Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones made a stunning admission Friday – that she used steroids – and pleaded guilty in federal court to obstruction of justice.
"It is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I betrayed your trust," a tearful Jones said later at a news conference. "I have let [my family] down, I have let my country down and I have let myself down."
She announced she was retiring from track and field, "a sport I deeply love."
The plea came after years of angry denials by Jones, 31, who in 2000 won five medals in Sydney – three gold and two bronze track and field medals – and was the most celebrated female athlete of the games.
Jones is expected to be stripped of her medals in light of the revelations. Under the statute of limitations, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other sports organizations have eight years to withdraw medals and nullify results.
Jones, who pleaded guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice in U.S. District Court in White Plains, N.Y., admitted that she lied to investigators in two separate probes: the BALCO case in San Francisco and a check fraud and money laundering scheme that also allegedly involved her ex-boyfriend Timothy Montgomery.
Jones Sends Letters of Apology
On Thursday, The Washington Post first reported that the track star would go public with the admission. She also sent family members and close friends a letter in which she owned up to using steroids, including one known as "the clear," for two years beginning in 1999, according to the letter."I want to apologize for all of this," The Post quotes Jones from one of the letters. "I am sorry for disappointing you all in so many ways."
She also said in the written message that she faced up to six months in jail and would be sentenced in three months, reports the paper.
In 2004, the IOC announced it was investigating doping charges leveled against the Olympian, and IOC president Jacques Rogge set up a commission to look into the claims made by Victor Conte, head of a California-based lab accused of illegally distributing steroids.
At the time, Jones threatened to sue Conte for defamation.
Besides serving possible jail time, Jones conceivably may face a lengthy competition ban from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the Associated Press reports.
• Additional reporting by KATHY EHRICH DOWD
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