Jones turns over Olympic medals to USOC
Her reputation is gone and now so are Marion Jones's Olympic medals.
Jones gave back the five medals she won at the Sydney Olympics yesterday and agreed to forfeit all other results dating to Sept. 1, 2000, further punishment for her admission that she was a drug cheat.
The three gold medals and two bronzes were turned over to US Olympic Committee and US Anti-Doping Agency officials at her attorneys' office in Austin, Texas. They are en route to USOC headquarters in Colorado Springs, and the USOC will return them to the International Olympic Committee.
"We've done what we can," said Jim Scherr, the USOC's chief executive officer. "We caught the person who was not clean. We've got the medals in our possession, and we will return them to IOC."
Jones won golds in the 100 and 200 meters, as well as the 1,600 relay. She won bronzes in the 400 relay and the long jump. It will be up to the IOC to decide what to do with the medals and whether to vacate Jones's results from Sydney - which could cost her relay teammates medals, too.
Scherr and USOC chairman Peter Ueberroth both said they would support the IOC nullifying the relay results, and encouraged the other Americans to give back their medals.
Jearl Miles-Clark, Monique Hennagan, Tasha Colander-Richardson, and Andrea Anderson all won golds as part of the 1,600-meter relay. Chryste Gaines, Torri Edwards, Nanceen Perry, and Passion Richardson were on the 400-meter relay team.
Both Edwards and Gaines have served doping bans since the 2000 Olympics.
"It's our opinion when any sporting event is won unfairly, it's completely tarnished and should be returned. The relay events were won unfairly," Ueberroth said. "It's very unfortunate, but your result involved cheating, so the result is unfair to the other athletes of the world."
Jones pleaded guilty Friday to lying to federal investigators about using steroids, saying she'd taken designer steroid "the clear" from September 2000 to July 2001. "The clear" has been linked to BALCO, the lab at the center of the steroids scandal.
After Friday's court hearing, Jones announced her retirement, but yesterday she accepted a two-year ban and agreed to forfeit any results dating to Sept. 1, 2000.
Jones stands to lose still more. The International Association of Athletics Federations can strip athletes of results and medals after notification of a doping violation.
IAAF rules also allow for athletes busted for doping to be asked to pay back prize money and appearance fees, and Scherr said the USOC plans to go after Jones for any prize money that it awarded her.
