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Marion Jones finally comes "clear"
October 05, 2007It took almost three years for it to happen, but after many steadfast denials, Marion Jones finally told the truth -- she used steriods.
Unlike most, I'm not a bit surprised.
All you have to do is follow the trail.
Victor Conte, who founded BALCO said he personally delivered the "clear" (later determined to be tetrahydrogestrinone - THG - the endurance-boosting drug EPO and insulin) to Jones and instructed her on how to inject it.
And her ex-husband, C.J. Hunter, said she used steroids before during and after the 2000 Olympics.
Now keep in mind that Conte served four months in prison for conspiracy to distribute steroids and money-laundering while Hunter tested positive for the steroid nandrolone four times before the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
So maybe that affects their credibility.
Let's say it does.
Consider also that her child's father, former sprinter Tim Montgomery, used the same drug Jones did and got a two-year ban from the sport. Montgomery retired and then got caught up in a money-laundering scheme that has him facing prison time.
Now that's a whole lot of coincidences, don't you think?
But all that information was available three years ago when I followed the same trail for a column I wrote -- three years ago.
It looks Jones finally agrees with me too.
Posted by Stephen Smith at 01:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Comments
I, for one, have been making the same argument for years. I never thought Marion Jones could be squeaky clean while everyone around her was a drug abuser. As a Jamaican, it is particularly painful since we seem to finish just behind the Americans in the international sprints..and up to this point... no one (i.e., the major stars) has tested positive for drugs.
It would behoove the governing body of athletics to put more stringent measures in place. In addition to banning substance abusers, give them some prison time and penalize the country they represent -- then, maybe this foolishness will stop.
The Olympics are next year and because of this and other scandals, the games will be overshadowed.
I wonder which American athlete is the next one to be test positive? Tyson Gay? Jeremy Warner? Who? This culture of winning at all costs has to stop...
The picture of her (Jones) celebrating her many Olympic victories and smiling with the Belizian and American flags still irks me to this day. She has brought disgrace to not only America, but the West Indies as well. This makes me very angry.
