In April Marion Jones filed a 168 page deposition in a Dallas court, stating basically, that she's broke. In the deposition she states that her millions are gone and that she has, "total liquid assets throughout the world" of about US$2000. In the deposition, she discloses that a bank foreclosed on her US$2.5 million chateau-style dream home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where Michael Jordan was among her neighbors. And earlier this year, Jones sold two other houses, including one where her mother lived, raising, "money to pay bills". The deposition was filed in a breach of contract lawsuit against a former coach. That coach, Dan Pfaff counter-sued and won a judgment of about $240,000 in unpaid training fees and legal expenses.
It's a long way from the days of her prime when Jones was one of athletics' first female millionaires, typically earning US$70,000 to US$80,000 a race, plus at least another US$1 million from race bonuses and endorsement deals. But in the years between she spent a fair amount of that fortune on legal fees trying to clear her name in various doping allegations.
And while Marion may be broke, in more positive news, she's reported to have married Barbados-born sprinter Obadele Thompson on Feb. 27. That and the news that the 31 year old is taking the 2007 track season off may bring her closer to what she says is her true calling. This from an interview with 7NEWS in December of last year.
Marion Jones,
[December 13th, 2006] "I just need to make a lot of decisions about my future over the next few months. My son is getting at an age where I want to be more and more, it is necessary for me to be more and more present, as you see, and to me that is the most important thing in my life. Please don't get it wrong that track and field is the number one priority in my life. Being a mother and being a part of family is the number one thing so I'll make some decisions with my family in the next several months about what the future holds."
Jones and Thompson have moved to the Austin, Texas, area, where Thompson already had made his home.