Marion Jones Bottoms Out: Six Months in Prison
Marion Jones was sentenced this morning to six months in prison for lying about using steroids and for involvement in a check-fraud scheme.
And now the destruction of a sports icon is complete.
Jones herself, of course, is primarily responsible for her own demise. She did the BALCO 'roids, and then lied about it ... and whatever that check mess was about. Well, stealing, basically.
Jones remains a pitiable figure, however. Almost sympathetic, because the revelations seem to paint her as a weak-minded, not-very-bright athlete repeatedly manipulated by more powerful personalities in her life. Coaches, and the men she lived with.
Maybe allowing us to draw that picture was part of her defense ... maybe crying on the courthouse steps in October was calculated to elicit sympathy ... but I don't think so. I think this is a woman who has seen her world melt down, and now has two young sons and no money..
Gosh, remember how big a star Marion Jones was, seven years ago? The five medals at the Sydney Olympics? She aimed for an unprecedented five gold, and got three. She was one of the top half-dozen sports figures in the country, and maybe in the world.
In my mind's eye I have an image of her blasting down the 100-meter course, coming right at me as I sat in the press area on the first turn of the Sydney Olympic Stadium. She ran 10.75 ... and won by a huge distance. It seemed like 10 yards, though it had to be closer than that ...
(Actually, it WAS a blowout. Check the video here. And, now that we take another look at her, circa 2000, she IS kind of huge. Not Florence Griffith-Joyner huge, but big. Yes, suspiciously big, especially her upper body. That's a football-player's neck, too.)
She was so likable, too. Sunny, upbeat. And even when she was trashing the rest of the world competition, she was never arrogant or boastful. She went to the trouble of being outwardly modest, which is beyond most modern athletes. Proximity to her only made a person more inclined to like her. As opposed to most sports superstars ... who wear on a person in a hurry.
We all wanted to like her, and most of us did. Which is why she did so many commercials, before and after Sydney.
And now she goes to jail, a broken woman, 32, mother of two, her reputation destroyed, her Olympic medals returned to the IOC. A convicted felon. (I wonder if this gave Barry Bonds pause, this morning.)
Maybe there is some redemption out the back end of this ... presumably she has decades still to live and work. And maybe the can accomplish something positive.
We'd like to think of her life as a cautionary tale ... but who pays attention to cautionary tales? Just about nobody. Certainly just about nobody who aspires to Olympic gold.
Man, that's a tumble. One of the all-timers. The sort that can only come with a very very high ascent.