It’s Been A Long Road For Marion Jones

After repeated denials of steroid use, Marion Jones has finally admitted that she did in fact use steroids during her career. In a letter to friends and family, Jones disclosed her steroid use before the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She won five medals, including three golds.

Friday, she pleaded guilty on two charges of lying to investigators — one on doping and the other on a check fraud scheme. She also announced her retirement. Facing up to six months in prison, terms of her plea bargain say she will be sentenced to only three. She might have company. Her former coach Trevor Graham — the person who supplied her with the juice — is to be tried for lying to federal agents in the U.S. government’s BALCO steroid investigation.

It was simply a matter for time before Jones would reach this point. BALCO founder Victor Conte accused Jones of doping — even declaring that he saw her use it. Her former boyfriend Tim Montgomery had already admitted to using steroids to the United States Anti-Doping Agency and was banned from competition for two years. Montgomery retired from competition and was stripped of all medals and results retroactive to March 31, 2001.

Graham’s other clients Michelle Collins and Justin Gatlin had already received bans from competition. With so many people around her being summarily taken down by the government, it was tough to see Jones fight so hard to maintain her innocence.

Jones had already lost all credibility by testing positive for EPO (erythropoietin) in 2006. Her backup sample tested negative which supposedly exonerated her, but that’s another issue related to the reliability of testing methods (as Floyd Landis repeatedly argues). But even if she didn’t admit to steroid use, merely by being associated with so many suspected and proven steroid suppliers and users, she had already lost the fight.

The IOC (Internal Olympic Committee) is set to strip Jones of her Olympic medals. The IAAF (International Association of Athletics Foundation) is also ready to strip titles and medals from other international competitions. Anyone who thinks she shouldn’t be stripped can just look to the recent stripping of Floyd Landis’ Tour de France gold medal by the ICU (International Cycling Union).

Article Author: Tan The Man

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