No image available
/ 17 May 2008

Disgraced Tim Montgomery jailed in US

Disgraced former 100m world-record-holder Tim Montgomery was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison on Friday for his role in a check fraud scheme that also led to the downfall of Marion Jones. Montgomery was once considered the world’s fastest man before being banned from athletics as a dope cheat.

No image available
/ 16 May 2008

Watching athletes go cold turkey

If the death of a racehorse is a sad event, then the death of a racehorse on live television is an obvious starting point for national catharsis. So it has been in the United States in the past few days after the collapse and ultimate euthanasia of the filly Eight Belles at the end of last weekend’s Kentucky Derby.

No image available
/ 25 April 2008

Drug storm gathers over athletics

Last weekend, in anticipation of an unfavourable result against my beloved red and whites at St James’s Park, I took the tried-and-tested ostrich method of arranging to be out of range of TV or radio. Instead I was cycling across England from Whitehaven on the west coast, arriving in a desolate Sunderland about one hour after the final whistle.

No image available
/ 17 January 2008

Marion Jones: ‘I made a mistake’

Disgraced American Olympic hero Marion Jones said she hasn’t told her young son that she is going to jail for lying to law-enforcement officials about using steroids and a check-fraud scheme. Jones was speaking on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Wednesday, less than two months before she is expected to begin serving a six-month prison sentence.

No image available
/ 12 January 2008

Marion Jones gets six months in prison

Disgraced United States sprinter Marion Jones was sentenced to six months in prison on Friday for lying to federal prosecutors about her steroid use, a stunning downfall for the five-time Olympic medalist. US District Court Judge Kenneth Karas imposed the sentence after Jones (32) pleaded guilty to two charges last October.

No image available
/ 23 December 2007

Balco ledgers outline Jones’ drug use

Ledgers gathered in the Balco steroid investigation outline the detailed doping programme of disgraced sprinter Marion Jones, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Saturday. The newspaper cited court documents filed by prosecutors in New York in support of their case against Jones, who has pleaded guilty to lying to investigators.

No image available
/ 6 October 2007

US track star Jones admits to steroid use

Reversing years of denials, United States track superstar Marion Jones pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to federal investigators and admitted using steroids, which could cost her the five medals she won in the 2000 Olympics. In a sober court hearing and a tear-filled appearance before reporters, Jones (31) admitted using performance-enhancing drugs.