LONDON, 20 September 2006 — Marion Jones, who was recently cleared of using banned blood-booster EPO, will never be able to repair her image and should retire from athletics, track legend Michael Johnson said yesterday.
In a column for the London-based Daily Telegraph entitled “Jones should retire now, for everyone’s sake,” Johnson said the former triple Olympic gold medalist would be forever blighted by “a plethora of circumstantial evidence” surrounding alleged doping.
“I don’t believe Jones will ever be able to repair her image or get back to the type of performances that made her one of the highest profile women athletes in the world,” said Johnson, the world 200m and 400m record holder.
“There has been far too much damage done to her reputation due to, if nothing else, the people she has surrounded herself with the last several years — some of whom have been involved in some of the largest drug scandals in the sport.
“Jones also has passed her prime as an athlete and lost several good years dealing with these scandals and allegations which have surely made it difficult to focus.
“For the sake of her own well-being, and the sake of the sport, it would be best if Jones just went away quietly to raise her son.” Jones tested positive for EPO at the US Athletics championships in June but she learned earlier this month that the “B” sample was negative, exonerating her.
Johnson warned that Jones’ experience could have far-reaching ramifications.
“People are now doubting the testing process that produced the positive A sample to begin with,” he said, adding that Jones could be lining up a lawsuit against whoever leaked news of her original positive test.
