The fastest woman on Earth:Marion Jones
The fastest woman on Earth:Marion Jones
Jones vented her grief and anger on the track. In 1991, at age 15, she ran the 200 meters in 22.87 seconds, breaking the national high school record. She faltered later that year at the TAC Nationals, placing fourth in the 200 and eighth in the 100. Coaches were awed by her potential, however, and came knocking. Her mother hired Elliott Mason as a private coach.
2000 Olympics
Jones made history at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. She landed three gold medals, winning the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, and the 1,600-meter relay, and two bronze medals, in the long jump and the 400-meter relay. She became the first woman to win five medals at one Olympics.
On October 5, 2007 Jones announced her retirement from track and field after pleading guilty to Federal charges for use of performance-enhancing drugs. She also confessed to making false statements during two different government drug investigations. Jones claims that her former coach, Trevor Graham, gave her a substance he told her was flaxseed oil in 2000, but a year later discovered was the designer steroid THG, known as “the clear.” She will be sentenced on January 11, 2008 with a maximum sentence of five years. In the meantime, Jones was released from prison after yielding her United States and Belize passports to the U.S. government. In November 2007, the International Association of Athletics Federation decided that Jones must return all medals and money, including the $700,000 prize money, and forfeit all race results since September 1, 2000. Jones is officially suspended from competition until October 7, 2009.