Tarnished Glory

According to the Post, Jones said that she got the steroids from her coach, Trevor Graham, and continued to use them until she stopped working with him in late 2002. Graham has pleaded not guilty to three counts of lying to federal agents in the BALCO investigation and is scheduled to go on trial next month. Jones reportedly said she unwittingly used a steroid rub known as "the clear" after her trainer told her it was flaxseed oil. According to transcripts leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle, Bonds also told the BALCO grand jury that he used "the clear" after his trainer told him it was flaxseed oil; another grand jury is considering perjury charges against Bonds for his original testimony.

Jones, according to the Post, says she panicked and lied when federal investigators questioned her about the substance. But it's hard to use panic as an excuse for years of public denials at every turn since. Victor Conte, the head of BALCO who went to prison in the case, has repeatedly fingered Jones as a doper who cheated her way to glory in Sydney.

After those games Jones never again rose to the same performance level. Four years later she failed to make the U.S. Olympic team in either of the sprints, the 100 and 200 meters, that she had won in Sydney, though in Athens she did compete in the long jump, finishing fifth, and ran on a 4X100 relay team that, because of a botched baton pass, never finished. But the sprinter still commanded big appearance fees on the track circuit abroad. Last year, however, she tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug EPO. While a second test cleared her, she was forced to withdraw from a number of major track meets.

By then the tarnish on her reputation had grown into a major blight. Montgomery, Jones's former boyfriend who is the father of her child, was also ensnared in the BALCO case. He was banned from competition for two years and stripped of his former world record in the 100 meters. He would later plead guilty in connection with a bank fraud that also involved Jones's agent and new coach. And, as she did back in 2000 with her husband, Jones kept playing the innocent whose sole flaw was apparently very bad judgment in men. Her second guilty plea reportedly involves a check she received from Montgomery, a money-laundering transaction in connection with that financial fraud.

Jones will almost certainly be stripped of her Olympic medals, and she is finished as a serious track and field athlete. Having covered Jones and spent considerable time with her, I confess it is tempting to cut her some slack. She always projected such vulnerability, making it far easier to cast her as a victim than a villain.

But while there may be good explanations for Jones's actions, and her betrayal of her public, there are no good excuses. Jones had always been the best, but she clearly didn't trust her talent to prove it on her sport's biggest stage. Now she's just another cheat who will forever stand as a symbol of sullied dreams.