She won some Olympic medals, headed to prison, and then became a gladiator. This
is the story of the rise, downfall, and redemption of Marion Jones.
Marion Jones initially found her way to athletics,
specifically basketball and track, as a way of connecting with her half-brother, Albert Kelly.
While in college at the University of North Carolina, she was on the national champion
Tar Heel basketball team in 1994. She also met her future husband, shot putter C.J. Hunter,
during her time at UNC. He worked as a track coach for the school, and they married in
October 1998. From that point forward, she devoted most of her time to track and field.
Jones dedicated herself to representing the United States at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney,
Australia. Once she made the team, she declared that she would win five gold medals in all of
her events. It was a bold declaration, to be sure, but not one that was entirely unfounded.
At the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Jones competed in five track and field events: the 100 meters,
200 meters, 4x400-meter relay, 4x100-meter relay, and the long jump. She was laser-focused
on achieving her goal of five gold medals. It didn't quite work out as perfectly as she'd hoped,
though she did become the first woman to win five medals at a single Olympics. She took the
gold in the 100, 200, and 4x400 while settling for third-place bronzes in the other two events.
Her husband C.J. Hunter pulled out of the shot put competition due to an injury but stayed on
as her coach. Shortly after she won her first event, news broke that Hunter had failed his
pre-Olympic drug tests. He tested positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone, which resulted
in a suspension and the loss of his coaching credentials. The scandal cast a negative light
on Jones' drug-free image, and it didn't help their marriage, either, as they divorced in 2002.
Marion Jones and C.J. Hunter didn't have any kids during their time together, but motherhood was
still in the cards for Jones. After they split up, she began dating Tim Montgomery, who was at the
time the world record holder in the 100 meters. They eventually had a son, Timothy Montgomery Jr.,
who was born prematurely. Shortly afterward, Jones issued a press release in which she said,
"I am so happy. This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. He's a beautiful baby,
and Tim and I could not be more excited."
Though they had a son together, Jones and Montgomery never married. She eventually
moved on to a new relationship with fellow Olympic sprinter Obadele Thompson of Barbados,
who took the bronze in the 100 meters at the 2000 Summer Games. They married
in a quiet ceremony in early 2007 in Wilson's Mills, North Carolina.
Later that year, Jones and Thompson had a son named Amir. Two years later,
they welcomed a daughter named Eva-Marie. The family ultimately settled in Austin,
Texas, where Jones launched her Take a Break program.
"Is that good?"
Marion Jones' performance at the 2000 Olympics made her a media darling. As
her handlers paraded her around the country, she suddenly had plenty of
new opportunities to pursue off the track. This included appearances as a contestant
on the game shows Pyramid and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, but perhaps her biggest foray
into the world of media was the 2003 IMAX film Top Speed. The movie documents Jones
and other "uncommonly fast individuals" with incredible visuals, CGI, and special effects.
After Top Speed, Jones' media appearances coincided with her ongoing legal issues.
This included one role on a scripted series,
as she played herself on an episode of the HBO show Arli$$ in 2001.
Throughout her track and field career, Marion Jones fought off allegations of steroid use. They
went all the way back to her time in high school after she missed a drug test. At the time, she
was suspended from competing in track and field competitions for four years. She appealed that
decision, claiming that she never received the letter notifying her of the test. She even hired
famed attorney Johnnie Cochran to defend her, and they successfully overturned the suspension.
But that was only the beginning of this saga. During college, Jones developed a reputation
for working with coaches who found themselves on the wrong side of a steroid scandal. Most notably,
her former husband and coach, C.J. Hunter, tested positive for steroids multiple times.
Jones' name also came up during the scandal surrounding the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative,
aka BALCO. In 2002, the federal government investigated BALCO, and their findings
implicated dozens of athletes in a systematic distribution of performance-enhancing drugs.
Jones vehemently denied that she used any banned substances, and she never failed a
test. She even went so far as daring the Anti-Doping Agency to charge her in 2004.
For years, Marion Jones maintained that she didn't use steroids at any point in
her career. Unfortunately, though, there was plenty of evidence implicating her,
so the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency opened an investigation. Victor Conte, the founder of BALCO,
testified that he personally helped inject Jones with steroids before and after the
2000 Olympics. C.J. Hunter also admitted to helping her take steroids. However,
she never failed a test, so no charges were brought against her.
But then in 2006, Jones failed a preliminary drug test when Erythropoietin was found in
her urine. A subsequent test didn't find any more of the drug, so her name was cleared for
the time being. But then on October 5, 2007, she held a press conference and admitted to
lying to federal investigators and to taking steroids before and after the 2000 Olympics.
"I have betrayed your trust."
Lying to federal investigators is a crime, and Jones faced a maximum possible sentence
of five years in prison if convicted. She'd previously claimed that she believed that she
took a flaxseed oil supplement, but her admission in 2007 suddenly changed the stakes for her.
Marion Jones ultimately pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements to federal
agents. Had she gone to trial, she probably would've faced a more significant prison sentence,
but her plea deal reduced her time behind bars. She was ultimately given a six-month sentence,
along with two years of supervised release and 800 hours of community service.
Jones begged the judge to limit her prison time,
as she hoped to not be separated from her children. Prosecutors recommended
zero to six months of confinement, so the judge handed down the maximum requested
sentence. She reported to jail on March 11, 2008, and was released on September 5.
Jones' crimes weren't limited to lying to federal investigators. She also
pleaded guilty to lying to investigators related to a check-counterfeiting scheme,
as records showed that she deposited $25,000 from her ex-boyfriend Tim Montgomery.
"I was there for almost six months, and there were nights that were extremely hard."
After admitting to lying for years about her steroid use, Marion Jones's competitive career
was essentially over. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency handed down a two-year suspension
from track and field, but Jones took it a step further by officially retiring.
The USADA also disqualified every one of her achievements beginning on September 1,
2000, which required the forfeiture of points, prize money, and medals.
Soon after, the International Olympic Committee stripped Jones of her medals
and removed her stats from Olympic records. The IOC's decision came a month after the
International Association of Athletics Federations erased Jones' stats going
back to September 2000. Essentially, every one of her achievements that happened after
her admitted steroid use became suspect and was removed from the record book.
Marion Jones' admission of guilt also led to some significant financial costs.
Not only did she have to defend herself with expensive attorneys,
but she also lost some of her reliable revenue streams. By June 2007, the Los
Angeles Times reported that she had only about $2,000 in her bank account. She lost
her $2.5 million mansion in Chapel Hill, North Carolina due to a bank foreclosure.
Furthermore, Jones lost a countersuit brought by track coach Dan Pfaff that
resulted in a $240,000 judgment for unpaid fees and expenses. While defending herself,
she missed out on five international competitions, losing around $300,000 in appearance fees. At the
height of her career, Jones earned as much as $80,000 per race and as much as $1 million in
endorsement deals. But in 2007, she was let go from all of her endorsement contracts.
In addition to returning her medals, she was also ordered to repay $700,000 in prize money.
"We all go through challenging times in our lives."
"Absolutely."
Before focusing solely on track and field, Marion Jones was also crushing
it on the basketball court. She played three seasons with the North Carolina Tar Heels
and even won the national championship her freshman year. With her track career over,
she returned to her roots in October 2009 by training with the WNBA's San
Antonio Silver Stars. As she recalled to The New York Times at the time,
"I thought it would be an interesting journey if I decided to do this. It
would give me an opportunity to share my message to young people
on a bigger platform; it would give me an opportunity to get a second chance."
Jones eventually got that chance when she signed with the Tulsa Shock in 2010 as a point guard.
She played 47 games, but she was eventually cut before her third season. She averaged less than
one point per game in her 14 appearances of her second season with the team. Incidentally,
Jones had been drafted into the WNBA back in 2003 by the Phoenix Mercury,
but she never played any games with the team. In 2004, Marion Jones published her first book,
entitled Marion Jones: Life in the Fast Lane — An Illustrated
Autobiography. There was one line in there that really didn't age well:
"I am against performance-enhancing drugs. I have never taken them, and I never will take them."
Of course, Jones' tune on that topic eventually changed. She also wrote during her time in prison,
mainly in the form of letters to her husband and children. When she got out, she continued writing
and eventually published a memoir in 2010 entitled On the Right Track: From Olympic Downfall to
Finding Forgiveness and the Strength to Overcome and Succeed. She addressed the many lies she told
over the years, how she fell into a pattern of dishonesty, and how it impacted her life. She also
detailed her experiences in prison, including the time she was attacked. As she put it,
"I felt like my life was in danger. And I just lost it.
I hit [another inmate] in the face with my cooler and kicked her in the ribs."
Marion Jones has experienced plenty of highs and lows over the years. She became the fastest
woman in the world at the 2000 Olympics, and then she competed at the next Summer
Games in 2004 in Athens, Greece, though she didn't get any medals that time. Of course,
it all eventually came crashing down, though she's done her best to rebuild since then.
Jones and her family eventually settled in the city of Pflugerville, just outside of Austin,
Texas. She took a job with Camp Gladiator, an outdoor fitness training program designed
for adults of any fitness level. Jones' Camp Gladiator page lists her fitness
background as a "Former Olympian and Collegiate National Champion," and she
calls herself a "COACH" in all capital letters and not just a personal trainer.
"It's a great organization if anybody is kind of
starting out on a fitness journey or they want something different."
In addition to personal training, Jones takes any opportunity she can to connect with the youth of
her community. In February 2020, she accepted an invitation to be the main speaker at the Delco
Elementary School in northeast Austin during the school's Black History Month program. She
spoke about the importance of taking a break and thinking before making pivotal decisions,
which has been her central message since coming clean about her drug use.