Marion Jones' Shady Past

Marion Jones is without doubt the world's best female athlete, even if the International Association of Athletics Federations recently decided to recognise Paula Radcliffe as such.

For all her success during the past year, however, Radcliffe cannot even begin to match the American's achievements, the most notable of which is winning a record five Olympic medals at the 2000 Sydney games, including three gold. Jones is a charismatic, articulate superstar whose name and face are famous around the world, and is one of the few figures who transcends her sport.

But however much she wins in the future, there is one aspect where the sprinter will never be mentioned in the same breath as Radcliffe. Integrity.

At a time when the Briton is using the platform her accomplishments have afforded her to aggressively promote the importance of drug-free sport, what has Jones done? Together with her boyfriend Tim Montgomery, the world record holder for the 100m, she has left her long-time coach Trevor Graham and is working with Charlie Francis in Toronto.

You might remember Francis. The Canadian was Ben Johnson's coach at the 1988 Olympics and later admitted under oath that he helped Johnson take the steroids which caused him to test positive and be stripped of the 100m gold medal and world record. Francis once said of drug use in track events: "It isn't cheating if everyone else is doing it."

Nothing has happened in the 15 years since Seoul to remove the stain from Francis's character. His reputation alone is enough to tarnish anything that Jones achieves under his guidance, especially as he continues to claim success is impossible without drugs.

He is a regular contributor to Testosterone Magazine and in December 2001 penned an expert analysis of drugs in sport. "Perhaps we really should give out medals to the scientists assisting the athletes," Francis wrote. "That'll never happen, of course. But make no mistake - the theme of modern sport regarding drug use remains 'business as usual'."

Francis then goes on to give a detailed breakdown of the kind of drugs that one group of top sprinters were allegedly using in the run-up to Sydney, including injecting embryonic calf-cell preparation - which helps muscles recover quicker from training- insulin and EPO. He happily gives every impression of a man who continues to be at the cutting edge of chemical technology.

That, coupled with Jones's marriage to the former world shot-putt champion CJ Hunter, figures to raise more than a few eyebrows. Hunter tested positive for nandrolone in 2000 and missed the Olympics because he was banned. Jones later divorced him and has since taken up with Montgomery.

Montgomery's decision to leave Graham and work with Francis is even more bizarre. It was only three months ago, after setting a world record of 9.78sec in Paris, that he was crediting Graham for most of his success. But it wasn't long before the questions started arriving about Johnson. Montgomery's time had been particularly significant as it was the first occasion anyone had run quicker than Johnson's discredited Seoul record.

Montgomery understandably grew tired of the questions and comparisons loaded with innuendo. Why would he then want to associate himself with the man who devised and administered the methods employed by Johnson? He appears to have allowed his heart to rule his head.

Jones has not even had the courage to be honest about her and Montgomery's relationship with Francis. She denied that she been working with him and said that she was being trained by Derek Hansen, a man so little regarded even most people in Canadian athletics had never heard of him.

Hansen claims to have a master's degree in applied science from McGill University, although the school's records show it is in urban planning - hardly the kind of credentials normally associated with coaching the world's finest pair of sprinters.

Then a news agency circulated a photograph worldwide and which proved what Jones had been claiming was untrue. The picture is taken from a distance with a long lens, but is clear enough to show Jones and Montgomery preparing for a workout with Francis.

Before Canada banned him for life from working with any of their athletes following the Johnson scandal, Francis was widely acknowledged as the best sprint technician in the world.

Perhaps Jones has heard that and believes that by working with him she can shave two-tenths of a second out of her 100m best, to get within reach of Florence Griffith Joyner's untouchable (and almost certainly drug assisted) world record of 10.49. It is also possible - although extremely unlikely - that she knew little about Francis's reputation.

Jones has wanted that Flo Jo record for five years. Maybe she will get it but the cost will be huge, to her reputation and to the sport. Will anyone believe the performance?

It is a shame she has not displayed half the moral fibre that Paula Radcliffe has.