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Jones Sends Letter Admitting To Using Steroids Before 2000 Olympics

Marion Jones admitted using steroids before the 2000 Olympics in a recent letter to close family and friends, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

Jones, who won five medals in Sydney, said she took "the clear" for two years, beginning in 1999, and that she got it from former coach Trevor Graham, who told her it was flaxseed oil, the newspaper reported.

"The clear" is a performance-enhancing drug linked to BALCO, the lab at the center of a federal steroids investigation. Until now, Jones had steadfastly denied she ever took any kind of performance-enhancing drugs.

Jones also said she will plead guilty Friday in New York to two counts of lying to federal agents about her drug use and an unrelated financial matter, the Post reported.

"I want to apologize for all of this,'' the Post reported, quoting a person who received a copy of the letter and read it to the paper. "I am sorry for disappointing you all in so many ways.''

The admission could cost Jones the medals from the Sydney Olympics, where she was one of the United States' brightest stars. Though she fell short of her goal of winning five gold medals, she came away with three and two bronzes.

But her career has been tarnished since then by doping allegations. In her letter, Jones said she lied when she was questioned in 2003 by federal agents investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. Jones said she panicked when agents presented her with a sample of "the clear,'' which she recognized as the substance Graham had given her.

In the letter, Jones said she didn't realize she'd used a performance-enhancing drug until she stopped training with Graham at the end of 2002.

"Red flags should have been raised when he told me not to tell anyone,'' the Post reported, quoting the letter.

Source: ESPN

Tisk, tisk, tisk...She was such a great talent too...

As a father of an athletic daughter (competing in track, x-country, soccer, etc), the actions of the coach/trainer greatly concern me. Kids are competing at earlier and earlier ages and the pressure to win starts early. And the younger the athlete, the more trusting in these "adult role models/authority figures". I can absolutely see my daughter accepting "flaxseed oil" from a coach without question.... and it greatly concerns me.
Jones, on the other hand, should have known better.... Just my 2 cents....

That's a really good point though. As an athlete myself, I have great respect for my coaches and I believe that they are trying to help me become a better baseball player. So yea, I could see myself trusting my coach if he gave me something like "flaxseed oil". The higher you get into competition, the more the coaches know and so the more you would want to trust them. But also, the higher you get in competition, the more you as an athlete should know what's up also

W/Jones, however, she DID know what was up...She said the coach told her 'Don' tell anybody'...If that don't sound like some molestation type shit I don't know what does...And to make it so bad, remember how she treated her husband when it was alleged that He had used substances..? What a bitch man...

IOC Ready To Strip Jones of Medals

The IOC is ready to move quickly to strip Marion Jones of her five Olympic medals following her reported doping confession -- although her most prized gold could wind up going to a runner involved in a major drug scandal herself.

The International Olympic Committee said Friday it will step up its investigation into the Jones case and the possible removal of her three gold and two bronze medals from the 2000 Sydney Games.

"We welcome that there is now some light to be shed on the whole affair," IOC vice president Thomas Bach told The Associated Press. "Now, with this admission, we can accelerate and speed up the procedures."

The IOC opened its investigation in December 2004 after Jones was implicated in the BALCO steroid scandal. The American runner -- the only female track and field athlete to win five medals at a single Olympics -- repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and the IOC had little firm evidence to go on until now.

Bach said the IOC would work in tandem with track and field's governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations, to determine whether Jones should have her medals and results taken away.

"We can move quite quickly," said Bach, a German lawyer who leads the IOC's three-man panel investigating the Jones case. "With the admissions, the facts are quite clear. I think it can be finalized by the end of the year."

The ruling IOC executive board's next meeting is scheduled for Dec. 10-12 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Under statute of limitations rules, the IOC and other sports bodies can go back eight years to strip medals and nullify results. In Jones' case, that would include the 2000 Olympics, where she won gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 1,600 relay and bronze in the long jump and 400 relay.

Standing to inherit Jones' gold medal in the 100 would be Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou, who finished second in Sydney in 11.12 seconds.

Thanou and fellow Greek runner Kostas Kenteris were at the center of a major doping scandal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. They failed to show up for drug tests on the eve of the games, claimed they were injured in a motorcycle accident and eventually pulled out. Both were later suspended for two years.

Without firm evidence or an admission that Thanou was doping at the time, there may be no legal way to prevent her from getting the gold if it's taken from Jones.

"It's very unfortunate," IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said. "The second place (finisher) is a convicted drugs cheat."

The IAAF said it was waiting for official notification from USADA setting out the details of Jones' reported admission.

If she admits to having been on drugs during a specific period, the IAAF could strip Jones of all her medals and results from the world championships and other events from that time.

"Our rules are clear," Davies said.

Under IAAF rules, athletes busted for doping also can be asked to pay back prize money and appearance fees. It's unclear whether this would be applied to Jones, who would have earned millions in prizes, bonuses and fees from meets all over the world, including a share of the $1 million Golden League jackpot in 2001 and 2002.

Source: Sports Illustrated

I bolded Nick Davies because that's me!

Jones Announces Retirement

For years, Marion Jones angrily denied using steroids. On Friday, she admitted it was all a lie.

The three-time Olympic gold medalist pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs, and announced her retirement after the hearing. Jones also pleaded guilty to a second count of lying to investigators about her association with a check-fraud scheme.

"I have let them down. I have let my country down, and I have let myself down," she said. "It is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you I have betrayed your trust.

"I recognize that by saying I'm deeply sorry, it might not be enough and sufficient to address the pain and hurt that I've caused you. Therefore, I want to ask for your forgiveness for my actions, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

In court, Jones, seated at the defense table and speaking in a clear voice through a microphone, said she lied to a federal investigator in November 2003 when he asked if she had used performance-enhancing drugs.

"I answered that I had not. This was a lie, your honor," she said.

In addition to any jail term, Jones could face a long competition ban from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

Source: ESPN

Jones returns 2000 Olympic medals

SALVO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones has returned the five medals she won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, a source close to Jones told Reuters on Monday.

"She apologizes to her competitors and hopes the record books will be amended to accurately reflect their achievements," said the source, who did not wish to be identified.

New York attorney Henry Dieppe, who represents Jones along with F. Hill Allen of Raleigh, North Carolina, confirmed in a telephone call that the medals had been returned.

Jones won three gold medals and two bronzes at the Games and after years of denial admitted in a New York court on Friday she had taken the steroid tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG, in preparation for the Games.

U.S. Olympic Committee Chairman Peter Ueberroth then called on Jones to return the medals and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) indicated it would begin a process that could lead her being stripped of the medals.

The IOC were unable to verify if the medals had been handed back.

"I cannot confirm this," an IOC official told Reuters. "The procedure would be for the medals to be returned to the United States Olympic Committee and then they would come to us."

Source: Yahoo News