Is Marion Jones Sorry?

January 21, 2008

This past Friday at the Dubai Marathon, Haile Gebrselassie barely missed his own world record in the marathon by less than 30 seconds. It was an exciting race for track and field fans, but evidently not significant enough to be televised in the United States. Despite Gebrselassie being arguably the greatest runner in the world, he is not the biggest name in the sport right now â€“ at least not big enough for Oprah. Whatâ€™s wrong with this picture?

Former sprinter Marion Jones will begin a six month prison sentence this March for lying to federal agents about her drug use and involvement in a check-fraud scheme. All of her results since September 1, 2000, have been disqualified and she has been stripped of her Olympic medals. Jones, 32, has been in the news since she admitted her crime in October. She appeared on â€œThe Oprah Winfrey Showâ€ last Wednesday to discuss her sentence.

â€œI made a mistake,â€ Jones told Winfrey. â€œI want people to understand everybody makes mistakes. I truly think a personâ€™s character is determined by their admission of their mistakes and beyond that, what do I do about it?â€

A mistake is an error in judgment. Jones did not make a mistake, she made choices. She chose to use performance-enhancing drugs and she chose to lie about it repeatedly.

Jones expected a slap on the wrist for her â€œmistakeâ€ by serving only probation. However, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas hopes the maximum sentence, which also includes two years probation and 400 hours of community service, will send a message to athletes not to break the rules. It is unfortunate, but Jones is not the first, and likely will not be the last, to use performance-enhancing drugs in this sport.

"I have to live with it. My family has to live with it. With the grace of God we'll get through it (and) come out even better at the other end,â€ Jones said. "How can I change the lives of people? How can I use my story to change the life of a young person?"

While Jones may feel sorry for herself and focus on what will make her feel better, does she truly realize the consequences of her actions? Drug cheats think only of themselves, but they tarnish the image of track and field. It is not fair for clean athletes to be at a disadvantage against drug users, nor to be constantly under suspicion themselves.

â€œAthletics is riddled, almost rotten, with suspicion. This is a sport that has historically and continually bowdlerized the concept of fair playâ€¦ In the process of going faster, higher, further, some in athletics took the â€˜higherâ€™ a little too seriously. Athletics looks addicted to drugs,â€ wrote Sue Mott of â€œThe Sydney Morning Herald.â€

Mottâ€™s comment reinforces that another problem with these drug cheats is the media. Bad news gets more publicity than good, which results in a negative portrayal of track and field. Itâ€™s easy for Jones to â€œmake a mistake,â€ spend time in jail and make another appearance on â€œOprahâ€ when she gets out to talk about how the experience has changed her for the better, but what will any of that really solve?

"The revelation that one of the sport's biggest stars took performance-enhancing drugs and repeatedly lied about it, in addition to being a party to fraud, has no silver lining," USATF president Bill Roe and CEO Craig Masback said in a joint statement, according to The Press Association. "We hope that all Americans will take to heart those lessons.â€

"The organization of the American anti-doping agency and American track and field now recognize there is a responsibility to sort this problem out,â€ Olympian and IAAF vice-president Sebastian Coe told BBC News, according to Reuters. "This is a very damaging episode for my sport and we have to move on with better protocols in place and an American sport that recognizes they are part of the global sport.â€

Jonesâ€™s drug use was not detected at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. However, since the 2004 Athens Olympics, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) implemented the World Anti-Doping Code to combat the problem. According to the Beijing 2008 Web site, International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said that the IOC will enforce a â€œzero toleranceâ€ doping policy at the 2008 Olympic Games. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction for a clean sport and media recognition for those that deserve it.

â€œThe sport of track and field in the United States has moved on since Marion Jones competed, reaching even higher levels of success, as a team, than when she was at her peak,â€ Roe and Masback said.

*Photo from oprah.com

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Cara Hawkins January 26, 2008 at 9:36am.

I suppose that is what makes me angry about media-bad news gets more coverage then good.

Reply to Cara

Adam_x January 25, 2008 at 8:29am.

Interesting article. I found it hilarious that athletes such as Jason Giambi admit to using steroids... and they're still playing baseball and shooting endorsements.