Marion Jones Drags Others Into Selfish, Steroid Mess

Asserts Filip Bondy, a sports columnist at New York Daily News, about the former track star's guilty plea yesterday (see her tearful video clip below) to two felony counts for lying to federal agent about her use of performance-enhancing drugs and an unrelated check fraud case. Jones is expected to serve up to six months in prison under a plea agreement: "This is what I remember most about Marion Jones. It was August 2004, in Athens, and a bunch of young American women were favored to win the gold medal in the 4x100-meter Olympic relay. Jones had qualified for the U.S. squad as a marginal long jumper and she was arguably the fourth-best sprinter available. She was no longer the drug-aided superwoman who captured five medals in Sydney, though she might still have been taking the stuff for all we now know. Jones should have stayed far away from that 2004 relay team, knowing full well her scandalous past might catch up with her and that any medal won by those athletes might be voided in the future. Instead, she elbowed her way onto the 4x100 side, endearing herself to younger teammates, who were awed by her charisma and Olympic history. Jones later botched the baton exchange with Lauryn Williams, costing those women a medal right there on the Athens track. But that's beside the point. Jones already had committed a very bad and selfish thing the moment she joined that squad. She knew full well she had taken steroids in the past, yet Jones potentially dragged these other Americans deep into her personal morass."



Mr. Bondy continues his commentary, believing that Marion Jones still has not fully confessed about her actions: "Everybody wants to like Marion Jones. She is personable, pretty, bright and has been surrounded by treacherous, parasitic men most of her adult life. You wouldn't wish C.J. Hunter, Tim Montgomery and Trevor Graham on Ann Coulter. But there comes a time when you have to say enough is way too much. This woman has been a self-centered, serial liar, and likely is one even now, with her half-confession of drug use in court. Jones appears prepared to admit only that she unknowingly used the steroid cream, called 'the clear.' She still hasn't confessed what others have reported about her, that drugs were injected into her body and that she had her own urine tested regularly to be certain its chemistry was within the legal limits. There are all these accounts from associates and there is a check from Jones to BALCO and there is more smoke than at a Kiss concert. Still, she views herself as a victim."

And more: "This is how I want to remember Marion Jones: As the magical, innocent student-athlete at North Carolina winning the NCAA basketball championship. She glowed that evening, previewing her $1 million smile to the world. Her urine presumably was clean and she had the world at her fleet feet. I'd like to remember Jones that way. I can't anymore. She is a liar and a cheat. She didn't have the grace to keep her dirty career away from kids who didn't know better but to embrace her. Then she couldn't stop herself from lying to federal investigators. 'Long time, no chat,' she liked to say. She could charm everybody but the prosecutors."

My response: This mess is as bad as the Ben Johnson scandal at the 1988 Olympics, and track & field is arguably still recovering from that one. Not good for the sport. Anyone who was on a relay team with Marion Jones at the 2000 Olympics stands to lose their medals because the International Association of Athletics Federations can go back 8 years and strip those medals. Passion Richardson, who was on the gold-winning 4x1 relay squad at the 2000 Olympics is quite pissed that Jones did not specifically apologize to her teammates in her statement yesterday. Yet the open secret is that the world of elite sports is rife with performance-enhancing doping. To stay competitive - especially in track & field - your chemical mix has gotta be good. Marion Jones is hardly the first and won't be the last such athlete. However, Marion Jones should have returned those medals yesterday after her press conference. For the good of the sport and for Team USA, return them now.