On behalf of the U.S. State Department, former track star Marion Jones is making a series of diplomatic visits to Serbia and Croatia.

Jones, once considered the fastest woman in the world, give back her five medals from the 2000 Sydney Olympics after lying to federal investigators about taking performance enhancing drugs.

From Espn.go.com:

Since getting out of jail, she started a career in the WNBA — playing a season and a half for the Tulsa Shock — and has started a campaign to encourage others to think before making critical decisions.

This week, Jones is visiting with school children and other citizens in Serbia and Croatia, the former Yugoslav republics hit by war and earthquake in recent years.

“It paints a very positive picture of who we are as a country and the fact that she’s here on the invitation of the United States government shows that our country believes in people always having opportunities to come back from adversity,” said Ryan Rowlands, a public affairs officer for the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade who helped arrange Jones’ visit. “So that’s been a great part of this message.”

“I think that this country is in the process of rebuilding,” she said. “My story is one that I am also rebuilding from making some bad choices in the past, so I think that was one of the main reasons that I was chosen because I have decided to not give up in my quest to help people.”

Tags: Marion Jones, Performance enhancing drugs, Sydney Olympics, WNBA

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Victor Conte, the former doping guru, has claimed that all eight 100 meter finalists at the Sydney Olympics were cheats.

The finger of suspicion was also raised by Conte at world and Olympic champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica in an interview with Italy’s La Gazetta dello Sport.

From Heraldsun.com.au:

Conte, the former mentor to disgraced track star Marion Jones, was the brains behind the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) which produced and supplied once-undetectable designer steroids to many top sports stars.

A police raid on BALCO in 2004, and the fallout from the affair, rocked athletics and baseball to its foundations and has ended the career of many promising athletes.

Three-time Olympic champion Jones never tested positive, but her career fell apart after she was jailed for perjury amid a federal investigation into BALCO which uncovered the full scope of Conte’s operation.

“I believe that before the BALCO affair, 80 per cent of athletes were using steroids, today that figure stands at about 65 per cent,” Conte said in the hard-hitting interview.

Tags: BALCO, baseball, doping, steroids, Sydney Olympics, Usain Bolt, Victor Conte

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Jerome Young, who was stripped of the gold medal he won in the 2000 Sydney Olympics because of failing to clear a drug test, has been making efforts to overturn the life ban due to doubts over the reliability of the test for erythropoietin.

The American was suspended for life by the International Association of Athletics Federations after he tested positive for EPO, the blood-boosting drug, his second offence.

From Guardian.co.uk:

The IAAF overruled the USATF decision in 2004 after Young’s name became public following his victory in the 400 metres at the 2003 World Championships. They gave him a retrospective two-year ban.

Morris Chrobotek, who once represented Ben Johnson, is now trying to get Young’s EPO case reopened because he claims the test is unreliable. The Paris laboratory that conducted Young’s EPO test is the same that carried out the analysis of Lance Armstrong and allegedly showed he tested positive for the banned drug during his Tour de France victory in 1999.

The reliability of the EPO test has come under scrutiny after the Belgian triathlete Rutger Beke proved he had tested positive because his body had produced the substance naturally. Authorities were forced to lift his 18-month ban.

“I have spoken to the majority of laboratories who conduct drug testing and they say the EPO test is flawed,” said Chrobotek. “This whole system needs to be transparent. It is not at the moment.”

Young first tested positive for nandrolone in 1999 but was cleared by USA Track & Field, who allowed him to compete in Sydney.

Tags: EPO, erythropoietin, Jerome Young, Lance Armstrong, nandrolone, Sydney Olympics

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Latvia’s lone rowing competitor, Andris Reinholds, is facing a life ban from the sport after he became the fifth athlete to be kicked out of the Olympics for failing a drug test.

Reinholds, who finished eighth in the single sculls, tested positive for the steroid nandrolone following a random urine test.

From News.bbc.co.uk:

The test showed a level four times above the allowable threshold and rowing’s governing body FISA confirmed it would consider banning Reinholds for life.

Although the Latvian delegation were not available for comment, International Olympic Committee medical commission chairman Prince Alexandre de Merode said they were claiming Reinhold’s positive test resulted from using Chinese herbal medicine.

Reinholds, a builder and engineer who is coached by his wife, listed “winning a medal at the world championships or at the Sydney Olympics” as one of his lifetime goals.

Expulsion

In Atlanta four years ago he finished 10th in the single sculls and ninth in the double event, while in 1997 he finished fourth in both the world championships in Munich and the world rowing cup in Paris.

Having been thrown out of the Olympics, Reinhold’s fate now rests with the FISA, who claim drug offences in rowing are “extremely rare.”

The expulsion of Reinhold brings the number of competitors thrown out of the Sydney Games to five.

Tags: Andris Reinholds, nandrolone, olympics, steroid, Sydney Olympics

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Seven members of the US relay team that won medals at the Sydney Olympics have won back the relay medals. The athletes were stripped of their medals after their team-mate Marion Jones was caught doping at the time.

The IOC decision to strip athletes from medals was overruled by the Court of arbitration for sport.

From Guardian.co.uk:

The court of arbitration for sport ruled today in favour of the women, who appealed against the International Olympic Committee’s decision to disqualify them from the Sydney Olympics.

The court said athletics rules in 2000 did not allow teams to be affected by one member’s doping.

In Sydney, Jearl Miles-Clark, Monique Hennagan, LaTasha Colander Clark and Andrea Anderson were part of the squad that won gold in the 4x400m relay.

Chryste Gaines, Torri Edwards, Nanceen Perry and Passion Richardson were on the 4x100m bronze medal squad. All but Perry joined the appeal.

It seems that luck was on side of the athletes truly because they were innocent and didn’t indulge into cheating like Jones.

Tags: doping, Marion Jones, Sydney Olympics

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The disgraced US sprinter, Tim Montgomery, admitted of using testosterone and human growth hormone before the Sydney Olympics.

The former 100m world record holder went on to say that he did not deserve the gold medal he won in the 4x100m relay.

From Foxsports.com.au:

“I have a gold medal that I’m sitting on that I didn’t get with my own ability,” Montgomery said in the interview scheduled to air on American television.

“I’m not here to take away from anybody else’s accomplishments, only my own. And I must say, I apologise to the other people that were on the relay team if that was to happen.”

Montgomery never tested positive for drugs, but he was banned from track for two years and his world record in the 100m was erased after he was linked to the BALCO doping investigation.

He retired after the ban was imposed in 2005.

He did not say in the interview when or how often he had taken testosterone, just that he had done so before Sydney. He also said he took HGH four times a month.

“If Tim Montgomery cheated at the games, then he should step forward and voluntarily return his medal, just as others from the 2000 team have done,” Darryl Seibel, spokesman for the US Olympic Committee.

Montgomery is presently in prison after being convicted of cheque fraud and heroin trafficking.

Tags: BALCO doping, growth hormone, HGH, Sydney Olympics, testosterone, Tim Montgomery

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Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones once again appeared in a TV show to profess her innocence in the BALCO doping controversy that has ruined many athletes’ stellar career.

In her recent appearance on “Good Morning America” Jones  admits the incident may have ruined her reputation forever but she hopes that she can prevent others from committing the mistakes she has made. This is the same mantra she uttered at the “Oprah Winfrey Show”, her first interview since she was released from prison in September. Expect the same tune to be played in 2009 as the former track star is apparently running a crusade to “reach out” to youths out there.

“I have paid the ultimate price,” she said on “Good Morning America“. “For the rest of my life, certain people will equate me with this controversy.

“Throughout all of this I’ve learned I’ve hurt a lot of people and it’s my responsibility to give back,” the 33-year-old said.

Up to this day, Jones insists she has no knowledge that prohibited compounds were being administered to her. This despite of her six-month imprisonment for lying about her anabolic steroid use and her involvement in a check-fraud scheme.

BALCO’s Victor Conte had consistently refuted Jones’ claims. “She did the injection with me sitting right there next to her,” he said in December 2004.

Between these two controversial figures, who do you think people would believe?

From ABC News:

The once-heralded runner was at the top of her game and had the nation’s admiration, and a life that glittered as much as the gold medals she picked up on the Olympic circuit. But a doping scandal stripped her of her Olympic medals, and the one-time fastest woman in the world spent six months in prison after she was convicted in January of lying to federal prosecutors about her use of performance-enhancing drugs and her role in a check-fraud scam.

“I was in a much different place in my life. I made much different choices. I made bad decisions,” said Jones, who missed her youngest son’s first birthday due to jail time.

The sportswoman still contends — as she always has — that she was unaware that drugs were being administered to her.

“That’s the truth. I have experienced a lot of negative consequences for what I’ve admitted,” she said. “When you’re a high-profile person, you trust certain people around you. You trust they will have your best interests in mind.”

On Oprah, Jones apologized to her teammates who were stripped of their medals and records because of her doping violation during the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

“When I stepped on that track, I thought everybody was drug-free, including myself,” Jones said. “I apologize for having to put everybody through all of this.

“I’m trying to move on. I hope that everybody else can move on, too.”

Tags: “Good Morning America”, “Oprah Winfrey Show”, BALCO, doping, Marion Jones, Performance enhancing drugs, steroids, Sydney Olympics, Victor Conte

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This is probably Tim Montgomery’s way of redeeming himself in the eyes of the public.

As he serves his four-year sentence for fraud and conspiracy offenses, the former sprinter admits in an interview with HBO that he took testosterone and human growth hormone prior to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Because of the doping infringement, Montgomery says, he does not deserve the gold medal he won in the 400 meter relay.

“I have a gold medal that I’m sitting on that I didn’t get with my own ability,” Montgomery stated in the interview. “I’m not here to take away from anybody else’s accomplishments, only my own. And I must say, I apologize to the other people that was on the relay team if that was to happen.”

Darryl Seibel, spokesman for the US Olympic Committee, has an immediate retort for Montgomery.

“If Tim Montgomery cheated at the games, then he should step forward and voluntarily return his medal, just as others from the 2000 team have done. By using a banned substance, any result he achieved is tainted,” Seibel said to Associated Press.

“He has a responsibility to his sport, to the athletes against whom he competed in Sydney and also to the new generation of track athletes who are doing their best to compete the right way and put problems like this in the past.”

Montgomery’s case has precedents, and they don’t bode well for Jon Drummond, Bernard Williams, Brian Lewis, Maurice Greene and Kenneth Brokenburr – Montgomery’s teammates at the 400 meter relay.

The men’s team which won the 1,600 meter event also at the Sydney Olympics were stripped off their medals when one member, Antonio Pettigrew, confessed to doping. Same thing happened with the U.S. women’s teams also in Sydney when the former sprint queen Marion Jones was implicated in a doping scandal. Jones’ teams, which won the gold in the 1,600 meter and bronze at the 400 meter relay, were disqualified by the International Olympic Committee executive board and were asked to return their medals.

“This is an example of the far-reaching consequences of cheating,” Seibel said. “The integrity of sport must be preserved, even if that means invalidating results and forfeiting medals.”

Jones had served her six-month sentence for lying about her use of anabolic steroids and her role in a check-fraud scheme. She was released from prison facility in Texas on September 5, 2008. Meanwhile, Montgomery, Jones’ former boyfriend, has to face another prison term after serving his check-fraud sentence, wherein Steve Riddick, coach to both Montgomery and Jones, was also involved. Riddick was also convicted for conspiracy, bank fraud and money laundering charges.

After Montgomery completes his sentence for the fraud charges, the 33-year-old former record holder is to serve another five years for selling more than 100 grams of heroin. He was found guilty of this crime and sentenced to jail October this year.

Tags: anabolic steroids, disqualification due to doping, human growth hormone, Marion Jones, steroids, Steve Riddick, Sydney Olympics, Tim Montgomery

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All is not lost for Antonio Pettigrew.

The 2000 Olympic gold medalist in men’s 4×400 meter relay will continue to coach student athletes at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The institution has decided to keep the disgraced Pettigrew as an assistant coach in men’s and women’s track and field.

Pettigrew lost his gold medal when he admitted in a federal court that he had used performance-enhancing drugs. He, along with his 2000 Olympic teammates, was officially disqualified by the International Olympic Committee on August 2 and was asked to return his gold medal. Pettigrew, however, had earlier volunteered to give up his medal in June.

From the News & Observer:

(University of North Carolina) athletics director Dick Baddour, in a statement released today by the university, said that “although we do not condone the actions Antonio participated in for a time as a competitive athlete, he is remorseful and is now in a position to speak out against the dangers and consequences of using illegal substances.”

“I deeply appreciate the second chance the University of North Carolina is giving me,” Pettigrew said in a prepared statement. ” … I promise to work hard not only as track coach but as a person who will dedicate myself to teaching young men and women to make the right decisions and to know that there are no shortcuts when it comes to competition, training and integrity.”

Pettigrew appeared before a federal court in May this year when he was subpoenaed by prosecutors to testify in Trevor Graham’s steroid trial. Graham was a former coach of Pettigrew and other prominent track athletes, including Marion Jones and her former husband C.J. Hunter. Graham was subsequently found guilty of committing perjury to federal authorities during their investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative in Burlingame, California.

Pettigrew, who never failed a drug test, admitted in his testimony that he had used the blood booster erythropoietin and human growth hormone in the period before, during and after the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Three of his teammates, however, had figured in doping violations before.

Twins Alvin and Calvin Harrison were suspended due to doping infringements. Jerome Young, another team member, was banned for life in 2004 from track and field for testing positive for banned compounds twice.

Pettigrew has been with the UNC coaching staff since 2006.

The BALCO incident is considered as the biggest steroid scandal in U.S. history. It involved preeminent Olympic and professional athletes, including star players of Major League Baseball and National Football League. This scandal prompted Congressional hearings on use of steroids and other banned substances in MLB. Several well-known sluggers were implicated, including Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds.

Legislators said the main motivation for the series of hearing was to stop the rising use of steroid use among young Americans.
“Kids are dying from the use of steroids. They’re looking up to these major league leaders in terms of the enhancements that they’re using. And we have to stop it,” said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif) in an interview on March 13, 2005 on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Tags: Antonio Pettigrew, assistant coach post, athletics, BALCO, baseball, disqualification due to steroid use, steroid use, Sydney Olympics, Trevor Graham steroid trial, University of North Carolina

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This could be a calculated move on the part of federal authorities. As the 2008 Olympics was preparing to wrap up in Beijing former American track superstar Marion Jones is being relayed from one cage to another.

Remember that on July this year, the disgraced athlete has appealed to President George Bush to commute her six-month prison sentence for lying to prosecutors about her steroid use. Apparently, she did not get her wish granted.

The Belizean-born Jones shone in the Sydney Olympics in 2000 easily dominating the track and winning five medals there. She has been since disqualified and stripped of the medals, three of which were gold. She has also been disqualified at the IAAF World Cup in Athletics that took place in Madrid, Spain in 2002. The competition’s results were annulled where Jones participated in the 100m and the 4 x 100m relay, finishing 1st and 2nd respectively.

AP reports:

Former U.S. track star Marion Jones has been moved from a federal prison in Fort Worth and will serve the remainder of her sentence in San Antonio.

The disgraced Olympic star was sentenced to six months in prison in January for lying to federal agents about her use of performance-enhancing drugs and a check-fraud scam.
Jones also was ordered to do 400 hours of community service in each of the two years following her release.

Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Traci Billingsley says Jones was transferred to a community corrections center in San Antonio on Tuesday.

The Dallas Morning News reported Friday the transfer is part of the process toward the Sept. 5 scheduled release of Jones. She entered prison in early March.
President Bush has not acted on requests, on behalf of Jones, to commute her sentence.

For years, Jones denied using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. However, in October 2007, she pleaded guilty to two charges of perjury and was subsequently sentenced in January by a federal court in New York.

She admitted she had lied to investigators in 2003 when she denied knowing that she took the banned compound tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), known as “the clear,” before participating at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Tags: athletics, disqualification, Marion Jones, steroid use, Sydney Olympics, THG

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