Jones escapes in front of a full house

It is Cathy Freeman who has the legend "cos I'm free" tattooed on her shoulder. When Marion Jones lined up for the first round of the 200m she began to understand what that means. Even with the Stadium again full to capacity, Jones knew that here she was free.

Jones is used to living her life in the full glare of the international media but even the American, who has a degree in communications, had struggled for the past two days after the revelation that her husband, the shot-putter CJ Hunter, had failed four drugs tests during the summer.

"This is where I love to be," said Jones. "It gets my mind off everything. When I stood on the track this morning all the things that have happened over the last couple of days kind of pushed to the back of my head."

Since the revelations Hunter has been stripped of his Olympic accreditation, which allowed him access to his wife on the warm-up track and in the changing area as he helped her prepare for her attempt to win a record five gold medals in one games.

Last night he was confined to the stands. But he was happy enough to pose for photographs with groups of children. Jones, meanwhile, was accompanied everywhere she went by two burly bodyguards to protect her from too much attention. Even before this scandal broke, this was always going to be the toughest day of her hectic Olympic schedule with the opening two rounds of the 200m as well as the long-jump qualifying competition.

Yet, on the track and in the field, she did not appear to be fazed by anything or anyone. She won her first-round heat of the 200m comfortably, then eased down to take second behind the Australian Melinda Gainsford-Taylor in the next round.

She ended her busy programme with the long jump, considered to be the event in which she is most vulnerable. Jones's jumping technique is rudimentary but, because of her raw speed, she can outstrip the field with a single jump if she gets everything right. That was all it took to book her place in the final tomorrow; her leap of 6.78m was 8cm over the qualifying standard.

Sprinting presents no such problems. She has already won the 100m and after her second- round 200m race she said ominously: "That was the easiest 22.50[sec] I have ever run." Freeman, meanwhile, having fulfilled the hopes of a nation by winning the 400m on Monday, also qualified for the 200m semi-finals but she was made to work, hinting that her much anticipated showdown with Jones might turn out to be a one-sided affair when the final takes place today.

Such is the force of Jones and Freeman's stardom at these Games that their mere presence cast a shadow over the rest of the action here last night. That was a pity because there were some marvellous races and inspiring tales to emerge.

If Jones is superwoman, then Irina Privalova - her predecessor as the world's No1 sprinter and a former winner of the European 100 and 200m titles - is the bionic woman.

Last winter one of her achilles tendons was found to be so badly damaged that doctors warned her she might have to retire. Then a Moscow surgeon grafted a new achilles on to her from a dead Russian soldier.

Privalova is proof that medical science can rebuild a body. Following the operation she switched events to the 400m hurdles and, only six months after trying the event for the first time, she is Olympic champion. She has improved by more than a second since arriving in Australia and she hopped and skipped her way to victory in 53.02sec, well ahead of the defending champion Deon Hemmings of Jamaica.

The 32-year-old, a former speed skater who boasts a degree in journalism as well as the achilles of a dead soldier, looked as stunned as everyone else at the finish.

These games have been memorable for the thrilling races in the distance events and the men's 800m was no different. Seven men were strung across the track as they approached the finishing line with Germany's Nils Schumann upstaging the better-known names to claim the title in 1min 45.08sec.

Defeat was particularly harsh on the world record holder Wilson Kipketer, who came second. Kipketer was stopped from competing for his adopted country, Denmark, at the 1996 Atlanta Games because Kenya, his country of birth, refused to give permission even though he had competed for Denmark at the world championships the previous year.