Disgraced Sprinter Seeks to Turn Negative Into Positive

Dec. 17, 2008 — -- Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones acknowledges controversy may have forever stained her reputation, but she hopes to help others in her post-prison life.

"I have paid the ultimate price," she said on "Good Morning America" today. "For the rest of my life, certain people will equate me with this controversy.

"Throughout all of this I've learned I've hurt a lot of people and it's my responsibility to give back," the 33-year-old said.

The once-heralded runner was at the top of her game and had the nation's admiration, and a life that glittered as much as the gold medals she picked up on the Olympic circuit. But a doping scandal stripped her of her Olympic medals, and the one-time fastest woman in the world spent six months in prison after she was convicted in January of lying to federal prosecutors about her use of performance-enhancing drugs and her role in a check-fraud scam.

"I was in a much different place in my life. I made much different choices. I made bad decisions," said Jones, who missed her youngest son's first birthday due to jail time.

The sportswoman still contends — as she always has — that she was unaware that drugs were being administered to her.

"That's the truth. I have experienced a lot of negative consequences for what I've admitted," she said. "When you're a high-profile person, you trust certain people around you. You trust they will have your best interests in mind."

It's a claim Jones stated in her first post-prison interview with talk show queen Oprah Winfrey last October. She said she would never compete again and insisted she never thought she was receiving anything beyond legal vitamins.

She also said she believes she still would have won her medals without performance enhancers.

Swift Fall From Grace

The woman who captured three gold and two bronze medals in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, initially denied using steroids despite the fact that her shot-putting ex-husband C.J. Hunter admitted to doping. The athlete's continual denials didn't cease the ever-increasing whispers about her possible drug usage.

Victor Conte, head of BALCO, the lab connected with Barry Bonds' alleged steroid use, told ABC News' Martin Bashir he had direct knowledge of Jones' drug use.

"She did the injection with me sitting right there next to her," he said in December 2004.

Still Jones emphatically repeated denials and within four years all her on-field successes became overshadowed by accusations of using performance-enhancing drugs.

"Trust me, if I ever tested positive, we would all know. I have never, ever taken a performance-enhancing drug. Trust me, if I had had a positive test, you guys would have known," Jones said in May 2004.

"I've always said and I will continue to say that I believe in a drug-free sport. I have never ever taken a performance-enhancing drug," she reiterated in September 2006.

Then, the face of modern day track and field changed her position in October 2007 when she held a press conference. Track's most famous superstar of the day tearfully admitted she'd lied.

"We decided it's time for me to admit certain things and move on with my life and that's how we made the decision," Jones said of her move to come clean and make a deal with prosecutors. "When you're holding on to a secret for so long, it starts to weigh heavy on your soul. It starts to become such a burden."

Before a bevy of flashing bulbs and microphones, the American track star had to admit what she long denied.

"Today, I pleaded guilty to two counts of making false statements to federal agents. And so it is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust," Jones said at the press conference.

Jones received the maximum sentence and began serving it in March and she also must serve 400 hours of community service in each of the two years following her release.

The sentence was in addition to the fact she and her Olympic race relay teammates had to return the medals they'd won.

Jones, who was released from prison in September, is now focused on raising her family with husband and fellow former sprinter Obadele Thompson, but she's still is intent on helping others after fellow inmates inspired her.

"The reason that I'm sharing my story is I want to make this negative situation into a positive one," Jones said. "I really think that it makes you a better person. You have to go through the bumps in the road to find out who you are."