I've been interested in how some male observers have related to this. Some of them seem to think it's unseemly for a woman to have and express the kind of confidence we readily accept in male athletes. Women, on the other hand, tend to cheer her strong belief in herself.

This is one of the barriers Marion is helping to break down -- the feeling that there should be some difference in the attitude great male and female athletes feel about themselves and express themselves.

SportsJones: Does she feel a certain pressure to fit traditional American stereotypes of how a woman should behave?

Rapoport: No. Ever since she was a little girl, Marion has done exactly what she wanted to do without regard to what others thought or how people felt she was "supposed" to act. She understands and relishes the importance of being a top female athlete in an era when women are far more accepted in that role than they were only a few years ago. But she does not tailor her words or actions to any ideas of what is expected of her.

SportsJones: What difference does it make that the most popular American athlete in these Olympics is a woman?

Rapoport: It's amazing, isn't it? I still remember covering Florence Griffith Joyner, who was the Marion Jones of her era. She was the fastest woman in the world, extremely attractive and well-spoken. Yet the American public didn't warm up to her the way it has to Marion. Certainly, she didn't have the commercial opportunities Marion has. And that was only 12 years ago.

Marion's popularity says a great deal about herself, of course, but it also says so much about us and how our perceptions and acceptance of women athletes have changed.

SportsJones: What would you like for readers of this interview – and readers of your book – to know about Marion?

Rapoport: I'd like them to know what a smart, charming, well-rounded young woman she is, and how much she enjoys being successful in something she so much likes to do.

Marion also understands how lucky she is to have come along at a time when, as was not always true in the past, women athletes are celebrated and well compensated.

I still remember her reaction after defending her title as world's fastest woman at the World Championships in Seville, Spain, last year. As she stood on the victory stand, her little-girl smile just lit up the huge television screens and you could tell she was thinking, "This is so neat."

SportsJones: Marion is especially popular with young people. Why do you think that is?