Why You Shouldn't Believe Marion Jones: Vol. 32

Story by Eric.

This is the 32nd in a long series about Marion Jones, a former elite sprinter who won honour and earned endorsements, fame and fortune by method of fraud. The 30th series introduces Trevor Graham into the picture.

Marion Jones began her professional athletics career in March 1997 with a working relationship with Trevor Graham – a coach she’d later turn over as a conspirator to defraud the sport and ruin her career, and a man who would spend 12 months in home-confinement for lying to U.S. Federal authorities concerning the BALCO affair.

This is a continuation from part 31, the introduction of Graham into the Marion Jones equation. Though this section of the series may be a general history lesson for some of you, the information contained in this series is imperative to the sum of the whole.


Notwithstanding any – and all – of Trevor Graham's denials of having received performance-enhancing drugs or other illegal products directly or indirectly, two of those individuals coached and mentored by Trevor Graham – Marion Jones and Gatlin, the most prominent ones to date – are a part of several from that camp who have tested positive, or are under extremely close scrutiny.

Those athletes are:

• Michelle Collins: Banned for eight years – later reduced to four years (and reinstated by the IAAF on 2008-May-14) – by a panel of members of American Arbitration Association and the North American Court of Arbitration for Sport. However, Collins was found to have used EPO, THG and a testosterone cream based on evidence collected in the BALCO investigation and presented to CAS. She reluctantly conceded her guilt after a fierce word battle with USADA. Collins surrendered her first-place finish in the 200m at the 2003 USA Indoor Championships, and also her 100m victory at the 2003 USA Outdoor Championships.
  
  
• Justin Gatlin: Proposed eight-year ban for second doping offence after testing positive for testosterone during Kansas Relays in April 2006. First offence (2001-June 16-17) was for a banned substance (an amphetamine) found in medication – a ban the IAAF reduced. Gatlin did, however, surrender his victories in the 100m, 200m and 110m hurdles at the USA Junior Championships where the positive test was discovered. Gatlin’s legal team working on “special circumstance” clause to prove Gatlin had drugs in his body without his knowledge.
  
  
• Alvin Harrison: accepted a four-year ban for drug violations, admitting to USADA accusations of him having used testosterone, THG, HGH and erythropoietin (EPO) between 2001-June-1 and 2004-October-18. He surrendered all his competitive results for this period, but not before stating that his attorney would file a lawsuit against USATF which upheld cheater Jerome Young’s doping appeal until it was overturned by CAS in June 2004.
  
  
• Calvin Harrison: Handed a two-year suspension by USADA for a second positive modafinil test, and was stripped of his 2nd-place finish in the 400m at the 2003 USA Track & Field Championships (2003-June-21). The first was a result of pseudo ephedrine usage as a junior athlete. Modafinil was used to decrease fatigue and enhance mental alertness and reaction times.
  
  

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?