Marion JONES

Marion Jones has known the best and the worst that the Olympic world offers. She first came to prominence as a high school sprint star in the early 90s. She narrowly missed making the 1992 U.S. Olympic team in the individual sprints as a high school senior, and she declined a place on the relay team. She then attended the University of North Carolina, where she starred as a point guard on the basketball team, and led the team to the NCAA Women's Championship in 1994. She ran no international track while in college but returned to star at the 1997 World Championships when she won gold medals in the 100 meters and 4×100 metres relay. In 1998, she won 34 individual events, losing only a late season long jump competition. At the 1999 World Championships, she defended her title at 100 meters, but was injured in attempting to win the 200. Jones set herself the goal of winning five gold medals at the 2000 Olympic Games. She succeeded in winning five medals, three of them gold. The golds came in the 100, 200, and 4×400 metres relay, while she earned bronze medals in the long jump and 4×100 relay. She continued to compete after 2000, though never as successfully.

Though she never tested positive in any drug test, she was hounded by rumors of doping after the Sydney Olympics. The rumors were exacerbated by her marriage to two athletes (C. J. Hunter and Tim Montgomery) who had both tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). In October 2007, after the fall-out of the BALCO investigation in the United States, Marion Jones confessed that she had lied to a grand jury when she stated that she had never taken PEDs. She was sentenced to six-months in jail for perjury and began serving that sentence in March 2008. In December 2007, the IOC removed all of her Olympic medals and vacated her performances.

Personal Bests: 100 – 10.65 (1998); 200 – 21.62 (1998); 400 – 49.59 (2000); LJ – 7.31 (1998).