Jones to admit Steroid use in 2000 Olympics

Marian Jones, a triple gold medallist in Sydney Olympics in 2000, will plead guilty of using steroids to improve performance.

In a letter sent to close family and friends, Jones said that she had lied to the federal agents regarding her drug use and a financial matter of accepting a fraudulent cheque. She said she had used "the clear" and she got it from her former coach Trevor Graham.

Jones is believed to have used two designer steroids - "the cream," a lotion loaded with testosterone, and "the clear," a steroid which like the cream is designed to avoid detection - beginning in 1999.

Jones is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court on Friday for a 4 p.m. hearing and is expected to plead guilty to charges in connection with her steroid use. She was one of several athletes, including Barry Bonds, to testify before a San Francisco federal grand jury investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, which is investigating the scandals related to BALCO.

But the official word on guilty plea is still not out as the investigation is going on and specific details won’t be disclosed till the inquiry is over.

A post, quoting a person who received a copy of Jones' letter, has reported that she had panicked when she was shown the sample of “the clear” which she had recognized as a substance which she had taken from her coach.

All this while, she has been denying all the charges of taking performance-enhancing drugs. "I have always been unequivocal in my opinion," she wrote in her autobiography three years ago. "I am against performance-enhancing drugs. I have never taken them and I never will take them."

She had even sued, the founder of BALCO, Victor Conte in 2004 for $25 million, when he told a national television news program that Jones used designer steroids, human growth hormone and other illegal performance enhancers before and after the Olympics.

"It cost me a lot of money to defend myself," Conte said Thursday. "But I told the truth then, and I'm telling it now."

"I don't feel a sense of vindication," Conte said. "I feel sorry for her and her family. Marion's a good person - she made a mistake, just as I made a mistake and paid for it, and my family paid for that, too."

C.J. Hunter, Jones former husband also claims to have seen her use banned drugs and said that she got them from her coach. Trevor Graham has already been banned from the U.S. Olympic training facilities and is subject to an investigation.

"I want to apologize for all of this and I am sorry for disappointing you all in so many ways," she said, according to the post.

Such an admission could lead to Jones' being stripped of her five medals which she won in 2000 Olympics. These include 3 gold and 2 bronze.

Darryl Seibel, a spokesman for the U.S. Olympic Committee, said the organisation will look into this matter and then decide the course of action. "Doping is cheating and our position is unequivocal. It will absolutely not be tolerated," he said. "Any athlete who chooses to cheat is making a decision that is a complete contradiction to what the Olympic movement stands for."

This case of such a successful and famous athlete using drugs has definitely brought this matter of doping into serious consideration. It is a matter of intense discussion that, “Are the Athletes only ones who should be blamed and prosecuted for this?”

According to Conte, athletes such as Jones feel they have to use drugs to compete. "We should shift the spotlight to owners and union representatives and Olympic sports federation officials who have profited from this mess," he said and to a limit he is right in saying this.