Jones top woman

If boyfriend Tim Montgomery had to run a world record to be crowned the overall winner of the International Association of Athletics Federations Grand Prix, then things were very much simpler for Marion Jones at the Stade Charlety here.

She took the women's prize of $100,000 (£65,000) after comfortably winning the 100m, a task made considerably easier by the disqualification of her only real rival, Zhanna Pintusevich-Block. The Ukrainian, the only woman to have beaten Jones over the distance since 1997 when she finished ahead of her at the world championships in Edmonton last year, was thrown out for two false starts.

Pintusevich-Block had only been added to the field on Friday but her hectic dash from Kiev proved to be a fruitless one as she sat behind her blocks and watched Jones power away to victory in 10.88sec.

That was worth a further $50,000 in prize money to Jones as the winner of each individual shared in a prize fund of $2.9m in an event which was the culmination of the IAAF's 2002 eight-month grand prix series which comprised 28 events spread across five continents. Things appeared much closer for the men's overall championship, in which Hicham El Guerrouj seemed to have taken the award on his twenty-eighth birthday.

The Moroccan was tied on points with Felix Sanchez but thought he had claimed the top prize thanks to winning the 1500m in 3min 29.27sec. He celebrated by doing aeroplane impressions during his lap of honour only to be brought back to earth when Montgomery's world record elevated him unexpectedly to the top of the overall rankings.

El Guerrouj was again wearing a red ribbon on his vest to demonstrate his willingness to be blood-tested at anytime to prove he is not using the banned blood booster erythropoietin (EPO).

His stance, however, is undermined by his support of occasional training partner Brahim Boulami, who failed a dope test last month before breaking his own world steeplechase record and whose positive test was confirmed by his B sample yesterday.

The unprecedented attempt of Sanchez to win the 400m and 400m hurdles failed when he finished only fifth in the flat event, which was won by Jamaica's Commonwealth champion Michael Blackwood in 44.72. But Sanchez still left happy with a season that has confirmed him as one of the most talented athletes in the world.

Sanchez (25) was born in New York, brought up in California, and went to university there, but he competed for the Dominican Republic, where his parents were born, after he had finished sixth in the 400m hurdles at the US world championship trials in 1999. He topped the rankings with 47.38 last year, when he won the world title and heads them again with 47.35 this term.

Jonathan Edwards was again beaten into second in the triple jump by young Swedish rival Christian Olsson, but at least was happier than he had been after Brussels two weeks ago. On that occasion the Olympic champion and world record holder suffered his worst defeat for eight years when he finished only seventh.

He had seriously contemplated ending his season there and then, but the prospect of competing for Britain at the World Cup in Madrid next weekend persuaded him to carry on.