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The disgraced track and field goddess, Marion Jones, has emerged before our jaundiced gaze as America's latest Greek athletic tragedy. Nevertheless, she has bothered to issue yet another dopey denial of wrongdoing regarding her long-suspected abuse of performance-enhancing drugs. Can we drop the charade?
Generally speaking, we are fast suspending the capacity for belief in our fellow man/woman in matters involving the swarm of globe-trotting druggies and pushers posing as athletic marvels and high-tech trainers. It's time we stopped calling testosterone, EPO, HGH and the pusher's palette of banned chemicals "performance-enhancing" drugs. The dictionary definition of "enhance" is this: "to increase or improve in value, quality, desirability or attractiveness."
There is nothing desirable about a performance that is based on deceit, nothing attractive about an athlete disguised as a junkie. Marion Jones, once the fastest woman on the face of the Earth, ultimately can't outrun the truth. The queen of speed stands naked, and we are left to ponder the Myth of Marion.
For quite a few years, the five-time Olympic medalist and 30-year-old sprinter has had enough circumstantial evidence stacked around her to conceal the Parthenon. The fall of the steroids-laced BALCO empire hastened her demise in the sport and the court of public opinion, however gradual that reckoning has been.
For years, Olympic fans shielded their brains from common sense when it came to Jones. She was so talented, so captivating, that no one wanted to believe the whispers. So, they believed bought-and-paid-for sycophants like the late Johnnie Cochran. And their lying eyes. There is a photograph of Jones from a meet in Mexico this spring where her body looks harder than a diamond. At Athens two years ago, looking softer than a flower petal, she ran like a washed-up diva.
All along, there were enough shady characters hanging around Jones to qualify as a Vegas boxing entourage, enough smoke to create an unmistakable signal.
For the Sydney Games, she trained with coach Trevor Graham. The Jamaican has trained a slew of track stars banned for doping but keeps running circles around the feds. He is under investigation by a grand jury for his involvement with drugs and athletes.
C.J. Hunter, her ex-husband, retired shot-put champion and steroid-user, told investigators two years ago that he saw his then-wife use EPO, human growth hormone and a designer steroid, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Hunter said Jones injected herself before the Olympics in Australia and that she often used makeup to cover her drug-induced acne.
Later, she worked out in Canada with Charlie Francis, who had trained another track star -- the famously banned Ben Johnson.
Former world recordholder Tim Montgomery, who fathered a child with Jones, was banned for two years for failing a drug test. He quit.
Victor Conte, who pleaded guilty to dealing steroids in the BALCO scandal, said he supplied Jones with stealthy steroids called "the cream" and "the clear" and watched her inject herself. (Jones denied the allegations and sued Conte. They settled out of court.)
This time, there is evidence to support the notion that Jones dopes. She tested positive for EPO, which elevates the oxygen-loaded red blood cell count, at the U.S. Track & Field Championships two months ago.
Monday, Jones issued a statement saying she was "shocked" by the result. Confirmation of the "B" sample would lead to a two-year ban. Her current coach, Steve Riddick, offered the usual lame it-doesn't-make-sense refrain and hinted at a conspiracy. (This is the same Steve Riddick who earlier this year pleaded not guilty, along with Montgomery, to bank fraud and money-laundering charges.)
One reason Jones remains so vehement in her denials is a practical one. She has testified before a federal grand jury in the BALCO case that she never used steroids. Telling tall tales might leave her vulnerable.
America now boasts quite a lineup of home-grown champion cheats, at least if you believe their specimens: Tour de France winner Floyd Landis, Jones and Olympic 100-meter champion Justin Gatlin, who Tuesday agreed to an eight-year ban. The limitless reservoir of gall among such athletes truly is remarkable. With straight faces, they keep telling crooked stories.
That is particularly true of Jones, who two years ago in her autobiography emphasized in bold caps her opposition to the festering drug culture in sports:
"I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN UNEQUIVOCAL IN MY OPINION: I AM AGAINST PERFORMANCE-ENHANCING DRUGS. I HAVE NEVER TAKEN THEM AND I NEVER WILL TAKE THEM."
Sure. Hey, Marion, have you heard this one?
THE DOG ATE MY HOMEWORK!
E-mail Jon Saraceno at jons@usatoday .com
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