(5 Oct 2007) EM4596
HEADLINE: Jones admits lying about steroid use, apologizes
CAPTION: The owner of three Olympic golds and two bronze medals, Marion Jones admitted she used steroids and pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators about her use of performance-enhancing drugs. She then announced her retirement in a tearful apology. (Oct. 5) 2007
[Notes:ANCHOR VOICE]
((FONT: White Plains, NY))
NATS: "I have let my country down, and I have let myself down."
After years of angrily denying she used steroids, Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones admitted it was all a lie.
At a court in White Plains, New York, Jones pled guilty to lying to federal agents who were investigating her use of performance-enhancing drugs in 2003.
((FONT: Marion Jones, Olympic Gold Medalist))
"Making these false statements to federal agents was an incredibly stupid thing for me to do, and I am responsible fully for my actions, I have no one to blame but myself for what I’ve done."
Jones won’t learn what her punishment is until she’s sentenced in January, but prosecutors have suggested she could face up to six months in prison.
STANDUP:
((FONT: Ted Shaffrey, The Associated Press))
"This guilty plea could cost Jones the three gold medals and two bronze she won at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
"That’s because the International Olympic Committee has an eight year window, legally, to punish athletes found guilty of doping."
The head of the group that enforces world anti-doping rules in America says steroid users degrade sports. .
((Travis Tygart, United States Anti-Doping Agency))
"In Sport we expect clean athletes and the overwhelming majority of our athletes are clean and they compete in the right way and they compete ethically."
"I recognize that by saying that I’m deeply sorry, it might not be enough and sufficient to address the pain and hurt that I have caused you therefore I want to ask for your forgiveness."
Jones was once one of the most celebrated female athletes in the world, a winner with a bright smile who earned millions in endorsements and appearance fees.
But then came the steroid allegations, which until now she had consistently denied.
((FONT: File))
"The people that know me are my fans and family and they know that everything I’ve done is truthful and to me that’s what matters."
But Friday, she said she was through.
"And because of my actions I am retiring from the sport of track and field, a sport which I deeply love."
Jones also pled guilty to a second count of lying to investigators in an unrelated check fraud scheme.
STORYLINE
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