RALEIGH, North Carolina, 20 August 2006 — Triple Olympic sprint champion Marion Jones has failed an initial doping test, a source familiar with the test told Reuters. The positive test of Jones’s A sample occurred at the June US championships in Indianapolis, the source, who did not wish to be identified, said.
US media reported the blood-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO) had been found in Jones’s urine sample.Under anti-doping protocols, an athlete is not considered to have committed a doping offense until his or her B sample has tested positive and the athlete has been afforded an arbitration hearing.
Jones would face a minimum of a two-year ban if it is determined she has committed a doping offense. Neither the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) nor the US Olympic Committee (USOC) would comment.
Jones’ general counsel also would not discuss the matter.
“It is unfortunate that the integrity and the confidentiality of the testing process may have been breached, but Marion Jones has always been clear, she has never taken performance-enhancing substances, not now, not ever,” Rich Nichols said in a statement to Reuters.
“She is always prepared to do whatever it takes to demonstrate that she has never taken performance-enhancing substances.” He would not elaborate. The 30-year-old Jones has been under investigation by USADA in connection with the BALCO laboratory doping scandal although she had never failed a doping test.
She withdrew suddenly from the Golden League meeting in Zurich on Friday and flew back to the United States for personal reasons, organizers said. Jones is the third high-profile American athlete to fail a doping test this year.
Olympic 100m champion Justin Gatlin tested positive for testosterone at a relay meeting in April and cyclist Floyd Landis failed a test for testosterone at the Tour de France.
