Marion Jones pleaded guilty to steroid use today in a New York courtroom. She told the judge that she took steroids from September of 2000 to July of 2001 because her coach told her she was taking flaxseed oil. She says she discovered in 2003 that she had been taking the banned steroid known as “The Clear, but when confronted by federal investigators in November of that year, she lied. Jones acknowledged that while using the substance, she felt differently and trained more intensely and posted better times. It also matches the period of her greatest dominance in track and field when she won 5 gold medals, and two World Track and Field Championships.
So after years of flatly denying persistent and public allegations of steroid use, Marion Jones has admitted that it was all lies; that she cheated at the Olympic games, and that she’s known it for four years. And this afternoon, as she exited that New York courtroom, the weight of all that produced an emotional apology.
Marion Jones,
“You have been fiercely loyal and supportive towards me. You have been more loyal and supportive than words can declare, as been my family and especially my dear mother who stands by my side today. And so it is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust.
I want all of you to know that today I pled guilty to two counts of making false statements to federal agents. Making these false statements to federal agents was an extremely stupid thing for me to do and I am responsible fully for my actions. I have no one to blame but myself for what I’ve done. To you my fans, including my young supporters, United States Track and Field Association, my closest friends, my attorneys, and the most classy family a person could ever hope for, namely my mother, my husband, my children, my brother and his family, my uncle, and the rest of my extended family. I want you to know that I have been dishonest - and you have the right to be angry with me. I have let them down, I have let my country down, and I have let myself down.
I recognize that by saying I’m deeply sorry, it might not be enough and sufficient to address the pain and the 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.
I have asked Almighty God for my forgiveness. Having said this, and because of my actions, I am retiring from the sport of track and field, a sport which I deeply love.”
Marion Jones will be sentenced on January 11th. Prosecutors have suggested that the prison term will be a maximum of six months but it’s up to the judge and he can impose a maximum sentence of 5 years for each count. The International Olympic Committee is also expected to strip her of the 5 medals she won in the Sydney games. Her teammates who ran with her in the four by 400 relay could also lose their medals.
