Statement from United States Olympic Committee Chief Executive Officer Jim Scherr on the sentencing of Marion Jones (11 January 2008)
“Today’s sentencing is illustrative of just how far-reaching and serious the consequences of cheating can be. The fact that an athlete with so much talent and promise, who so many people looked up to, made the decision to cheat is a terrible disappointment. This unfortunate situation does, however, offer a lesson to young people about the importance of making good choices and honoring the value of clean competition.”

I reckon it’d be interesting to update you guys on the whole Marion Jones issue. Here are some further readings (PDF files) on recommendations and decisions made by the IOC Disciplinary Commission and IOC Executive Board, respectively.
IOC Disciplinary Commission recommendations regarding Ms Marion Jones
IOC Executive Board decision regarding Ms Marion Jones
Related Reads:
Doping, Medal-stripping and Marion Jones
And then there were none. Update on Marion Jones
Marion Jones Confesses to Doping and Retires: Can we Still Trust Athletes?
Talk on Doping, Marion Jones and Trusting Athletes at The Watering Hole
Press Release | Highlights of Last IOC Executive Board Meeting of the Year

Here are a couple of articles on Olympic berths for China and Great Britain, respectively.
China reaps two Olympic quota places at Asian Shooting Championships
KUWAIT CITY, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) — World champion Jia Zhanbo raised up and waved to the audiences after he made the last shot. A smile on his face, the Chinese shooter knew that he would carry back to his country not only another gold medal and an Arabic-styled wooden ship model, but a long-expected Olympic ticket in men’s 50-meter rifle prone event.
Team GB closes fast on Olympic berth in Beijing
Olympic qualification is decided by national rankings after …read more

Here are the top three placers for the 14th SPAR European Athletics Cross Country Championship held in Toro, Spain
Men (10.7km)
1. Serhiy Lebid (UKR) 31min 47sec
2. Mustapha Mohamed (SWE) 31:56
3. Rui Silva (POR) 31:58
Women (8.2km)
1. Marta Dominguez (ESP) 26:58.
2. Julie Coulaud (FRA) 27:01
3. Rosa Maria Morato (ESP) 27:04
For complete listing, visit olympics.org.
Related Read: The Road to Toro: 6 days to go – event preview
Source

So the speculation has ended: Marion Jones recently admitted to lying to federal agents, who were investigating her drug use. Still, Shaun Assael of ESPN writes that “Only the truly naive will believe this version of Jones’ story.
Jones’ confession follows Floyd Landis loss of his Tour de France title due to drug use. With all of these doping-related scandals, athletes and sports in general risk losing our trust.
Without a doubt, this is a bad thing. We all rage at the unfairness of life, at people who get ahead because they know the right people or invested in improvements like breast …read more

Marion Jones returns five 2000 Olympic medals
WASHINGTON, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) — Marion Jones has returned the five medals she won at the Sydney Olympics, days after admitting she used performance-enhancing drugs, according to an Associated Press report.
The report quoted Jones’ lawyer, Henry DePippo, as saying on Monday that she had relinquished the medals, but declined to say to whom they were given.
The normal protocol would be for Jones to give them to the U.S. Olympic Committee, which then would return them to the International Olympic Committee, IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said, according to the AP report.
“The IOC wants to move …read more

Washington (dpa) – Former sprint star Marion Jones has reportedly finally ended years of doping denials and could be stripped of Olympic and world championship gold medals as a result.
The International Olympic Committee and the ruling athletics body IAAF said on Friday they were awaiting further details and will investigate if Jones formally admits to doping.
Jones famously won three golds and two bronze at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She also has five world titles 1997-2001.
(Source)
IOC Statement on Marion Jones

These are the results for some events in the World Athletic Championships. The events are as follows: women’s 5000m, women’s 100m hurdles, women’s triple jump, men’s 400m, women’s 400m, and men’s high jump.
Just follow the links below to get full listing of winners and rankings.
World Athletics Championships results – women’s 5000m
World Athletics Championships results – women’s 100m hurdles
World Athletics Championships results – women’s triple jump
World Athletics Championships results – men’s 400m
World Athletics Championships results – women’s 400m
World Athletics Championships results – men’s high jump
Congratulations to all who won!

Sprint and Relay Specialist Shirley Strickland de la Hunty was known to be a great athlete, competing in the sport, athletics, mainly in relay. She is also a record-breaker. She is the first woman to win seven Olympic medals and to successfully defend her Olympic title in the 80m hurdles (1952-1956).
Here’s a brief overview of career as an athlete and her stint in the Olympics:
In three successive Olympic Games, Shirley Strickland competed in the 4×100m relay:
London 1948: Shirley’s first Olympic Games, at the age of 23. The Australian women had to make do with silver behind the Dutch team, …read more

Nawal El Moutawakel, one of the most famous Moroccan athletes, is an Olympian who won the women’s 400m hurdles at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Moutawakel’s the first Muslim and African female Olympic champion. Her winning the gold medal in her sport signals a breakthrough for other female athletes in Morocco, her home country and other Islamic nations.
Did you know that according to Wikipedia, “The King of Morocco declared that all girls born the day of her victory were to be named in her honour.”
Another trivia is that Moutawakel was one of the eight flag bearers at the Opening …read more