Marion Jones

Marion Jones was born to George Jones and his wife, Marion (originally from Belize), in Los Angeles. She holds dual citizenship with the United States and Belize.{{cite journal |access-date=2008-02-10 |url=http://www.infoplease.com/spot/marionjones1.html |title=Marion Jones: Fastest Woman on Earth |author1=Rowen, Beth |author2=Ross, Shmuel |author3=Olson, Liz |year=2007 |journal=InfoPlease Database}} Her parents split when she was very young, and Jones's mother remarried a retired postal worker, Ira Toler, three years later. Toler became a stay-at-home dad to Jones and her older half-brother, Albert Kelly, until his sudden death in 1987.{{cite news |title=Jones Relays Thoughts on Chance for 5 Golds |last=Hersh |first=Philip |date=September 24, 2000 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |page=15}} Jones turned to sports as an outlet for her grief: running, pickup basketball games, and whatever else her brother Albert was doing athletically. By the age of 15, she was routinely dominating California high-school athletics on both the track and the basketball court.

Jones is also a 1997 graduate of the University of North Carolina (UNC).

In high school, Jones won the CIF California State Meet in the 100 m sprint four years in a row, representing Rio Mesa the first two years and Thousand Oaks high school the last two. In 1992, she was successfully defended by attorney Johnnie Cochran on charges of missing a routine drug test.{{cite news |last=Patrick |first=Dick |date=October 5, 2007 |title=Until now, Jones had been steadfast in doping denials |url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2007-10-05-jones-analysis_N.htm |work=USA Today |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210023810/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2007-10-05-jones-analysis_N.htm |archive-date=February 10, 2008 |url-status=dead}} She was selected the Gatorade Player of the Year for track and field three years in a row, once at Rio Mesa and twice at Thousand Oaks.{{Cite web |last=Riley |first=Jeff |date=1991-11-22 |title=Sprint Champion Marion Jones Transfers to Thousand Oaks |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-22-sp-326-story.html |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} She was the Track and Field News "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1991 and 1992.{{Cite web |date=1996-07-06 |title=Mortensen Chosen Girls' Athlete of the Year |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-07-06-sp-21544-story.html |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} She was the third female athlete to achieve the title twice, immediately following Angela Burnham at Rio Mesa High School, who was the second to achieve the title twice.[http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/component/content/article/35-stats/2116-t-fn-girls-hs-aoy T&FN HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS ATHLETES OF THE YEAR] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126173444/http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/index.php/component/content/article/35-stats/2116-t-fn-girls-hs-aoy |date=November 26, 2015 }}. trackandfieldnews.com

She was invited to participate in the 1992 Olympic trials, and after her showing in the 200 meters finals, would have made the team as an alternate in the 4 × 100 meter relay, but she declined the invitation. After winning further state-wide sprint titles, she accepted a full scholarship to the University of North Carolina in basketball, where she helped the team win the NCAA championship in her freshman year. Jones redshirted her 1996 basketball season to concentrate on track but was injured and never got the opportunity to try out.{{Cite web |title=Marion Jones injury stuns World Championships |url=https://www.southcoasttoday.com/story/sports/1999/08/26/marion-jones-injury-stuns-world/50514427007/ |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=New Bedford Standard-Times |language=en-US}}

File:Tgalindo-100sevilla99.jpg]]

She excelled at her first major international competition, winning the 100 m sprint at the 1997 World Championships in Athens, while finishing 10th in the long jump.{{Cite web |title=Women 100m Athletics VI World Championship 1997 Athens (GRE) - Sunday 03.08 - Gold Medal; Marion Jones, United States |url=http://todor66.com/athletics/world/1997/Women_100m.html |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=todor66.com}} At the 1999 World Championships, Jones attempted to win four titles, but injured herself in the 200 m after a gold in the 100 m and a long jump bronze.{{Cite web |date=2014-03-10 |title=Sevilla 99 Start Lists and Results |url=http://www2.iaaf.org/sevilla99/results/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310195631/http://www2.iaaf.org/sevilla99/results/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-03-10 |access-date=2024-08-17 }}

At the Sydney Olympics, Jones finished with three gold medals (100- and 200-meter sprint, and {{nowrap|4 × 400 m}} relay) and two bronze medals (long jump and {{nowrap|4 × 100 m}} relay). However, she was later stripped of these medals after admitting her use of performance-enhancing drugs. Jones vehemently denied using performance-enhancing drugs until her confession in 2007.{{Cite web |last=Pugmire |first=Lance |date=2007-10-06 |title=Jones admits using steroids |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-06-sp-jones6-story.html |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}

A dominant force in women's sprinting, Jones was upset in the 100 m sprint at the 2001 World Championships, as Ukrainian Zhanna Pintusevich-Block beat her for her first loss in the event in six years; Pintusevich-Block was one of the names revealed by Victor Conte during the BALCO scandals.{{Cite news |last=Mackay |first=Duncan |date=2004-04-27 |title=Block named on the Balco supply list |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2004/apr/27/athletics.drugsinsport |access-date=2024-08-17 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} Jones, however, did claim the gold in both the 200 m and 4 × 100 m relay.

On her 2004 Olympics experience, Jones said "It's extremely disappointing, words can't put it into perspective."{{cite magazine |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/olympics/2004/08/28/bc.olympics/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070811133940/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/olympics/2004/08/28/bc.olympics/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 11, 2007 |title=Friday: Bad day for U.S.; new dawn for China |agency=Reuters |date=August 28, 2004 |magazine=Sports Illustrated}} She came in fifth in the long jump and competed in the women's 4x100 m relay where the team swept past the competition in the preliminaries only to miss a baton pass and finish last in the final race.{{Cite web |date=2004-08-24 |title=After Sydney superstardom, Jones goes quietly in Athens |url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/summer04/trackandfield/news/story?id=1866971 |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}} Jones promised that her latest defeat would not be the end of her Olympic efforts, and reasserted in May 2005 that winning a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics remained her "ultimate goal."

May 2006 had Jones run 11.06 at altitude, but into a headwind in her season debut and beat Veronica Campbell and Lauryn Williams in subsequent 100 m events.{{Cite web |date=2006-06-05 |title=Jones, Gatlin win again, Defar breaks record |url=https://timesofmalta.com/article/jones-gatlin-win-again-defar-breaks-record.51742 |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=Times of Malta |language=en-gb}} By July 8, 2006, Jones appeared to be in top form; she won the 100 m sprint at Gaz de France with a time of 10.93 seconds. It was her fastest time in almost four years.{{Cite web |date=2006-07-09 |title=Jones runs her fastest 100 meters in 4 years |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2006/07/09/jones-runs-her-fastest-100-meters-in-4-years/ |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}} Three days later, Jones once more improved on her seasonal best time at the Rome IIAF Golden League (10.91 seconds), but lost to Jamaica's Sherone Simpson, who clocked 10.87.

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Marion Jones

| position = Point guard

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 10

| weight_lbs = 150

| league =

| team =

| number = 20

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1975|10|12}}

| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| high_school = Thousand Oaks
(Thousand Oaks, California)

| college = North Carolina (1993–1997)

| draft_league = WNBA

| draft_year = 2003

| draft_round = 3

| draft_pick = 33

| draft_team = Phoenix Mercury

| career_start = 2010

| career_end = 2011

| years1 = 2010–2011

| team1 = Tulsa Shock

| highlights = *NCAA champion (1994)

• Third-team All-American – AP (1997)
• ACC tournament MVP (1997)
• 2 × First-team All-ACC (1995, 1997)
• ACC All-Freshman Team (1994)

}}

In November 2009, Jones was working out for the San Antonio Silver Stars of the WNBA. She had played basketball while in college at the University of North Carolina, where her team won the national championship in 1994. Her No. 20 jersey, honored by the school, hangs in Carmichael Auditorium. She had been selected in the third round of the 2003 WNBA draft by the Phoenix Mercury.{{cite web |url=http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/11/30/marion-jones-attempting-comeback-as-pro-basketball-player/ |title=Marion Jones Attempting Comeback as Pro Basketball Player |date=November 30, 2009 |first=Kevin |last=Blackistone |access-date=December 2, 2009 |archive-date=August 2, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100802134834/http://nba.fanhouse.com/2009/11/30/marion-jones-attempting-comeback-as-pro-basketball-player |url-status=dead }} On March 10, 2010, the Tulsa Shock announced that Jones, a rookie, had signed to play with the team.{{Cite news |last=Zinser |first=Lynn |date=2010-03-10 |title=Jones, Disgraced Sprinter, Is Joining the W.N.B.A. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/sports/basketball/11jones.html |access-date=2024-08-17 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Jones made her debut on May 15, in the Shock's inaugural game at the BOK Center against the Minnesota Lynx.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/15/AR2010051503799_pf.html |title=Marion Jones returns to sport with the WNBA's Tulsa Shock |date=May 16, 2010 |first=Amy |last=Shipley |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=D08}} On August 22, 2010, she logged her first start and scored a WNBA career high 15 points in a win against the Chicago Sky.{{cite news |author1=Stan Grossfeld |title=Fast break |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/444033990/ |access-date=14 October 2024 |work=The Boston Globe |date=22 August 2010 |pages=D1-[https://www.newspapers.com/image/444034058/ D5]}} In 47 WNBA games, Jones averaged 2.6 points and 1.3 rebounds per game. Jones was waived by the Shock on July 21, 2011.{{cite news |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/more/07/21/Marion-Jones-cut-by-Shock.ap/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104161153/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/more/07/21/Marion-Jones-cut-by-Shock.ap/index.html?sct=hp_t2_a18&eref=sihp |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |title=Ex-Olympic sprinter Marion Jones cut by Shock |date=July 21, 2011 |work=CNN}}

While at UNC, Jones met and began dating one of the track coaches, shot putter C. J. Hunter. Hunter voluntarily resigned from his position at UNC to comply with the requirements of university rules prohibiting coach-athlete dating. Jones and Hunter were married on October 3, 1998, and trained for the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics.

In the run-up to the 2000 Olympics, Jones declared that she intended to win gold medals in all five of her competition events at Sydney. Jones's husband, C. J. Hunter, had withdrawn from the shotput competition for a knee injury, though he was allowed to keep his coaching credentials and attend the games to support his wife. Just hours after Marion Jones won her first of the planned five golds, though, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that Hunter had failed four pre-Olympic drug tests, testing positive each time for the banned anabolic steroid nandrolone. Hunter was immediately suspended from taking any role at the Sydney games, and he was ordered to surrender his on-field coaching credentials. At a press conference where Hunter broke down in tears, he denied taking any performance-enhancing drugs, much less the easily detected nandrolone.{{cite news |date=2000-09-25 |title=IOC chief says Hunter failed four drug tests |url=http://static.espn.go.com/oly/summer00/news/2000/0925/777764.html |access-date=2024-10-11 |publisher=ESPN |agency=Associated Press}} Jones would later write in her autobiography, Marion Jones: Life in the Fast Lane, that Hunter's positive drug tests hurt their marriage and her image as a drug-free athlete. The couple divorced in 2002.

On June 28, 2003, Jones gave birth to a son, Tim Montgomery Jr., with then-boyfriend Tim Montgomery, a world-class sprinter himself.Helene Elliott: [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jun-30-sp-nwbox30-story.html Marion Jones Gives Birth to Boy], June 30, 2003, Because of her pregnancy, Jones missed the 2003 World Championships, but spent a year preparing for the 2004 Olympics. Montgomery, who did not qualify for the 2004 Olympic track-and-field team for poor performance, was charged by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), as part of the investigation into the BALCO doping scandal, with receiving and using banned performance-enhancing drugs. The USADA sought a four-year suspension for Montgomery. Montgomery fought the ban, but lost the appeal on December 13, 2005, receiving a two-year ban from track-and-field competition; the Court of Arbitration for Sport also stripped Montgomery of all race results, records, and medals, from March 31, 2001, onward. Montgomery later announced his retirement.

On February 24, 2007, Jones married Barbadian sprinter and 2000 Olympic 100 m bronze medalist Obadele Thompson.{{cite news |last=Cherry |first=Gene |date=March 7, 2007 |title=Sprinters Jones and Thompson married, says minister |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/sportsNews/idUSL0725699120070307 |work=Reuters}} Jones has two children with Thompson.{{cite news |date=October 5, 2007 |title=CNN Newsroom: Jones Doping Case; Tax Standoff Ends; Myanmar Crackdown |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0710/05/cnr.06.html |work=CNN Transcripts}}{{cite news |last=Michaelis |first=Vicki |date=May 17, 2010 |title=Marion Jones hits ground running, starts fresh in WNBA |url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/wnba/shock/2010-05-16-marion-jones-cover_N.htm |work=USA Today}} Thompson and Jones divorced in 2017. Jones now resides in Austin, Texas with her long-time partner.

In 2010, Jones released a book, On the Right Track: From Olympic Downfall to Finding Forgiveness and the Strength to Overcome and Succeed, published by Simon & Schuster.{{Cite web |url=http://www.marionjones.org/ |title=Marion Jones |access-date=December 6, 2016 |archive-date=December 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161209201322/http://www.marionjones.org/ |url-status=dead }} Jones is now a full-time public speaker, trainer and coach.{{Cite web |last=Kussoy |first=Howie |date=2024-08-01 |title=Marion Jones opens up about her legacy during Olympics 2024 |url=https://nypost.com/2024/08/01/sports/marion-jones-opens-up-about-her-legacy-during-olympics-2024/ |access-date=2024-08-17 |language=en-US}} In 2024 Jones partnered with Driven Inc to launch Driven performance which focuses on building resilience skills through coaching and physical fitness.

Jones appears in the 2003 film Top Speed, along with other speed specialists such as racing driver Lucas Luhr, mountain biker Marla Streb, and Porsche Cayenne designer Stephen Murkett. Directed by Greg MacGillivray and shot in IMAX format, the film covers details from races to mistakes she made within her performances.

File:Marion Jones Sydney 2000.JPEG, where she used performance-enhancing drugs]]

Throughout most of her athletic career including two Olympiads and several championship meets, Jones had been accused, either directly or by implication, of taking performance-enhancing drugs. These accusations began in high school in the early 1990s, when she missed a random drug test and was consequently banned for four years from track and field competition. Jones, a minor, claimed that she never received the letter notifying her of the required test; and attorney Johnnie Cochran successfully got the four-year ban overturned. Jones tended to train with both coaches and athletes who themselves were dogged by rumors and accusations surrounding performance-enhancing drugs. And until 2007, Jones denied, in almost every way possible and in almost any venue where the question arose, being involved with performance enhancers. She frequently said that she had never tested positive for performance-enhancing substances.

On December 3, 2004, Victor Conte, the founder of BALCO, appeared in an interview with Martin Bashir on ABC's 20/20. In the interview, Conte told a national audience that he had personally given Jones four different illegal performance-enhancing drugs before, during, and after the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. In the course of investigative research, San Francisco-based reporters Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada reported Jones had received banned drugs from BALCO, citing documentary evidence and testimony from Jones's ex-husband C.J. Hunter, who claims to have seen Jones inject herself in the stomach with the steroids.{{cite book |last1=Fainaru-Wada |first1=M. |last2=Williams |first2=L. |title=Game of Shadows |url=https://archive.org/details/targetunderweara00aden |url-access=registration |publisher=Gotham Books |year=2006 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/targetunderweara00aden/page/234 234–235]}}

According to Hunter's 2004 testimony before a federal grand jury, Jones's use of banned drugs began well before Sydney.{{cite news |last=Williams |first=Lance |date=August 19, 2006 |title=Sprinter Jones failed drug test |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/19/MNGBGKLP8H1.DTL&hw=marion+jones&sn=003&sc=976 |access-date=2008-08-04 |work=San Francisco Chronicle}} Hunter told the investigators that Jones first obtained EPO (erythropoietin) from Graham, who Hunter said had a Mexican connection for the drug. Later, Hunter said, Graham met Conte, who began providing the coach with BALCO "nutritional supplements", which were actually an experimental class of "designer" steroids said to be undetectable by drug screening procedures available at the time. Graham then distributed the performance enhancers to Jones and other Sprint Capitol athletes. Subsequently, Hunter told federal agents Jones began receiving drugs directly from Conte.

Jones had never failed a drug test using the then-existing testing procedures, and insufficient evidence was found to bring charges regarding other untested performance-enhancing drugs.{{Cite news |last=Mackay |first=Duncan |date=2006-08-19 |title=Only surprise about Jones drugs bust was that was she got caught |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2006/aug/20/athletics.comment |access-date=2024-08-17 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

The Washington Post, citing unidentified sources with knowledge of drug results from the USA Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis, reported that on June 23, 2006, an "A" sample of Marion Jones's urine tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO), a banned performance enhancer. Jones withdrew from the Weltklasse Golden League meet in Switzerland, citing "personal reasons", and once more denied using performance-enhancing drugs.{{Cite web |date=2006-08-18 |title=Jones pulls out of Golden League Meet at last minute |url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/trackandfield/news/story?id=2553442 |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}} She retained lawyer Howard Jacobs, who had represented many athletes in doping cases, including Tim Montgomery and cyclist Floyd Landis. On September 6, 2006, Jones's lawyers announced that her "B" sample had tested negative, which cleared her from the doping allegations.{{Cite news |last1=Zinser |first1=Lynn |last2=Schmidt |first2=Michael S. |name-list-style=and |date=2007-10-06 |title=Jones Admits to Doping and Enters Guilty Plea |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/sports/othersports/06balco.html |access-date=2024-08-17 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

On October 5, 2007, Jones admitted to lying to federal agents under oath about her steroids use prior to the 2000 Summer Olympics and pleaded guilty at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (in White Plains). She confessed to Judge Kenneth M. Karas that she had made false statements regarding the BALCO and a check-fraud case. She was released on her own recognizance but was required to surrender both her U.S. and Belizean passports, pending sentencing in January. Although a maximum sentence of five years could be imposed, the prosecution recommended no more than six months as part of Jones's plea bargain.

After her admission, Jones held a press conference on the same day, where she publicly admitted to using steroids before the Olympics and acknowledged that she had, in fact, lied when she previously denied steroid use in statements to the press, to various sports agencies, and to two grand juries. One was impaneled to investigate the BALCO "designer steroid" ring, and the other was impaneled to investigate a check fraud ring involving many of the same parties from the BALCO case. As a result of these admissions, Jones accepted a two-year suspension from track and field competition issued by USADA and announced her retirement from track and field.{{cite news |access-date=2007-10-05 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/sports/othersports/05cnd-balco.html?hp=&pagewanted=print |title=Jones Pleads Guilty to Lying About Drugs |first1=Michael S. |last1=Schmidt |first2=Lynn |last2=Zinser |date=October 5, 2007 |work=The New York Times}} She broke down into tears during the press conference as she apologized for her actions, saying: "And so it is with a great amount of shame, that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust... and you have the right to be angry with me. I have let them down. I have let my country down. And I have let myself down."{{cite news |last1=Zinser |first1=Lynn |last2=Schmidt |first2=Michael S. |date=October 6, 2007 |title=Jones Admits to Doping and Enters Guilty Plea |newspaper=The New York Times |page=D1}}

USADA stated that their sanction "also requires disqualification of all her competitive results obtained after September 1, 2000, and forfeiture of all medals, results, points and prizes". On January 11, 2008, Jones was sentenced to six months in jail. She began her sentence on March 7, 2008,{{cite news |access-date=2008-07-30 |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j45h2TXIPAcsLvMwWvwlDUeXuKVQ |title=Disgraced sprinter Jones reports to jail |date=March 7, 2008 |work=AFP |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621041311/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j45h2TXIPAcsLvMwWvwlDUeXuKVQ |archive-date=June 21, 2008 |df=mdy-all }} and was released on September 5, 2008.{{cite news |date=September 5, 2008 |title=Marion Jones released from Texas federal prison |url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/trackandfield/news/story?id=3570875 |access-date=October 11, 2024 |publisher=ESPN |agency=Associated Press}}

In the BALCO case, she had denied to federal agents her use of the steroid tetrahydrogestrinone, known as "The Clear", or "THG", from 1999, but claimed she was given the impression she was taking a flaxseed oil supplement for two years while coach Trevor Graham supplied her with the substance. In a published letter in October 2007, Jones said that she had used the substance that was given to her described as flaxseed oil, which was later confirmed to be "The Clear" until she stopped training with Graham at the end of 2002.{{Cite web |date=2007-10-04 |title=Olympics Star Marion Jones Admits Doping - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/olympics-star-marion-jones-admits-doping/ |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2007-10-05 |title=Marion Jones's letter to friends and family |url=https://www.smh.com.au/sport/marion-joness-letter-to-friends-and-family-20071005-gdra43.html |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}} She said she lied when federal agents questioned her in 2003 because she panicked when they presented her with a sample of "The Clear".{{cite news |last=Shipley |first=Amy |title=Marion Jones Admits to Steroid Use |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 5, 2007 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/04/AR2007100401666_pf.html}}

Peter Ueberroth, chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee, reacted to the news of Jones's confession and guilty plea on perjury charges by issuing a statement calling on Jones to "immediately step forward and return the Olympic medals she won while competing in violation of the rules". Ueberroth added that her admission was "long overdue and underscores the shame and dishonor that are inherent with cheating." IAAF president Lamine Diack said in a statement: "Marion Jones will be remembered as one of the biggest frauds in sporting history."{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=IAAF decries Jones's tainted legacy |date=October 8, 2007}}

On October 8, 2007, a source confirmed that Marion Jones surrendered her five medals from the 2000 Summer Olympics. On the same day, Ueberroth said that all the relay medals should be returned,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/13/sports/othersports/13jones.html?_r=1&ref=othersports&pagewanted=print |title=Jones's Teammate Braces for Worst |agency=Associated Press |date=October 13, 2007 |newspaper=The New York Times}} and on April 10, 2008, the IOC voted to strip Jones's relay teammates of their medals as well,{{cite web |date=April 10, 2008 |title=IOC votes to strip Jones's teammates of medals from 2000 Games |url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/trackandfield/news/story?id=3339267 |access-date=October 11, 2024 |publisher=ESPN |agency=Associated Press}} although this decision would successfully be appealed by seven of Jones's teammates and overturned in 2010.{{cite web |date=2010-07-16 |others=Contributed by Rachel Cohen, Pat Graham and Paul Weber |title=US relay runners win Olympic medals appeal |url=https://www.espn.com/espn/wire?section=oly&id=5385884 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223234741/http://espn.go.com/espn/print?id=5385884 |archive-date=February 23, 2014 |access-date=October 11, 2024 |publisher=ESPN}}

On December 12, 2007, the IOC formally stripped Jones of all five Olympic medals dating back to September 2000, and banned her from attending the 2008 Summer Olympics in any capacity.{{cite news |url=http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22170098/ |title=IOC strips Jones of all 5 Olympic medals |date=December 12, 2007 |agency=Associated Press |work=MSNBC.com |access-date=March 7, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218091719/http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22170098/ |archive-date=February 18, 2008 |url-status=dead }} The IOC action also officially disqualified Jones from her fifth-place finish in the long jump at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

On October 28, 2008, Jones was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and stated that she would have won gold at the Sydney Olympics without the drugs that led to her disgrace.{{YouTube|id=3ewja4q0z7s|title=Oprah Interviews Marion Jones}}{{cite news |title=Marion Jones tells Oprah Winfrey: I'd have won without the drugs |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=October 30, 2008|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/3280847/Marion-Jones-tells-Oprah-I-never-knowingly-took-performance-enhancing-drugs-Athletics.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/3280847/Marion-Jones-tells-Oprah-I-never-knowingly-took-performance-enhancing-drugs-Athletics.html |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}

Seven years after winning a women's record five Olympic track and field medals and receiving multimillion-dollar endorsement deals, Jones was broke.{{cite web |url=http://cbs.sportsline.com/worldsports/story/10236098 |title=Former Olympian, track millionaire Jones now broke |work=CBS Sports |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629023321/http://cbs.sportsline.com/worldsports/story/10236098 |archive-date=June 29, 2007 |df=mdy-all }}{{cite web | url=https://www.billsbills.com/blog/north-carolina-star-athlete-bankruptcy-how-marion-jones-lost-it-all | title=North Carolina Star Athlete in Bankruptcy - How Marion Jones Lost It All - John T. Orcutt - Celebrity Money Problems Relieved by Chapter 7 }} According to the Associated Press, Jones was heavily in debt and fighting off court judgments, according to court records reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. In 2006, a bank foreclosed on her $2.5 million mansion in Apex, North Carolina.{{Cite news |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=2007-06-24 |title=Jones Says She's in Financial Debt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/sports/othersports/24sportsbriefs-jones.html |access-date=2024-08-17 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} In her prime, Jones was one of track's first female sports millionaires, typically earning between $70,000 and $80,000 a race, plus at least another $1 million from race bonuses and endorsement deals.{{Cite web |date=2007-06-25 |title=Court documents show Marion Jones almost broke |url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/trackandfield/news/story?id=2915341 |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=ESPN.com |language=en}}

In July 2006, Jones was linked to a check-counterfeiting scheme that led to criminal charges against her coach and former 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 alleged that funds were sent to Jones's track coach, 1976 Olympic gold medalist Steve Riddick, in Virginia, then funneled back to New York through a network of "friends, relatives and associates."{{cite news|url=http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/13848653/|title=Bank records link Marion Jones to money scam|date=July 15, 2006|agency=Associated Press|work=NBC Sports|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423110925/http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/13848653/|archive-date=April 23, 2008|url-status=dead}} 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 pleaded 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.{{Cite web |date=2007-10-05 |title=Marion Jones Pleads Guilty To Doping - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marion-jones-pleads-guilty-to-doping/ |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=cbsnews.com |language=en-US}} The federal government, through grand juries, had been investigating steroid abuse since 2003.

Jones also pleaded 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 Montgomery, sports agent Charles Wells, and her coach, Steve Riddick.{{Cite web |title=Former Olympian Jones sentenced to six months |url=https://www.recordonline.com/story/sports/2008/01/12/former-olympian-jones-sentenced-to/52670376007/ |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=Times Herald-Record |language=en-US}}

File:CarswellFMCFortWorthTX.jpg, where Jones was imprisoned]]

Prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas that any sentence between probation and six months' imprisonment would be fair (with the maximum penalty being five years in prison); Karas responded by seeking advice as to whether he could go beyond the six-month sentence. Meanwhile, Jones's lawyers asked that her penalty be limited to probation and community service, arguing, in part, that she had been punished enough by apologizing publicly, retiring from track and field, and relinquishing her five Olympic medals.

On January 11, 2008, Karas sentenced Jones to six months in jail for her involvement in the check fraud case and her use of performance-enhancing drugs.{{Cite news |last1=Schmidt |first1=Michael S. |last2=Wilson |first2=Duff |name-list-style=and |date=2008-01-12 |title=Marion Jones Sentenced to Six Months in Prison |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/12/sports/othersports/11cnd-jones.html |access-date=2024-08-17 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} During the sentencing hearing, the judge admonished her, saying that she knew what she was doing and would be punished accordingly.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7182969.stm|title=Six-month jail sentence for Jones|date=January 11, 2008|publisher=BBC News|access-date=2008-01-11}} "The offenses here are serious. They each involve lies made three years apart", Karas said, adding that Jones's actions were "not a one-off mistake...but a repetition in an attempt to break the law."

Jones was ordered to surrender on March 15, 2008. She reported four days early, on March 11, at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell prison in Fort Worth and was assigned Federal Bureau of Prisons register no. 84868–054. She was released from prison on September 5, 2008.

Jones appeared in season 3 of Special Forces: World's Toughest Test where she was medically withdrawn during the third episode.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

• The United States Anti-Doping Agency stripped Jones of every single medal, point and result received after September 1, 2000, after she admitted to using performance-enhancing steroids prior to the 2000 Summer Olympics.{{cite news |last=Armour |first=Nancy |date=October 8, 2007 |title=Marion Jones returns her five Olympic medals, accepts 2-year ban |url=http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/professional/article_fc4c2c33-90df-53c9-a65e-0f385a3ace9d.html |publisher=pantagraph.com |agency=Associated Press}}

• World Athletics Awards

:: World Athlete of the Year (Women): 1997, 1998{{Cite web |title=World Athletes of the Year |url=https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/document/651c81d5050f9b2bc0433282.pdf?_gl=1*6hkuqu*_ga*NjYxMTM1NTI5LjE3MTUyMjE3MTY.*_ga_7FE9YV46NW*MTcxNTIyMTcxNS4xLjEuMTcxNTIyMTcyMi4wLjAuMA.. |access-date= |website=World Athletics |format=PDF}}

{{WNBA player statistics legend}}

{{WNBA player statistics start|WNBA regular season statistics}}

|- class="sortbottom"

| style="text-align:left;"| 2003

| colspan=13 rowspan=7 style="text-align:center;"| Did not appear in league

|- class="sortbottom"

| style="text-align:left;"| 2004

|- class="sortbottom"

| style="text-align:left;"| 2005

|- class="sortbottom"

| style="text-align:left;"| 2006

|- class="sortbottom"

| style="text-align:left;"| 2007

|- class="sortbottom"

| style="text-align:left;"| 2008

|- class="sortbottom"

| style="text-align:left;"| 2009

|-

| align="left" | 2010

| align="left" | Tulsa

|33||1||9.4||52.5||25.0||59.5||1.6||0.6||0.5||0.2||0.7||3.4

|-

| align="left" | 2011

| align="left" | Tulsa

|14||0||6.5||19.0||0.0||50.0||0.4||0.2||0.5||0.1||0.4||0.7

|- class="sortbottom"

| align="left" | Career

| align="left" | 2 years, 1 team

|47||1||8.6||45.5||16.7||58.7||1.3||0.5||0.5||0.2||0.6||2.6

{{S-end}}

{{WNBA player statistics start|caption=NCAA statistics{{Cite web |title=North Carolina Media Guide |url=http://goheels.com/documents/2017/6/22/5068907.pdf |website=goheels.comaccess-date=2017-08-31}}

}}

|-

|align=left style="background:#ffcc00;| 1993–94*

|align=left| North Carolina

|35|| || ||.529||.280||.713||4.1||3.0||3.2||0.8|| ||14.1

|-

|align=left| 1994–95

|align=left| North Carolina

|35|| || ||.525||.298||.655||5.0||4.8||3.5||0.9|| ||17.9

|- class="sortbottom"

|align=left| 1995–96

|align=left| North Carolina

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="12" |Did not play due to injury

|-

|align=left| 1996–97

|align=left| North Carolina

|32|| || ||.536||.267||.657||4.7||4.1||3.1||0.6|| ||18.6

|- class="sortbottom"

| align=center colspan=2|Career

|102||—||—||.530||.284||.670||4.6||4.0||3.3||0.8||—||16.8

{{s-end}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|30em}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite web

| access-date = 2008-01-13

| url = http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/athlete%3D62739/

| title = Biography: Marion Jones

| work = Focus on Athletes

| publisher = International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)

}}

• {{cite web

| access-date = 2007-06-01

| url = http://www.legacy.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Jones_Marion.asp

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070621193541/http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Jones_Marion.asp

| archive-date = 2007-06-21

| date = April 30, 2007

| title = Marion Jones

| work = Athlete Bios

| publisher = USA Track and Field (USATF)

}}

• {{cite web

|access-date=2008-01-13

|url=http://www.usolympicteam.com/26_1339.htm

|title=Marion Jones

|publisher=United States Olympic Committee (USOC)

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213063904/http://www.usolympicteam.com/26_1339.htm

|archive-date=December 13, 2007

|url-status=dead

}}

{{refend}}

{{Commons category|Marion Jones}}

• {{Basketballstats|wnba=marion-jones}}
• {{World Athletics||name=Marion Jones}}
• {{IMDb name|1201431}}
• New York Times Topic: [http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/j/marion_jones/index.html?inline=nyt-per People: Marion Jones]
• [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20071025021346/http://multimedia.nydailynews.com/pdf/2007/10/05/marion_jones/JonesPleaAgreement.pdf 10-05-2007 Federal Plea Bargain Agreement]
• [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0102082jones1.html 12-28-2007 Marion Jones's Legal Filing Requesting Parole]
• [https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/marionjonesapologyforsteroiduse.htm Complete text, audio, video of Marion Jones-Thompson apology speech]
• [http://www.dyestat.com/ATHLETICS//////TRACK/stat_rec.doc California State Records before 2000]{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
• {{cite web

| access-date = 2008-01-13

| url = http://www.topspeedfilm.com/jones.html

| title = Profiles in Speed: Marion Jones

| publisher = Top Speed

| year = 2003

| url-status = dead

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080123113248/http://www.topspeedfilm.com/jones.html

| archive-date = January 23, 2008

| df = mdy-all

}}

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{{s-end}}

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{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Marion}}

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