American Olympian Marion Jones has been sentenced to six months in prison for lying about steroid use and involvement in a drugs fraud case.
The former sprinter pleaded guilty last October and was sentenced on Friday.

Lawyers for the defence had requested US District Judge Kenneth Karas limit sentencing the former sprinter to probation or house arrest.

Having already apologised, retired and given up her five Olympic medals, Jones has been punished enough, they argued.

Lawyers for the prosecution had suggested any sentence between probation and six months would be fair.

Judge Karas had sought advice as to whether he could go beyond the six-month maximum sentence suggested in a plea deal.

Fall from glory

Once arguably the most famous female athlete in the world, Jones won gold in the 100 metres, 200m and 4x400m relay as well as bronzes in the long jump and 4x100m relay, at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

While her charisma and big smile won her a global fanbase, her success on the track coupled with photogenic looks won her lucrative endorsements.

But she suffered a spectacular fall from glory last October, admitting lying to a federal investigator in November 2003 when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs.

She admitted using a steroid between September 2000 and July 2001.

Ms Jones, now 32, also pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators in 2003 about a separate cheque fraud case involving her former boyfriend, sprinter Tim Montgomery, the father of her son, Monty.

Montgomery and several others have been convicted in that scam.

Tearful apology

Released pending sentencing, Jones made a heart-felt public apology for her actions outside court.

"It's with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust," she said, fighting back tears.

"I have been dishonest, and you have the right to be angry with me. I have let (my family) down. I have let my country down, and I have let myself down."

Jones, who returned her medals even before the International Olympic Committee ordered her to do so, has since had her name expunged from the record books.

Hers was one of a number of high-profile doping cases involving top American athletes that have prompted the US Olympic Committee to team up with Major League Baseball and the National Football League with a new initiative aimed at combating drug use in American sport.

Seems such a shame that an athlete of her calibre has done this. Whether that 'calibre' was down to drugs all her career :shrug:
but I remember watching her often thinking she was an amazing athlete well above her field.
I don't think jailing her is appropriate though.. she has already had her name wiped from the record books and given back her medals. Not to mention the complete shame she must feel.
It is not just tennis that is suffering of late with 'off-court' controversy.

If only this would deter others from using drugs.....but it won't sadly. I haven't followed the olympics/track racing for 10 years at least and don't have much interest in it now.

Those athletes, or the system rather (too much competition), have killed the very purpose of those events. Tennis might get there too or is already there if we listen to some but as long as I can see a thin, svelt player winning everyting, I'll keep on watching.

I wonder how much impact steroid abuse would have in tennis..
They can do so much but I imagine they can't make you hit a better forehand or backhand, that is all down to skill that you learn as a player I guess..although saying that, maybe they could help you hit your forehand harder which is hard to imagine looking at the pace people hit at anyway these days.

Venus or Roddick serving on steriods.. line judges would have to take out a new level of insurance!

I suspect the lying to a federal investigator is what got her jailed, not necessarily the doping per se. and there's obviously something to do with another scam that has got something to do with it.

what interests me about the Jones case - and in fact all the Balco cases, is that she never failed a drugs test. She would have been regularly tested at the Sydney Olympics, but never failed one. There's plenty of other examples of athletes managing to get round drugs tests - the world of cycling in rife with them for a start. It's a shame that they can't persuade those responsible who state how sorry they are to explain how they did it - where the flaws in the testing system are. :nope:

no, tennis does have that advantage when it comes to the possibility of drug abuse in the sport - there's a lot more skill involved than in those sports where it's absolutely rife (cycling, athletics, cross-country skiing - and quite possibly swimming I suspect.) However, drugs likes steroids, or EPO, or blood doping, would possibly give some advantage and may make the difference between being top 20 and being number 1 :shrug:

Never thought of that angle... although I guess she is saying that she didn't start taking them until after the Olympics.. (I think).. maybe there is some truth there so if she did get tested then she would have passed :shrug: but if this is happening in other sports then yes I fully agree, if they are that apologetic and want to get some respect back they should shed light on how they get away with it.

Did I glance over something the other day about the Tour not going ahead this year? Can't remember if I did..

Are you somehow linked to this sunject DJ? You seem to know quite a bit as I remember you posting on this before or does it just come from your interest in cycling?

There's plenty of others who have taken this steroid from Balco and not failed a drugs test - Britain's Dwain Chambers for a start, as well as (I think) Jones' husband. Cyclists have got away with taking EPO and blood doping for a long time, and blood doping is extremely difficult to catch (unless you're dumb like Mr Hamilton and use someone else's blood)

As for why i know so much about this, i'm ashamed to say it's mostly 'cos of cycling :unsure: In the last few years cycling has been so ripped apart by drugs scandals that it's difficult to not pick some stuff up. and if you're a curious person (which i am, in so many ways ;) ) then information is relatively easy to find. There's lots written about it in cycling autobiographies/biographies and i guess i've just gained an interest in it. plus, i guess i'm pissed that cycling gets such a bad press with all the drugs stuff, when i'm pretty sure they're not the only ones.....

I've just checked and she admitted steroid abuse between september 2000 and July 2001 - and the Olympics started on 15th September :(

Wasn't she on TV last year with that Oscar winning sob speech? :unsure:

Yes it is sad, she was respected and looked remarkable back in 2000 but she cheated so I have no sympathy. She might well have been a great athlete without drugs but we will never know. I feel most sorry for all those althletes who did nto receive their rightful medal on the day.
As to whether jail is harsh, I think as Jo says that si because she has lied to the Amercain law enforcement system :shrug: Although beign objective it's no secret that they do tend to punish women more severley in many cases OR maybe they want to make an exmaple of her becuase she was so high proflie. :shrug:

What annoys me though is there are loads of sportspersons out there on drugs who haven't been caught and who will never be caught. I doubt this will deter them because unfortuneatly

a. cheats do prosper at times in sport and
b. it is worth the risk for some as they won't have glory wihtout the drugs

It seems to me that they need better more consitent ways of testing but I can't say anymore as I have limited knowledge of drugs testing.

i suspect you're right that they're making an example of her 'cos she's high-profile - trying to deter others....

The problem with the drugs testing system, is that the athletes always manage to stay one step ahead of the testers - they come up with the new drugs before the testers have worked out how to test for them. The best example I know of (other than this steroid that Jones was taking of course) is EPO, which the cyclists took for many many years.

It's only recently that they've worked out how to test for EPO and even now I think it's undectable a certain time after it's taken. It's slowly been coming out over the last year or so how many athletes were taking EPO - the guy who won the 1996 TdF came out and admitted to being on it.

Finally they've found a test for it - however, like i said it's undetectable after a certain amount of time, and it's thought that cyclists still use it out of competition as a means to be able to train more. Which is why they've instigated out of competition tests and the rules about missing out of competition tests.

Now they've got problems with cyclists blood doping......if people are willing to cheat, they'll always find a way.

Out of interest, they institgated the testing of haematocrit levels (the percentage of red blood cells) in tennis in about 2003 I think - possibly a bit earlier. The rules in tennis are that if you test over 50% then you get tested for the presence of EPO in your system. If your levels are under 50% then you're not tested. There's some serious problems with that system (not that I'm saying that tennis players are taking EPO - more to point out the flaws in the system):

- good doctors can make sure that haemotocrit levels remain under 50% - apparently drinking a pint of water half an hour before the test can have an effect.

- So as long as the level never gets over 50%, the test is never done for EPO, so it would still be possible to take it without getting caught.

- This completely ignores blood doping as well. If you get caught with a haemotocrit above 50% and HAVEN'T got EPO in your system, as far as I understand, nothing happens. Therefore, you could be blood doping and no one would be any wiser.

- As far as I know, blood doping isn't tested for - ie. they don't check to see that it's all a players own blood, and that they haven't been transfusing other people's blood.

Again, I'm not saying that tennis players are doping, simply that this is an example of flaws in the drug testing system. but how do you tighten it up, without testing for absolutely everything all the time???? or testing the players everyday, in and out of competition? it's just impossible..... :shrug:

Wow! Thanks for that, I had no idea about EPO or how they test for it. Makes me wonder hwo many 'winners' are cheats! Anyway I suppose ti is almost impossible to keep up if the cheats are always a step ahead and the tests are not certs even if they do them. If you can develop these drugs that leave the system quickly then you are on to a winner and can easily fool the testers. I know it's hard and impractical to test 100% thoroughly but the way things are going I think the testers will need to fidn a way because otherwise cheatign will increase and credibility and trust will decline. Then again maybe if they are all on drugs it will eb fair :wacko:

She is a drug cheat, and deserves the required punishments. I just feel sorry for her kids who will have to endure the cheat label off their mother. It's a sorry downfall for one of athletic's most prolific athletes in the 21st century :(

unfortunately i know more about EPO and blood doping that i ever wanted to :(

Yes it is very sad. And whilst she might have been upset and possibly sincere in her apoliges, would she have made them if she'd not been caught? I doubt it. She'd be sat there with her 5 medals and the reputation fo one fo the greatest athletes of all time, which would be wrong.

I don't knwo of her kids but I do feel sorry for them, especialyl if they want a career in sport. It will be tough for them.

I think she certainly deserved to be jailed as this goes past steroid abuse/lying about steroids - she has unjustly won a staggering amount of prize money and sponsership/endorsements which have to total up past the $5,000,000 mark, I strongly assume. It's an absolute mess because despite the fact her name is off the record books, other drug cheats/BALCO athlete such as Chryste Gaines, Eketerina Thanou, Zhanna Block etc will be promoted to a higher position.

I certainly believe that she was on steroids before 2000. Her 100m, 200m and long jump PB were all set in 1998.

I have no sympathy for her and she must sit in her cell and contemplate what she has done with all of her lies.I use to love the woman but now she is a disgrace.The best part was when she publically was looking for sympathy with her admission of guilt. :angry:

Is it a shame. It really was deception by her, no other way around that. She denied categorically taking drugs and passed over 160 tests.

But she was also involved in a fraud involving bank cheques?

From Wikipedia:

In July 2006, Jones was linked to a check-counterfeiting scheme that led to criminal charges against her coach and ex-boyfriend Montgomery. Documents showed that a $25,000 check made out to Jones was deposited in her bank account as part of the alleged multimillion-dollar scheme. Prosecutors allege that funds were sent to Jones' track coach, Steven Riddick, in Virginia, then funneled back to New York through a network of "friends, relatives and associates."Riddick was arrested in February on money-laundering charges. According to the indictment and subsequent documents filed with the court, the link to Jones was made through one of Riddick's business partners, Nathaniel Alexander.

On October 5, 2007, Jones pled guilty to making false statements to IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky leading the ongoing BALCO investigation in California. Jones claimed she had never taken performance-enhancing drugs. “That was a lie, your honor,” she said from the defense table. The Federal Government, through grand juries, had been investigating steroid abuse since 2003.

Jones also pled guilty to making false statements about her knowledge of a check-cashing scheme to New York U.S. Department of Homeland Security Special Agent Erik Rosenblatt, who has been leading a broad financial investigation that has already convicted the father of Jones' child, former world record holder and "World's Fastest Man" Tim Montgomery, sports agent Charles Wells, and her coach, 1976 Olympic gold medalist Steven Riddick.

Jones is now expected to testify against her former coach Trevor Graham, who is awaiting trial in San Francisco on charges that he lied to federal agents as part of the BALCO investigation.