Olympics Star Marion Jones Admits Doping

Washington Post: Gold Medalist In 2000 Olympics Will Plead Guilty To Lying To Federal Agents

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

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

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

No one answered the door at Jones' Austin, Texas, home Thursday evening.

The admission could cost Jones the five medals she won at the Sydney Olympics. Though she fell short of her goal of winning five gold medals, she came away with three and two bronzes and was one of the games' biggest stars.

But her career has been tarnished by doping allegations since then. Victor Conte, head of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, repeatedly has accused Jones of doping.

Jones was one of several athletes to testify in 2003 before a San Francisco federal grand jury that's investigating BALCO, and former boyfriend Tim Montgomery was given a two-year ban for doping in late 2005.

In December 2004, the International Olympic Committee opened an investigation into doping allegations against Jones.

Last year, a Jones urine sample tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug EPO. Jones immediately quit a European track tour and returned to the United States. Although she was cleared when a backup sample tested negative, she missed at least five major international meets, forfeiting an estimated $300,000 in appearance and performance fees.

In her letter, Jones said she'd used performance-enhancing drugs until she stopped training with Graham at the end of 2002. She said she lied when federal agents questioned her in 2003, panicking when they presented her with a sample of "the clear," which she recognized as the substance Graham had given her.

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

Graham was indicted in the BALCO case last November on three counts of lying to federal agents. He has pleaded not guilty, and a trial is set for Nov. 26,

A woman who answered the phone at Graham's home in Raleigh, N.C., declined to identify herself, but said Graham was not home before refusing to answer any other questions. There was no answer at the door of Graham's north Raleigh home on Thursday.

The Post also reported that in her letter, Jones said she lied about a $25,000 check given to her by Montgomery, who pleaded guilty in New York this year as part of a multimillion-dollar bank fraud and money-laundering scheme. Jones' former agent, Charles Wells, and coach, Steven Riddick, were also part of the scheme.

Documents filed in a federal court in Manhattan show that Jones received the check from a Virginia man who prosecutors have accused of enlisting friends and business partners to help launder the proceeds of the multimillion-dollar plot.

The money was drawn on an account established with one of $5 million worth of stolen, forged or doctored checks that investigators said the conspiracy attempted to cash over three years.

Though Jones told investigators she knew nothing about the check, the Post reported that she said in her letter that Montgomery told her it was from the 2005 sale of a refurbished vehicle and was partial payment for $50,000 she had loaned him.

"Once again, I panicked," the Post reported. "I did not want my name associated with this mess. I wanted to stay as far away as possible."

In her prime, Jones was one of track's first female millionaires, typically earning between $70,000 and $80,000 a race, plus at least another $1 million from race bonuses and endorsement deals.

In 2000-01, she competed in 21 international events, including the Sydney Olympics, where she won five medals - three gold.

[keithle1]

This is the least of the problems facing black people. When you have young black men killing young black men every day & night this is nothing.

Talk about *** up you life. What was all that hard work for? So stupid. Maybe this will make some track athletes think twice. Funny watching Jones cry
her crocodile tears. I guess she thought no one would find out. No way to tell what wins were legitimate & what were thanks to steroids I guess. Tough to separate them. Maybe she has steroids to thank for everything she achieved in track.

[musyk4me]

I agree with you, borismrm!! It is not a race thing whatsoever! All races have persons who lie, cheat, steal, and all of the above. So, I am wondering if chinesespy is Asian. I live very close to Virginia Tech and watched in horror as an Asian decided to take so many lives. Would it be wrong of me to say that Asians give this country a black eye? Of course it would be wrong! PEOPLE give this country a black eye. So just to clarify, chinesespy, are you trying to say that Black people are the only ones who do anything wrong in this country? Yes, Marion Jones messed up big time. For this, she will have to face the consequences............just like everybody else.

[borismrm]

Hey chinesespy,

What the hell you mean? that blacks are giving this country a black eye? I agree with Crazmeat. It''s not a black thing or a white thing, but your dumb f@@k A@@ who just got off the boat should know what the hell you''re talking about before you start making comments like this. Maybe you''ve been sniffing some of that fog and other pollution china has been killing it''s citizens with! Ate any cats lately?
I think Marion should be stripped of all of her medals and all records removed from the books.

[farmerbb]

Now we wait to see if the IOC asks her to return all five medals. Imagine the feelings of those she beat in those events. "Seven years later, here are the medals you SHOULD have won. Sorry we didn''t catch the cheating back then". And maybe she won other events after the Sydney Olympics. I guess those medals/prizes have to be returned too. Talk about a downfall. She may end up owing money.

[Krazcarl]

chinesespy..I''m white and my brother a bodybuilder got caught up in this trap it''s not a black thing whites got there finger heck hand in the pie to.

[chinesespy]

black are given this country a black eye

[gronamox-2009]

I am so saddened by Marion''s ordeal. She was a young
beautiful athlete with charisma, talent, and modesty.
She is a victim of the worst kind of men who prey off amateur athletics. Today, she is still the champion, and her fear and naivete of the past does not dampen her courage and honesty. Chin up. What''s done is done. Should you have known better, done things differently-who is to say? As for Mr. Conte? What a pyrrhic you have won. Who made you Gervaise, Roger Chillingsworth, or Iago. You should be ashamed. Some things are apparently unethical, but even without the questionable steroid and its alleged advantage-Marion is still the best. Some things you just let go. Nothing is gained by this admission. The second place person gets the Gold Medal. You get to live with your obsessive revenge. And all the self-righteous should just keep quiet. As someone supposedly once said-let you who has not done ill, you hurl the first rock.

[gronamox-2009]

I am so saddened by Marion''s ordeal. She was a young
beautiful athlete with charisma, talent, and modesty.
She is a victim of the worst kind of men who prey off amateur athletics. Today, she is still the champion, and her fear and naivete of the past does not dampen her courage and honesty. Chin up. What''s done is. done. Should you have known better, done things differently-who is to say? As for Mr. Conte? What a pyrrhic you have won. Who made you Gervaise, Roger Chillingsworth, or Iago. You should be ashamed. Some things are apparently unethical, but even without the questionable steroid and its alleged advantage-Marion is still the best. Some things you just let go. Nothing is gained by this admission. The second place person gets the Gold Medal. You get to live with your obsessive revenge. And all the self-righteous should just keep quiet. As someone supposedly once said-let you who has not done ill, you hurl the first rock.

[gronamox-2009]

I am so saddened by Marion''s ordeal. She was a young
beautiful athlete with charisma, talent, and modesty.
She is a victim of the worst kind of men who prey off amateur athletics. Today, she is still the champion, and her fear and naivete of the past does not dampen her courage and honesty. Chin up. What''s done is. done. Should you have known better, done things differently-who is to say? As for Mr. Conte? What a pyrrhic you have won. Who made you Gervaise, Roger Chillingsworth, or Iago. You should be ashamed. Some things are apparently unethical, but even without the questionable steroid and its alleged advantage-Marion is still the best. Some things you just let go. Nothing is gained by this admission. The second place person gets the Gold Medal. You get to live with your obsessive revenge. And all the self-righteous should just keep quiet. As someone supposedly once said-let you who has not done ill, let you cast the first rock.

[gronamox-2009]

I am so saddened by Marion''s ordeal. She was a young
beautiful athlete with charisma, talent, and modesty.
She is a victim of the worst kind of men who prey off amateur athletics. Today, she is still the champion, and her fear and naivete of the past does not dampen her courage and honesty. Chin up. What''s done is. done. Should you have known better, done things differently-who is to say? As for Mr. Conte? What a pyrrhic you have won. Who made you Gervaise, Roger Chillingsworth, or Iago. You should be ashamed. Some things are apparently unethical, but even without the questionable steroid and its alleged advantage-Marion is still the best. Some things you just let go. Nothing is gained by this admission. The second place person gets the Gold Medal. You get to live with your obsessive revenge. And all the self-righteous should just keep quiet. As someone supposedly once said-let you who has not done ill, let you cast the first rock.