyed and overwhelmed." Meanwhile, Michael Johnson repeated as a gold medal-winner in the men's 400-meter on Monday (marking the first time an athlete has repeated in that event).