Marion Jones Cheater!

She's not beautiful, she's ugly. ...and I'm not talking about her physical appearance.

"I still believe athletes should be able to take whatever they want to be better and faster." George, I respect your right to think this and to post this thought. I however, believe and feel 180 degs opposite. I believe taking performance enhancing drugs tarnishes competition and degrades the purity of sports. I believe anyone caught red handed taking illegal performance enhancing drugs should be seriously punished. I have a son who swims for one of the service academies and he has never taken any illegal drug. I know a gold medal winning swimmer from Athens very well. In fact, I watched her grow up into a fine, beautiful, strong, fast and dope free young lady. I would hate to see her robbed of her hard work, dedication, clean & honest performances by some drug taking cheater. Their is no room for this in sports, none. Purity in sports--Are you kidding. There has never been purity in sports. Atheletes and society demand it. The only reason the Olympics are "nonprofessional" s because the Great Britian Olympic movement had a lot of money and influence when the modern Olympics were developed. It has nothig to do with purity. They ensured that professional swimmers, rowers and fencers were not permitted to compete. My Grandfather was a national bicyclist when he was a young man. They cheated anyway they could. During the late 1880s bicycling was a very popular sport in the States. One reason why it lost a lot of favor was because of the underhandedness. And also Car racing-which had to be orginaized to keep organized crime out of it or alt least under the radar. Also this really does question Lance Armstrong's statements about doping even more becuase Marion Anderson didn't test positive, i believe

The Ben Johnson story is an interesting one. Charlie Francis (Johnson's coach as well as Marion Jones', for a time) admitted Johnson took steroids, but claims he was NOT taking Stanozolol, which is what he tested positive for. Both Johnson and Francis believe someone else somehow caused Johnson's test to come out positive for that drug.

Ben always said he was given something to drink by another athlete just before he went for his test. I know the name of the guy who gave him the drink, he was from the USA but can not say it. I would surely be sued. Apparently Carl Lewis didn't give him the drink, but it was someone who was friends with Lewis. Anyway, it's pretty hard to feel much sympathy for someone who readily admits they cheated. See: www.cbc.ca/.../johnson-lewis-conspiracy.html

Those were the days when everyone was using something. I thought those were these days - Landis, Jones, Travis Henry, Ricky Williams, the entire field at the Tour de Farce - the list of current athletes is endless. Also, I've about had it with these grown adults claiming someone slipped them a roofie. I guess that is the adult version of "my dog ate it." I have a pal who is tested over a dozen times a year. He says it really is pretty simple to not use drugs, contrary to the wacko stories all the dopers come up with.

Those were the days when everyone was using something. Looks like those days are still with us. This really saddens me because track and field used to be my sport. Like cycling all track athletes are suspect now. I just hope the next scandal is not a swimmer.

Thats why I say let them do what they want we will never know who is clean and who is dirty as long as there is a drug designer who keeps ahead of the testers. From casual reading, I think that is a central issue: the drug designers stay ahead of the testers. Also, there is a limit (above zero) set for some drugs, so (some) athletes drug to just short of that level. It's legal. The original Olympians allegedly used anything they could get their hands on. Although rather distant from it (it's not an issue I get high blood pressure over), I don't think there is a real solution. Maybe aided versus unaided Games. Think back to the days of Marion Jones's glory: wasn't her husband/BF or trainer kicked out of the Games right then? Did you think Jones was 100% pure? Regards, VB

If this is true, then how did she manage to avoid any positive drug tests during that time? Couldn't be detected by the tests available at that time. Amy Van Dyken testified before the same grand jury in 2003. She has been linked to Bill Romanowski, who reportedly introduced her to BALCO's Victor Conte. Her testimony remains sealed.

I think the public denials and lying ultimately may do as much damage to sport as the cheating. What egomaniacal sense of entitlement gives an athlete -- or sitting President, for that matter, but this is not a political discussion -- the right to sit on a dais and feed us pure bs for years, then turn around and beg forgiveness when finally caught out? What message does that send to my kids who are just starting into competitive athletics? The whole sordid affair is disgusting, and unfortunately makes me view similar denials by athletes with about an ocean of salt.

BillS makes a good point. I would hazard a guess that about 50% of all notable athletic achievements the past decade are clouded or have been proven as outright fraud - baseball certainly is disgraced entirely, pro football somewhat but that's more from illegal drugs and thuggery, cycling without a dout is a sham, T&F/weightlifting are completely corrupt, swimming has had its fair share of issues. Then, you got gull over there in Texas sporting those new pipes, just makes you wonder about it all, oh the humanity.