“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.”

Author:
Maureen Weekes

Organization:
U.S. Olympic Committee

Phone:
719-866-4529

Source

USATF statement on the sentencing of Marion Jones (11 January 2008)

Statement from USA Track & Field President Bill Roe and CEO Craig Masback on the sentencing of Marion Jones to six months in prison:

“Today’s sentencing concludes a sad series of events. The revelation that one of the sport’s biggest stars took performance-enhancing drugs and repeatedly lied about it, in addition to being a party to fraud, has no silver lining. But, it is a vivid morality play that graphically illustrates the wages of cheating in any facet of life, on or off the track. We hope that all Americans will take to heart those lessons. The sport of track and field in the United States has moved on since Marion Jones competed, reaching even higher levels of success, as a team, than when she was at her peak. No one wanted to see this happen, and we hope that Marion and her family can move on as well.”

# # #

Source

Post from: EveryJoe

Statements on the Sentencing of Marion Jones

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

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Marion Jones: Recommendations & Decisions

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 the four World Cups and next March’s world championships, and the Beijing round had particular significance as Wiggins and Cavendish may not be able to race the final two World Cups due to their road-racing commitments.

I can only imagine the pressure that’s building up for all Olympic hopefuls as the 2008 Beijing Games closes in. Congratulations to all who’ve made it in and best of luck to all that are still working on it!

Post from: EveryJoe

News on Olympic Berth: China, Great Britain

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

Post from: EveryJoe

14th European Cross Country Championship Results (Top 3, Men’s & Women’s Division)

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 implants, which can arguably be interpreted as artificial enhancements of sorts. We can also argue that Yao Ming enjoys an unfair advantage because the Chinese government set up his 6′10″ dad with his 6′8″ mom. We love sports because the game is supposed to be the last refuge of fairness.

Is it any wonder that we come down hard on athletes who are caught cheating? Performance-enhancing drugs threaten to destroy the illusion that successful athletes win based on their own merit. The cycling world is losing its audience, thanks to all the negative publicity focused on the story of Tour de France’s recently dethroned champion.

Organized sports will suffer terribly, as more athletes are found guilty of wrongly tipping the scales in their favor. Can we still look up to our sports heroes and continue believing in them, when some notable examples have broken our trust?

Let’s see if the IOC and all governing bodies involved in the 2008 Olympics can come up with a system that truly keeps the game clean. It doesn’t help that it’s now cool to win at any cost.

Post from: EveryJoe

Marion Jones Confesses to Doping and Retires: Can we Still Trust Athletes?

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 forward as quickly as possible in getting the facts and sorting out all the issues from the BALCO case,” Davies was quoted as saying.

Jones pleaded guilty Friday to lying to U.S. government investigators about doping, saying she’d taken a designer steroid from September 2000 to July 2001.

(Source)

You’d think that there’s a “happily ever after” on every story, huh? I guess on the epilogue, the truth came out like how life promised it would. I wonder how her competitors feel. ‘Cheated’ would be an understatement. Will the silver medalist automatically be the gold medalist? If yes, will she feel that she is indeed the champion now? Her country’s flag wasn’t raised during the awarding ceremony and she standing on that top tier, singing her national anthem.

Tragic.

Post from: EveryJoe

And then there were none. Update on Marion Jones

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

The IOC has learnt about Marion Jones’s intention to plead guilty to lying to federal agents about her use of performance-enhancing substances during her career.

Since 2004, the IOC has had an open file on the BALCO case – it set up a Disciplinary Commission with a view to investigating how the case might have affected Olympic Games’ competitions. Progress to date has been slow due to difficulties in gathering findings. The information that Marion Jones might provide later today may prove to be key in moving this case forward.

Now it makes you think — does cutting corners make everything all worth it? Winning the all those medals would automatically mean an honour that transcends your own lifetime. It’s a sure-fire ticket to textbooks or history books. It’s a legacy you leave behind.

This Marion Jones fiasco is a classic example that the end doesn’t justify the means. Jones held the medal but was she truly an Olympic and World Champion in her sport?

Photo credit: www.belizeans.com/marionjones/

Post from: EveryJoe

Doping, Medal-stripping and Marion Jones

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!

Post from: EveryJoe

World Athletic Championships Results – August 29

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, for whom the amazing Fanny Blankers-Koen made the difference in the final leg.

Helsinki 1952: The Australian women set a new world and Olympic record in the 4×100m heats. They were thus favourites for the final, but just when they were ahead, everything changed with the last baton change between Marjorie Jackson and Winsome Cripps: the baton fell, and the victory was lost. This was a huge disappointment for the Australian team, which finished fifth.

Melbourne 1956: This time, Shirley and her team-mates ran a faultless race. They won the final ahead of the British and American women, setting a new world and Olympic record in the process. Strickland finished her Olympic relay career on a high note, with a gold medal.

Strickland was the first Australian woman to win a medal in athletics during the 1948 Olympics Games in London. She also had the honour of carrying the Olympic Torch in the Olympic Stadium during the 2000 Sydney Games.

Source

Post from: EveryJoe

Meet Shirley Strickland de la Hunty, Sprint & Relay Specialist

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 Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino.

Moutawakel celebrated her 45th birthday last 15 April 2007.

Source: olympic.org | Wikipedia

Post from: EveryJoe

Nawal El Moutawakel, first female Olympic champion from an Islamic nation