Jones 'took Banned Drugs', Says Ex

Olympic sprint champion Marion Jones used banned performance-enhancing drugs during the Sydney Olympics in 2000, where she won five medals, her ex-husband has claimed.

According to reports in The San Francisco Chronicle, CJ Hunter told an investigation into the designer steroid scandal in US Athletics that he injected Jones with banned substances and watched as she injected herself with drugs during the Olympic Games.

Hunter told federal investigators that Jones, then his wife, took human growth hormone THG, and a substance known as "the clear" while in Sydney. He also claimed that she used the endurance-boosting drug EPO, the newspaper said.

Jones, 28, was this week officially named in the US Olympic team, but will only defend her long-jump title in Athens next month. She failed to qualify for the 100m, and withdrew from the 200m, claiming she was tired.

Jones has been under investigation by the US Anti-Doping Agency in connection with an investigation into the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, or Balco, which reportedly supplied banned substances to athletes. The agency has not charged Jones, who denies using performance-enhancing drugs.

Her lawyer, Joseph Burton, claimed Hunter was seeking retribution. "CJ Hunter has had an axe to grind ever since Marion Jones ended their marriage [in 2002]," he said. "Fortunately, his efforts to exact his revenge by telling lies to the government are directly contradicted by the statements made by Jones's former coach."

Hunter, the 1999 world shot-put champion, tested positive for steroids four times in 2000, and withdrew before the Sydney Olympics with a knee injury. He claimed he had tested positive after taking a tainted supplement.