IAAF Says Only Three Percent Flunk Doping Tests in 2007

Story written by Eric.

The International Asociation of Athletics Federations stated on Thursday that roughly three out of every 100 athletes tested both in and out-of-competition failed doping tests conducted under its jurisdiction in 2007.

According to IAAF records, 3.277 urine samples were collected from the period of 1-January to 31-December 2007, with 1.759 sampled from place out-of-competition (OOC) tests by 749 athletes, 1.426 from athletes selected during a competition event, and 92 urine+ EPO samples taken pre-competion.

The IAAF state that 164 athletes received four or more OOC tests, 66 received 6 or more, and 18 received 8 or more. The IAAF is unable to reveal the indentities of those who have been tested most frequently, but did state that one athlete had 12 OOC test performed on them last year.

Americans Sanya Richards, Leonard Scott, LaShawn Merritt, Deena Kastor, Ryan Hall, Tyson Gay, Damu Cherry, Marcus Brunson and Xavier Carter were all tested at least four times according to the information provided in the IAAF report.

Athletes from Russia, Kenya and the United States were the three highest-tested groups, but of the 10 athletes whom the IAAF publicly stated tested positive last year, the biggest names involved were Bulgarian 400m sprinter Vania Stambolova and her teammate Venelina Veneva, a high jumper.

Both Bulgarian athletes -- who share the same coach, Georgi Dimitrov -- had their urine samples collected at an unexpected check during training in Budapest, Hungary on 2007-January-24, and had them later turn up with positive traces of testosterone. Veneva also provided a further positive sample from an IAAF OOC doping control conducted on 2007-February-6 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

IAAF president Lamine Diack, praised the IAAF's efforts in a statement released today.

"I am proud that the IAAF continues to conduct one of the world's largest out-of-competition testing programs," he said.

"And the crucial importance of this is shown in the fact that the majority of our positive results are found in this form of testing."

The great majority of the tests conducted in 2007 done during times where competition schedules are at their peak, with 983 of the tests (30%) conducted at the spring season and 1.321 (40,3%) conducted during the summer season.

The remaining 29,7% of the tests were conducted primarily in the late winter (18,7%), and the remaining 359 samples collected 1-October to 31-December.


ARE TESTERS IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME (OF YEAR)?

Victor Conte was the posterboy for cheating.

Where there was a will, there was a syringe and a calendar to make the way. The former BALCO founder helped propel many an athlete up and over the top, and to a crashing halt once they were discovered to have cheated and deceived their ways to the top.

Since his release from prison and home-confinement, his pitch has changed over the past two years from supporting a premise that one must cheat to win to stating that the current state of testing for performance-enhancing drugs is unacceptable, because the testers are completely off key in their pursuit of the cheaters.

If the IAAF are happy with their testing measures, and the IOC believe that there will be a bonafide Human Growth Hormone (HGH) test in place by the time athletes are ready to compete in Beijing, who among those speaking is actually right?

There may be a viable test on its way to head off cheats in Beijing, but Conte's assertions have been that the testers are attempting to get to the athletes at the wrong times of the year - a point he discussed with former WADA head Dick Pound at a meeting earlier this year.

The IAAF have not broken their historical data down by quarters, rather by years - most of which have not been calendar years, but fiscal ones.

It is difficult to ascertain with any certainty whether or not the IAAF have been surprising more athletes at off-peak times, but Veneva and Stambolova were two prime athletes who were OOC tested during such time and were caught with illegal substances in their bodies.

Nevertheless, of the nine cases the IAAF have stated brought to light, five of the OOC specimens were collected and tested Q1 (1-January to 31-March) in 2007. Two athletes flunked their drug tests in Q3 (1-July to 30-September), and two failed their tests in Q2 just ahead of the summer season.

Salbutamol (12-month ban); rh-EPO (2-year ban); Prostanozol Testosterone (2-year ban); and six cases of Testosterone (2-year ban) were the drugs of choice named in the anti-doping offences.

The 10 confirmed cases the IAAF have discussed are far shorter than the number of cases on their 2007 sanctions list, however, as 55 athletes appear on the list, with Marion Jones the sole member who didn't fail an actual test in 2007.

Moreover, the IAAF have not yet indicated athletes who have failed "A"-sample tests and are having their cases reviewed and/or arbitrated, as is their best-business practice.

Two world record-holders fall into that category, one with an indoor distinction and the other an outdoor event contender. Both have been mentioned by their athletics federations, and the information is available with the use of a search engine.

The IAAF, however, have not made that information readily available to the public on its pages dedicated specifically to anti-doping.

IAF anti-doping measures were at their near peak in 2007, with doping control officers taking 3.277 samples, or only 127 fewer than they did in 2003 -- a world championships year.

There should be no speculation or inferences in who has been tested any given number of times, as several of the aforementioned Americans either won a national title (Drossin and Hall) or were in every IAAF Golden League competition (Richards) in 2007.


USADA REPORTING PHILOSOPHY

The IAAF does not make a distinction as to when any athlete is tested.

USADA, the national testing agency in America, does make a testing history available, however.

USADA selects track and field athletes to test in an OOC based on an automated draw that considers a number of factors, including the athlete's ranking in the sport, their risk of doping and test their previous test history.

LaShawn Merritt and Michelle Collins were each tested 11 times in 2007, followed Mary Wineberg (10) and Reese Hoffa, who were selected for 10 tests, respectively.

Merritt came off the best season of his life in 2007, winning a silver medal at the World Championships in Osaka (43,96) and becoming the ninth athlete in world history to break the 44,00-flat barrier.

Collins has been fighting a previous drug charge which has since gone back into arbitration by the IAAF.

Wineberg had a break-through season in which the then 27-year-old lowered her 400m personal record down to a very respectable 50,24 and was part of the gold medal-winning 4x400m quartet which defeated Russia in Osaka, and Hoffa was the 2006 USA national indoor and world indoor shot put champion.

There have been 24.829 IAAF anti-doping tests conducted on athletes from 2000-2007 - an average of 3.103 each year. If the number of cheaters are, indeed, reducing in numbers, the IAAF can hold its head high and claim to be catching the leaders in the cheating game.

Unfortunately, Marion Jones was able to escape unscathed more than 150 times behind a wall of deception throughout her career, so to state that the testing system works and is a suggestion that athletes today are less apt to take drugs is not entirely true.

Athletes Sanctioned for a Doping Offence in 2007:

• ADEOYE, Susan Olufunke (NGR), In Competition 05.07.07, Ephedrine*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• AJJAJI, El Mokhtar (MAR), In Competition 18.03.07, Stanozolol Strychnine Norandrosterone, 3 years ineligibility from 22.06.07 - 21.06.10
• BALSEN, Julien (FRA), In Competition 09.12.06, Prednisone* Prednisolone*, 6 months ineligibility from 12.07.07 - 11.01.08
• BELL, Kenta (USA), In Competition 24.06.07, Methylprednisolone*, Public Warning and 3 months deferment
• BOTEZAN, Mihaela (ROM), In Competition 28.04.07, Chlorthalidon, 2 years ineligibility from 17.10.07 - 16.10.09
• CHEPKEMEI, Susan (KEN), IAAF OOC 10.09.07, Salbutamol, 1 years ineligibility from 19.10.07 - 18.10.08
• CHESANI, Silvano (ITA), In Competition 26.08.07, Formeterol*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• DEHIBA, Hind (FRA), IAAF OOC 23.01.07, rh-EPO, 2 years ineligibility from 16.02.07 - 15.02.09
• DENISOVA, Lyubov (RUS), IAAF OOC 20.03.07, Prostanozol Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 27.04.07 - 26.04.09
• FILIPPIDIS, Konstantinos (GRE), In Competition 16.06.07, Etilephrine, 2 years ineligibility from 11.07.07 - 10.07.09
• FORTES ANDRE, Bruno Miguel (POR), In Competition 11.02.07, Cannabis**, 2 years ineligibility from 15.03.07 - 14.03.09
• GAUTHIER, Franck (FRA), In Competition 09.04.07, Heptaminol*, Public Warning & Disqualification from 20.07.07 - 19.10.07
• IVANOVA, Alena (BLR), In Competition 14.07.07, Furosemide, 2 years ineligibility from 06.08.07 - 05.08.09
• JAYSUNA, Saidy (NOR), In Competition 28.06.07, Cannabis*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• JIMLA, Omar (MAR), In Competition 15.04.07, rh-EPO, 3 years ineligibility from 31.05.07 - 30.05.10
• JONES, Marion (USA), admission of use of a prohibited substance, 2 years ineligibility from 08.10.07 - 07.10.09
• JOSEPH, Jasmine (IND), In Competition 12.02.07, Nandrolone, 2 years ineligibility from 07.05.07 - 06.05.09
• KAOUCH, Adil (MAR), In Competition 13.07.07, rh-EPO, 2 years ineligibility from 08.08.07 - 07.08.09
• KECHI, Héni (FRA), In Competition 19.06.07, Cannabis*, 3 months ineligibility from 09.10.07 - 08.01.08
• KEHLER, Lisa (GBR), In Competition 07.07.07, Terbutaline*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• KEITA, Naman (FRA), IAAF OOC 20.08.07, Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 01.09.07 - 31.08.09
• KHANFARI, Ahmadreza (IRI), In Competition 08.05.07, Stanozolol, 2 years ineligibility from 31.05.07 - 30.05.09
• KOCABAS, Jonathan (BEL), In Competition 23.06.07, Cannabis*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• KOLAROVA, Teodora (BUL), IAAF OOC 26.06.07, Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 10.08.07 - 09.08.09
• KONEVA, Yekaterina (RUS), In Competition 14.02.07, Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 23.03.07 - 22.03.09
• KRAVCHENKO, Olesya (RUS), In Competition 07.02.07, Stanozolol, 2 years ineligibility from 20.02.07 - 19.02.09
• KUMAR, Gajendra (IND), In Competition 11.02.07, Mephentermine, 2 years ineligibility from 14.07.07 - 13.07.09
• KYYRO, Mikko (FIN), In Competition 05.08.07, Methylprednisolone*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• LACASSE, Florent (FRA), IAAF OOC 18.05.07, Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 13.07.07 - 12.07.09
• LEWANSKI, Mikolaj (POL), In Competition 30.06.07, Cannabis*, Public Warning & Disqualification from 30.06.07
• LING, Peng (CHN), National OOC 19.09.07, Methandienone, 4 years ineligibility from 08.10.07 - 07.10.11
• LIPSCOMBE, Jesse (CAN), In Competition 12.05.07, Ephedrine*, 6 months ineligibility from 16.08.07 - 15.02.08
• MAHDAVI, Seyed Shahrokh (IRI), National OOC 20.10.07, Methandienone, 2 years ineligibility from 20.11.07 - 19.11.09
• MOSAZADEH, Kavian (IRI), In Competition 24.05.07, Norandrosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 25.06.07 - 24.06.09
• MUCERINO, Giuseppe (ITA), In Competition 11.03.07, Tuaminoheptame*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• NIKODEM, Dawid (POL), In Competition 27.01.07, Cannabis*, 6 months ineligibility from 27.01.07 - 26.07.07
• PAYNE, Jamie (TRI), In Competition 17.03.07, Stanozolol Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 22.05.07 - 21.05.09
• PINTO, Luzia Souza (BRA), In Competition 01.04.07, Sibutramine*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• RAVI PINTO, Rosalba (ITA), In Competition 25.03.07, Furosemide, 2 years ineligibility from 05.07.07 - 04.07.09
• SANCHEZ-REY, Pablo Lopez (ESP), In Competition 06.05.07, 13.05.07, Nandrolone, 2 years ineligibility from 30.07.07 - 29.07.09
• SAVI, Stefano (ITA), In Competition 31.07.07, Cannabis*, 2 months ineligibility from 05.11.07 - 04.01.08
• SECHNEV, Yuriy (RUS), In Competition 06.10.07, Stanozolol, 2 years ineligibility from 20.11.07 - 19.11.09
• SEGATO, Marco Francesco (ITA), In Competition 25.02.07, hCG, 2 years ineligibility from 14.06.07 - 13.06.09
• SEVUKTEKIN, Yahya (TUR), Tampering or attempting to tamper with doping control (Rule 32.2e), 2 years ineligibility from 11.04.07 - 10.04.09
• SHMAGAYLO, Vadim (RUS), In Competition 21.04.07, Norandrosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 25.05.07 - 24.05.09
• SIHAMMANE, Abdeljabbar (MAR), In Competition 07.01.07, Furosemide, 2 years ineligibility from 20.02.07 - 19.02.09
• SLEPOV, Aleksander (RUS), In Competition 09.06.07, Stanozolol, 2 years ineligibility from 03.07.07 - 02.07.09
• STAMBOLOVA, Vania (BUL), IAAF OOC 24.01.07, Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 10.04.07 - 09.04.09
• TURSKIS, Tomas (LTU), In Competition 15.09.07, Nandrolone, 2 years ineligibility from 04.12.07 - 03.12.09
• UUDMÄE, Jaanus (EST), In Competition 23.06.07, Sibutramine*, Public Warning & Disqualification
• USLU, Binnaz (TUR), IAAF OOC 13.03.07, Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 24.03.07 - 23.03.09
• VENEVA, Venelina (BUL), IAAF OOC 24.01.07, Testosterone, 2 years ineligibility from 03.04.07 - 02.04.09
• WANG, Yaqi (CHN), National OOC 22.08.07, Nandrolone, 2 years ineligibility from 11.09.07 - 10.09.09
• ZOLADKIEWICZ, Christin (GER), National OOC 07.09.07, Refusal, 2 years ineligibility from 30.10.07 - 29.10.09
• ZOUBAA, Khalid (FRA), In Competition 27.01.07, rh-EPO, 3 years ineligibility from 22.02.07 - 21.02.10

* = substance which was classified on the WADA 2007 Prohibited List as a "Specified Substance" and as such may result in a reduced sanction
** = Second offence

Doping statistics and list of offenders courtesy of IAAF.

Track Agents Hope to Curb "Serious" Offenders

Story written by Eric

The Association of Athletics Managers (AAM) agreed in November 2007 that it would not represent any track and field athlete who tests positive for -- and is convicted of -- a doping violation which penalises the athlete for two or more years.

It was a hard stance taken against cheats, but a decisive one which sends a clear message to athletes: Doing the crime equals doing the time, but forgiveness won't come by way of powerful men in charge of securing placements in meets when those fallen athletes return.

And, as it turns out, many meets in Europe won't accept those athletes, either.

The agent initiative, which was signed 2007-November-9, has gathered momentum with 30 members representing virtually every high-profile athlete across the globe -- athletes who won 31 individual Gold Medals in the Athens Olympics four years ago.

The AAM's goal is to improve the professional status of the sport of athletics on a worldwide basis, and, in having signed a pact inclusive of the top agents, it believes it will have better opportunity to police and license managers and agents.

According to Mark Wetmore, who works at Global Athletics and Marketing managing about 70 track and field athletes from around the world -- including triple 2007 IAAF World Outdoor champion Tyson Gay, agents came together to form the disciplinary committee in a concerted attempt to take a stand in the sport.

"We have to help clean up our sport in any way we can. We're not helping these things if athletes can get another agent, another manager. We shouldn't support it in any way," he stated to the Boston Globe on 2008-Jaunary-27.

Other reknowned agents who have signed on the dotted line include Emmanuel Hudson, whose track club, HSI, includes a former banned athlete, Torri Edwards; Renaldo Nehemiah, whose star client has been banned Olympic 100m champion Justin Gatlin; and John Regis, who worked with Dwain Chambers -- a former BALCO client who's currently involved in an upheaval with UK Athletics in Great Britain.

Wetmore has also had one client fall prey to the drug game, sprinter Aziz Zakari.

Said Wetmore, who is also 110m hurdle world-record holder Liu Xiang's agent, to The Independent:

"You hear such sweeping statements being made about the sport – that doping is all the fault of the coaches, or of the agents – and we wanted to make it clear to people that we didn't have anything to do with it. We take this issue very seriously and we feel we have to make a stand. I think you are seeing groups independently coming to the same conclusions right now. The meeting promoters and the agents are now shoulder-to-shoulder against doping."

The Euromeetings group, whose members conduct track-and-field meets here on the European circuit, have also made a pact to refuse entry to current or future athletes convicted of serious doping violations -- those whose violations require a two- or more year banishment.

The Euromeetings are headed by president Rajne Soderberg, who also serves as meeting director of the DN Galan event in Stockholm.

Chambers failed a test for THG -- an undetectable steroid issued by Victor Conte's BALCO laboratories in California, USA -- in 2003, and later admitted candidly that he had taken steroids for a longer period of time than that for which he had been caught.

The Euromeetings group is comprised of quite a few meeting arrangers who had payed Chambers to compete at their track meets whilst he was a doped athlete, and who have requested that they be payed back the money he in essense stole whilst falsely presenting himself as a clean athlete.

He returned to full-time athletics competition in 2006 following his 24-month ban, and helped Great Britain secure a gold medal in the 4x100m relay down in Göteborg at the EAA European Outdoor Championships that August. Chambers then attempted to pursue a dream of playing in the NFL, was unsuccessful, and then decided to return to the track.

UK Athletics' row with Chambers stems from Chambers not having been on the active drug testing programme during his time spent away from the sport in 2007, and state they can not assure he is a clean athlete. Chambers has been tested since his return to competition this indoor season, but the stated effects of Conte's drugs are said to have an effect life of up to two years.

The Euromeetings group may flex their arms and prohibit Chambers from competing in their events -- much like they have with blocking his entry at today's on-going Norwich Union Grand Prix meet in Birmingham. In doing so, however, they effectively shoot themselves in the foot, as a percentage of money Chambers earns can be garnished and used toward repayment to them.

One athlete, American hurdler Damu Cherry, has already felt the backlash resulting from a previous ban, and was removed from the starting list at the Olso Golden League meeting when Daniel Wessfeldt, another prominent agent who signed the agreement, had her removed.

Can Conte Clean Up Athletics?

Story written by Eric

Victor Conte has worn a lot of hats in his professional life, but nothing like the larger than life one he's trying on at newspaper outlets near you.

Conte has also worn several labels across his chest of late, with the latest outing another peculiar one in which the former bass guitarist was seen bearing the letter "S" whilst seated with long-time adversary Dick Pound, the former head of WADA.

Conte, a former musician who turned into an overnight nutritionist, has been periodically called a liar, a cheat, a serpent and a thief by some very grown-up men within the United States government who wield powerful job titles and appear fuelled by a supply of natural, non-synthetic testosterone.

That's the mild version for the PG-13 readers.

I doubt Conte's life ambitions are to demonstrate how well he can squirm on his belly -- especially with his company, SNAC, raking in considerable amounts of cash and Conte reaping the benefits. So there must be another explanation for the label and hat Conte has been seen wearing with greater frequency over the past six weeks.

Consider that he's also been called a very bad man for luring unsuspecting athletes away from natural hard work and sweat into a life of lies, lies and more lies mixed together with a cover-up or two in an effort to level out a playing field in athletics he believes is littered with illegal drugs.

He's also been labeled self-serving and unappreciative of the spirit of true competition, and has been cast off as a bitter man whose true interests in sport are in plaguing the purity of the Olympic games.

So what does that solid-colored "S" planted above Conte's chest represent?

That "S" jumps out at a person very suddenly and without fail each and every time drugs controversy within athletics sprouts up and every conceivable tie between performance-enhancing drugs is made between an athlete caught for doping and Conte, the brain-child behind one of the most prolific and previously well-kept doping secrets in all of professional sport.

The phenominem occurs as though Conte, 58, has somehow mysteriously become omniscient, and he has been given an elevated, god-like status as a result of it.

Conte gets the call when a Dwain Chambers-type returns from a drug ban -- from using Conte's products, nonetheless, and gets on a black list rather than an "A" list within European meet organizers' athletics events.

He chimes in when a Marion Jones quacks for mercy in a courtroom only to be ushered off to six months of day-care 100 miles from her home instead of a slap on the wrists and probation.

It seems every time a track athlete is caught up in a moment of controversy and drugs are involved, Conte has his nose in everyone else's business but his own -- unless shedding light on the drug problem has become his business.

Conte was jailed in 2003 for improprieties relating from his illegal and immensely popular BALCO dealings with sports stars ranging from major league baseball players to track and field athletes, and professional cyclists to NFL stars.

He spent a total of eight months under lock and key -- four at a minimum-security prison camp, and four home-confined.

He stated to journalists after Judge Susan Illston sentenced him that he had hoped he could turn around the incredible amount of wrongdoing into positives for athletes and the fans who watch them compete, and even asked the current sitting President of the United States of America, George W. Bush, to intervene on his behalf so that Conte could make a concerted effort to help America send a "clean" team to Athens to compete in the Olympic Games.

"It is said that I have become the poster child for the wrongdoing in Olympic as well as professional sports," he said outside the court. "Ironically, I find myself as someone qualified to help solve this problem plaguing sports, precisely because I've been a major contributor to the controversy."

So does that make Conte, who has since moved on from BALCO and become a fixture within the sport, a savior, a sinner or a saint?

Try Superman.

Among the many labels Conte has had pegged on to his character, he has also been labeled an opportunist -- a man who rarely misses a step or a beat when occasion lends itself for him to capitalize and make good on his talent to sell.

Perhaps that is what Conte is now doing to whoever will sit and listen, namely selling them on a similar notion he asked former athletes to purchase for a price -- one which saw many of them lose honors, prizes and esteem once they were discovered to have cheated.

Conte's pitch today, however, isn't that one must cheat to win, rather that the current state of testing for performance-enhancing drugs is unacceptable, because the testers are completely off key in their pursuit of the cheaters.

Track and field is suffering a critical blow with a public which believes just what people like Conte are stating, and what scribes are printing, namely that superstar athletes compete dirty and will continue to do so until someone steps up to their calling and helps turn over all the stones where the athletes, their coaches and their distributors are hiding their stashes.

Conte believes he is just the one for the job, supported by the following story.

Conte has been an eyewitness not only to the effect drugs can have on athletes, but has keen experience hiding out and waiting for time to pass on, for drugs to pass through, and for athletes to pass tests over and over and over again to their heart's content and to his own personal satisfaction with helping enable the deception to have remained covered.

Conte made the following remark recently when Chambers recently made news for an over-blown story, which has embarrassed UK Athletics and the British Olympic Association.

"I still think there is rampant use of drugs out there. It can be cleaned up but they have to use people from the other side, like Dwain and myself, and use the knowledge we've gained. Then, when athletes truly believe it is much more difficult to circumvent the testing, you'll see far more performances by athletes who are doing it with hard work as opposed to chemical substances."

Indeed, athletes and coaches, trainers and even agents do know where the minefields are, and they know which steps must be taken in order to successfully navigate through them. Is it possible that such persons, working on their own initiative following drug bans, could be of use to anti-doping organizations in their fight to stamp out drugs in sport?

Perhaps they can, but in Chambers' case, his federation believes it can be done outside of the track and away from the field.

Is it likely that Conte, on the other hand, who doesn't lace up spikes to sprint down a track at breath-taking speeds, can be Superman in this story and help the World Anti-Doping Agency and the United States Anti-Doping Agency run faster than a speeding cheat and leap tall buildings to catch up to them?

Pound, who had ridiculed Conte in the past for littering the sport with druggies and copping out by not testifying in his trial about his affairs, met with Conte on 2007-December-7 to shed light on such matters.

According to both parties involved, the meeting they had was productive, and both men looked forward to sharing more as time elapsed and cards began to fall into place.

Conte has helped athletes cheat, and he has helped those athletes cover up their sins against the sport. He is a convicted criminal with a felony record, and has had his life temporarily interrupted by the Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons and the California Corrections, Probation Department.

He is also a man who says he is sitting on a wealth of important information, and he seems willing and ready to spread his sermon to whoever has the time, patience and willingness to listen.

Will track and field, which is scratching for respect, find ties with Victor Conte which positively bind and won't snap?

Stay tuned to find out.

Gatlin Files Appeal to CAS

Story written by EPelle

Suspended American sprinter Justin Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic 100m gold medalist and previous co-world record-holder (9,77 seconds), has appealed his four-year doping ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), his attorney said on Tuesday.

Gatlin, 25, who tested positive for testosterone - or its precursors - after having submitted to a drug test at the 2006 Kansas Relays, has vigorously fought the allegations that he committed an anti-doping offense, and stated the testosterone had likely entered his body without his knowledge and without his consent.

Trevor Graham, his coach, has maintained that a disgruntled and bitter Nike employee rubbed a mysterious cream on Gatlin, and that triggered the positive test.

The employee, Chris Whetstine, denied those allegations.

Later, Graham speculated that he -- not Gatlin -- might have been the target because of anger in the track and field world surrounding his decision to send the syringe filled with steroids to USADA in 2003 sparked the fire which became the BALCO scandal. The federal investigation that Graham launched resulted in five criminal convictions and more than a dozen athlete suspensions. According to that theory, Graham's enemies wanted to take him down by implicating Gatlin, his star runner.

Logic begs to inquire that if this were really the case, that Whetstine wanted to get back at Graham, why Whetstine simply didn't plant evidence on Graham's possession, in his vehicle or at his home, call the authorities and say that he had seen Graham take with him a prohibited substance. Graham would have been implicated and no one would ever doubt again that Graham had any connection to doping athletes.

Instead, the world was spoon fed an incredulous story - which has gotten much more interesting and more detailed as time has gone along - about a pink coloured "s" swiggle, and a recollection that Gatlin told Graham to basically back off when the commotion started. You're first told by Graham that it was he who wanted to intercede, but the tube was quickly put away in Whetstine's pocket, and Graham didn't think anything more of it. Now it has changed and become more elaborate with Gatlin stating, "Let him do his job, man!"

If one takes Graham's side, Whetstine did his job so effectively that he rubbed a compound into Gatlin which had Dehydroepiandrosterone, also known as DHEA, as its active ingredient -- a substance which would without question cause a positive doping test.

Something strange I would like to acknowledge here is that if Graham had any concern for Gatlin, who apparently went through every conceivable precaution as to not ever test positive (including locking his luggage, ordering room service when away), he would have stopped everything right then and there, and told Gatlin he was concerned with what had just occured; he would have rushed Whetstine and forced his hand into the pocket. He didn't. What neatly disappeared in this version of Graham's story is the portion where Graham apparently told Whetstine that Gatlin didn't need a massage in the first place.

"All I saw was the massage therapist go into a bag and bring out something else," Walker said. "He rubbed something else on Justin. . . . It was right there in front of me. It wasn't what he used on Shawn," is what the Washington Post revealed ast year.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which has a strict liability anti-doping rule in place making anything found within the athlete's body their responsibility, originally banned Gatlin eight years for committing a second anti-doping offense. Gatlin was successful in having the original sanction reduced to four years after having co-operated with anti-doping recommendations that he provide his full support in leading to the source of the drugs -- believed to be Graham.

Gatlin first tested positive at the 2001 USA Junior Nationals for an amphetamine contained in an Attention Deficit Disorder medication he had been taking for 10 years. He was originally suspended for two years by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), which reinstated him one year later following appeals.

The IAAF did not, however, word its ruling as such that Gatlin had not failed a drugs test, but had rather re-instated him despite the breach of rules in place; Gatlin had not intentionally doped, they stated, but had violated anti-doping rules by competing at a sanctioned event without having received (or even applied for) a Therapeutic Use Exemption, or TUE for short.

Under the World Anti-Doping Code, WADA has mandated that all athletes with documented medical conditions request a TUE, and after having had such request appropriately dealt with by a panel of independent physicians called a Therapeutic Use Exemption Committee (TUEC), promply receive either a grant or a decline of his/her application.

WADA has the TUE rule in place in a concerted effort to ensure athletes do not experience significant health problems without taking the prohibited substance or method; the therapeutic use of the substance would not produce significant enhancement of performance; and there would be no reasonable therapeutic alternative to the use of the otherwise prohibited substance or method.

Gatlin had his medication, Adderall, listed with the University of Tennessee, where he was a student-athlete, but he failed to list the medication with USATF. He competed without having requested for the TUE, and was later stripped of his winning marks and places as a result of that rules violation.

According to IAAF reports from 2001 following the first suspension, Gatlin harboured no resentment for having been banned a year:

"I knew the right thing to do was accept the suspension," he said in May. "I just broke the rules, which were the rules.

"It motivated me to do better this year. A lot of people can't back from something like that. It hurts them mentally and physically. I want to prove to everyone that I'm a strong person and that I have what it takes to be one of the best in the world."

The IAAF, in review of the 2001 case, stated that there was no intentional part on Gatlin's behalf to cheat, and it was discovered that Adderall in-and-of-itself provided no enhancement to Gatlin, but they did not remove the term "doping violation" from their ruling - a sticking point which would cause Gatlin problems in 2007.

The IAAF did warn Gatlin following their reversal of his original ban - though still a violation of their rules, however, that any future positive drugs test would result in a lifetime ban from the sport, which leads Gatlin to his curent situation.

Now that Gatlin has been entangled in a second drug controversy, he's attempted to have the first IAAF opinion erased, and used a number of arguments with the AAA - including having been a juvenile whilst committing the first offense - to no avail.

The majority of a three-member American Arbitration Association (AAA) panel banned Gatlin for his 2006 positive test, having ruled that it was Gatlin's second positive test. In theory, they were correct insofar as in their ruling they stated that had the IAAF previoulsy re-instated Gatlin and not deemed him to have committed an anti-doping violation, they did not specifically and unequivocally state that in their ruling, a split decision that included a 53-page opinion and 22-page dissent.

"If the IAAF “eliminated” any period of ineligibility because it believed that, under the circumstances either there should have been no finding of a doping violation or because Mr. Gatlin had “no fault” in that violation, then the first offense should not be considered to be a prior offense for purposes of the award for a second violation. This Panel is unable, on the record before it, to ignore the first doping violation, but shall retain jurisdiction to amend this award in the event that Mr. Gatlin receives from IAAF or otherwise, a ruling which might alter the view of the first offense in 2001."

"The Dissent hereing makes an impassioned case that the facts and circumstances of that first offense, namely the advice of the USATF and USADA that it was sufficient for athletes simply to discontinue their non-competition use of medications, and law, namely the Americans with Disabilities Act and Swiss Law, compel the conclusion that Mr. Gatlin essentially had no fault at all in the first offense. The Dissent does not explain, then, why that first panel found a doping violation. If the standard in 2001 was simply negligence, and Mr. Gatlin was not negligent because the actions and advice of the USATF and USADA had to be considered as part of the anti-doping rules or an interpretation of those rules, then the appropriate conclusion would, it appears to the majority, have been a finding of no doping offense. However, that was not the case."

Said the AAA panel regarding Gatlin's juvenile claim:

"He asserts that because the first event was in the 2001 U.S. Junior Nationals, an age restricted event, Mr. Gatlin, though 19 at the time, should be considered a minor for the purposes of the Panel’s evaluation under the Guidelines. This argument is similarly rejected with the same cautionary note as with the prior argument."

Prior to his 2006 bust, neither Gatlin nor the IAAF - or USADA for that matter - had acted on his behalf to have the first "offense" removed from record rather than accepting that he had committed a violation and was allowed to compete despite that anti-doping misdemeanour. This has become Gatlin's achilles heel, and he's attempting to recover from that earlier misstep stated by his counsel to be an administrative violation, not an anti-doping one.

"With these filings, Mr. Gatlin is taking the next steps in recovering his right to defend his gold medal in the 100 meters, silver medal in the 400 meters relay and bronze in the 200 meters at the Beijing Olympics," Maurice Suh said in a statement on Tuesday.

The appeal was filed on Monday to Lausanne-based CAS, with Suh requesting the hearing take place in New York.

"While there are many possible avenues that we are currently exploring, the appeal of the arbitration panel decisions are a critical component of his defense," Suh's statement added.

"To use this (2001) sanction to bar him from participating in the Olympics is a prime example of unfairness to an athlete, and a grossly inappropriate balance of anti-doping efforts against the right of individuals to pursue their careers and their dreams," Suh said.

"Most troublingly, it constitutes a discrimination against a person with a diagnosed disability."

The dissenting member of the AAA panel, Christopher Campbell, furthered that sentiment in his ruling (referenced above):

"Mr. Gatlin’s first offence would be covered by art. 8 because it was a mental disability and he obviously faced a disadvantage because of it. Incidentally, so did Mr. Ricky Harris. These Fundamental Rights must be respected by private entities such as the USOC, USADA, USATF and the IAAF. Article 35 states:

Realization of Fundamental Rights

1. The fundamental rights shall be realized in the entire legal system.
2. Whoever exercises a function of the state must respect the fundamental
rights and contribute to their realization.
3. The authorities shall ensure that the fundamental rights also be respected in relations among private parties whenever the analogy is applicable.67 (emphasis added)

"Mr. Gatlin, Mr. Harris and any other athlete who has received sanctions because of taking medicine for their disability have their fundamental rights violated. In the case of Mr. Gatlin, he will not be allowed to work in his chosen profession for two years above what he should have been sanctioned. In Mr. Harris’ case, he was not allowed to work for a year and faces the same draconian predicament that Mr. Gatlin is experiencing. As stated above, there is no justifiable reason to limit these athletes’ fundamental rights. There is no goal pursued by the Anti-Doping Organizations that a retroactive award would inhibit. The sanctions are a violation of the law."

If CAS were to agree, Gatlin's 2006 positive test would be considered his first and he would be eligible for a two-year ban. That would allow him to return to competition in May, a month ahead of the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon in June.

One pitfall Gatlin faces, however, is that the IAAF will have required him, as a banned athlete, to have been available for random, out-of-competition drug tests the past 12 months prior to his potential return. It is not known if Gatlin has been approached by anti-doping officials or been subjected to such tests.

Graham, who faces federal obstruction charges stemming from the BALCO investigation, goes to trial in June before Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco, CA.

Will Chambers Ever Truly Comeback?

Story written by EPelle

Twelve months ago British sprinter Dwain Anthony Chambers attempted to become an NFL star. He attempted valiantly to play in the limelight in America, turn over a new leaf, walk past the transgressions he committed in the sport of track and field and into the promising and quite lucrative sport of tackle football some five time zones and one continent removed from home - and away from critics.

A year later, after having made and then lost out on what was to have been the next stage in his bid to become an NFL star after injuring himself during a practice session, Chambers is attempting to make a comeback into the sport which once hailed him as a hero, and now looks down condescendingly to a man who had cheated his way to the top.

Chambers, the former European Champion over 100m, built his previous athletic success by taking drugs — illegal, performance-enhancing ones which, at the time, were completely undetectable, absolutely unknown and unequivocally wrong to use.

These were BALCO drugs, and having been outed as an associate of Victor Conte and Remi Korchemny, Chambers paid a steep and heavy price for his role in that scandal - one which has mainly been American-based and has involved persons like Marion Jones and Dana Stubblefield - two former athletes who have in recent days both been charged with lying to the same U.S. IRS Agent, Jeff Novitsky, regarding their association to Conte's illegal laboratory in Burlingame, California.

Jones is set to spend six months in prison for her role in that case along with an unrelated check-fraud one; Stubblefield will be sentenced in two months' time.

Chambers, who has never been jailed for a crime many consider relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, has a hill to traverse as he attempts to lace up his spikes and compete for a living - literally and in the figurative sense. No, make that a mountain to climb. He has no less than £180.000 (roughly $360.000) to repay to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) for having confessed to previously earning a living on their dime, so to speak.

I've continued following Chambers' NFL and sprint aspirations with keen appreciation, as I had a previous opportunity to spend time with him one-on-one, and experience the sincerity he displays when he speaks about his life openly and with stunning candor.

The athletic road ahead for Chambers will test him to wits' end, as he attempts to jump through hurdles and obstacles to regain form, fitness, and opportunity to compete at an incredibly high price - one which will cost meet organisers nothing in the form of appearance fees, but will cost Chambers everything until he is able to satisfy his debt to the IAAF.

Chambers has a greater debt to Great Britain and his sports federation than he does to the international governing body of his sport, for he has shamed his nation and merely ripped off the former.

Sebastian Coe, Vice President of the IAAF - and former multiple middle distance world-record holder, stated a week ago that he would not remain quiet about Chambers's possible selection to the British team should he qualify, but would leave the decision up to UK Athletics. Steve Cram, who's best mile time removed Coe from the top of the world-record list, also voiced his concerns in a column a day after Coe did.

Chambers faced tall odds on his previous return to track and field in 2006, but seemed to get through them without falling apart in the process. His drive got him back on to the track. His determination landed him to the next level up where he was able to be selected to the European Championships relay team for Great Britain.

Unfortunately, no amount of grit in the world will be sufficient enough to provide Chambers one of those precious few spots on his Olympic team — a goal to which every professional track and field athlete aspires. And his national athletics body — along with several senior-level key players — are hoping to stop Chambers from potentially further ruining their nation's reputation — especially as they set shop up to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

Chambers will need to bottle up all of his anger, every bit of his remorse, his entire stock and supply of hope and combine them with a genuinely large stroke of luck in order to be considered for the Great Britain & Northern Ireland Olympic team.

First, however, he will need to line up on a track and begin putting up times and places which would warrant such a look — a process which will elude him this winter indoor season as his colleagues prepare to contest the World Indoor Championships in Valencia in March. UK Athletics mandated that all athletes who were interested in competing at their national championships would have had to have been in a 12-month anti-doping process as dictated by IAAF. Chambers failed to meet this criteria, as he was not available for IAAF antil-doping procedures during his attempt to make the NFL through the now defunct NFL Europe.

Chambers is demonstrating remarkable composure and dedication to this venture. Will the men in charge at the next junction pick the last man standing, or will they pen a red line through his name, yell, "next", and tell Chambers "thank you, you may go home now, goodbye"?

Whether or not Chambers made a successful journey to the NFL, he vowed last year to return to the track.

"Part of my mind is saying, 'leave track alone' but it is not the wise thing to do. If it doesn’t work out in Tampa, I’ve time for track this summer," he was quoted as saying in the Daily Mail over a year ago.

"I plan to come back to track regardless. It’s something I still believe I have a passion for. At the moment, I don’t but I will in time."

Chambers has a great support system behind him, having his mother, Adlith and his partner, Leone backing him as he continues forward from a past filled with a commitment to excellence, but also a past which crossed over to a darker period he'd just as soon forget.

Of Leone, he states: "If I didn’t [listen to her], I’d get my ear chewed. And then I speak to Jonathan and he brings a whole different perspective to it. It’s tough because I am used to doing everything my way."

Chambers opens up candidly about his mother.

"She always said, 'be careful what you do', and then for her to have to go out still holding her head up when people made comments … that’s hard on her.

"She was fantastic. In her mind, as long as I am okay, she is okay. She always says what people write in the papers are just words. Mind, I only showed her positive stuff in papers. Mothers don’t understand negative stuff, do they?

"She’s strong and she has her church and that kept her uplifted a lot, and during that time I kept with her a lot which helped put her mind at ease, and now she gets to see my son a lot which takes her mind off the other things."

Chambers is attempting to be very careful about how he proceeds in the sport, because he has a life savings of money to repay. He also has several million people who believe he is a pariah to convince that he was an honest man who made a mistake.

Honesty wasn't Chambers's best quality when he was discovered to have been a drugs cheat during the BALCO investigation, and he, like others including Jones, fully and rigorously denied having any connection to performance-enhancing drugs. His country bought it, and stuck with him at a very high price.

It seems that repayment plan - including interest - is not something Chambers will be able to afford, no matter how much sentiment or desire he puts into it.

Marion Jones: What Awaits Her in Prison (Camp)

Story written by EPelle

Marion Jones will spend six months in custody locked up behind razor wires at a U.S. Federal Prison Camp - presumably FPC Bryan in Texas if the government grants her wishes to remain as near her family as possible. She's awaiting an open date to get on with her sentence and get out sooner rather than later, and has up until 2008-March-11 to report to authorities at the eventual location the Feds determine she best fits.

As far as prison camps are concerned, FPC Bryan appears to be one of the more calm stay-overs of the 27 penal colony Federal locations the U.S. Department of Justice has to offer Marion Jones.

There are no shortage of "insider" descriptions of FPC Bryan one is able to locate on Prisontalk.com - a portal used by a large number of women who have either gone through the U.S. penal system or who are headed that direction in life. I've picked one particular insider tip to help you gain a better understanding of what awaits Marion Jones as she bucks up and gets ready to head to what presumably will be her new home, FPC Bryan:

Before you go, develop a real sense of humility and park your "attitudes" at the door. Listen at least twice as much as you talk. Don't ask personal questions; the women will tell you what they want you to know. There are women who have been in Bryan for 5, 10, and 15 years. Forget whining too much about a short sentence. I have recently received a sentence of 51 months, and I have asked for Bryan. It seems like forever to me, but I keep thinking about those women who have been there for so long, and I try to keep it in perspective. However bad it looks like to me, there are many who have it much, much worse. That doesn't mean, however, that you and I won't cry and be overwhelmed at the beginning. It just means to keep in mind you are in prison, not on vacation.

There are between 800 and 1,100 women at Bryan at any given time. Of these 1,100 women only about 200 have a GED or high school diploma, and of those 200 only half have education above high school. The average age is about 32. Many people will be there trying to help you learn the ropes, when you have to be somewhere, what you wear, when, and who controls what.

If you have medical issues, take empty prescription bottles of your current medication. There is no guarantee that you will get the same medication. The BOP will probably disallow some, like Prempro, and substitute for others, especially anti-depressants. During your medical interview, maximize your problems, do not minimize. Anyone with any chronic condition (high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, etc) make sure they know about it, and how serious it is. The chronic condition designation will help exempt you from prolonged standing, working outside, or in the kitchen. There is no dentist on permanent staff; only comes in 1 or 2 days a month.

The first two months, be prepared to spend almost your limit of $290 for hygiene items, sweats to wear when you are not in khaki uniform, tennis shoes, extra towels, etc. After the first two months, you can get by on significantly less money. The phone is 300 minutes/months for $69. Stamps and laundry do not count toward your $290 spending limit. Bring as much cash as you can up to $290 to put in your account for that first month's expenses. It should be posted to your account in 2-3 days.

Be prepared for the BOP to want a minimum payment of $25 per quarter for restitution, if you have been ordered to pay restitution. Your counselor will look at how much you spend on commisary every month and determine what they "ask" you to pay (with some negotiation with you). If you refuse to pay, the counselor will put you on "refusal" and that will take you back to a base pay of $5.25 per month instead of the 12 cents per hour, and you will most likely lose you job and go to the compound to work sanitation or the grounds).

If you self-surrender through Receiving and Discharge (R&D), try to avoid Fridays because the commisary is closed and you will not have hygiene products over the weekend. On the day you report, try to get there early, even 8am if possible. When you get to R&D, you will have a seat just outside "control". The whole check in process is pretty self-explanatory. You will fill out a form that gives the address to send your belongings. They will keep your drivers license during your incarceration. You will disrobe completely and put it all in a box. Then you get a bra, underwear, khaki pants and shirt, socks and blue canvas deck shoes that distinguish you as a new prisoner as you are led to your unit. You will also be fingerprinted, photo, and given your ID that now makes you an official Federal Prisoner.

Then you get a bed bundle of pillow, blanket, sheets and pajamas. Either you counselor or your unit officer will come to see you, as well as someone from medical to do a short intake.

After you make your bed and it isn't past 1:00, you will go back to laundry where you will get shoes, 4 pants, 4 shirts, 4 khaki T-shirts, 4 socks, underwear and bras, 2 pair of pajamas, towels and washcloths and sheets. Be sure to beg for shoes not boots. All of this will be put in a mesh back that you take back to the unit. Make sure you ask for 8-10 hangers for your locker to hang up your clothes. If you don't want to tuck in your shirt, make sure you ask for shirts with squared-off tails. Also, try on everything. Don't assume that something is the same size just because it has a label with the same size.

Make sure you have you ID on you at all times!!! There are rules like not going outside the unit in anything other than regular shoes (the ice machine is outside the unit), you cannot walk on the grass, except in the rec area. The best idea regarding the rules is to imagine that someone is watching you at all times.

Most people get showers in the evening. Hang your towels on the foot of the bed and they should be dry by the morning. You cannot have anything out in your room during the day. Bed must be made by 7am.

There are four women to a room. There is a common room with tables and chairs, and three TV rooms. Just because a conversation is taking place in front of you, do not assume that you are part of that conversation. They will invite you to talk IF they want you to. Remember that privacy is in your head, it doesn't exist in prison.

You really can make a difference in your own life while you are in prison. But it is up to you to set your goals, believe and have confidence in yourself, and be willing to use the honesty needed to examine everything about yourself, your relationships, your actions, your emotions. Remember there is an end to your sentence, but don't focus on the end. The days pass with you keeping them filled with activity that makes you feel better. That may be exercise, reading, writing, tutoring, or crafts --- just do something!!

There is a rumor that if you die in prison, your paperwork will say "Escaped by Death" --- isn't that special!!!

(Original link; © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 PrisonTalk.com All rights reserved. )

Marion Jones will with all plausibility not have escaped prison by any means, death notwithstanding. She's a smart woman who'll likely keep to herself and simply do her time; she'll remain as invisible when need be, and fit in with the right peopl at the right times - including the guards and counsellors.

The greatest challenge facing Jones will be her attitude - something she will need to have checked at the door.

As a (former) celebrity ex-millionaire, Jones will have no superior status in prison; she, the winner of five Olympic medals by method of fraud, will be classified as a white collar thief. She'll have to learn to play by two set of rules: Prison rules and prisoner rules; there won't be an opportunity to lie, cheat and steal her way through the six months governing her next stage in life. Breaking these rules can have consequences leading to banishments of different proportions, including life.

She won’t likely have a problem with knowing and keeping the administrative rules however, as she will be required to participate in the institution’s Admissions and Orientation programme to learn his rights and responsibilities, the institution’s programme opportunities, and that pesky little part about the institution’s disciplinary system should it ever come to pass that she’s required to have it used against her.

Prison has an opportunity to test how contrite and sorry Jones has been over her sins against society, but it may also be a place where she further learns how to keep secrets locked deep inside where no one - despite mounting pressures - can force her to unlock information which will harm her person or reputation.

Victor Conte treated his short-term prison sentence as a day-care centre and bragged about the fame and notoriety he had whilst locked away at Taft Correctional Institute outside of Bakersfield, CA for four months beginning 2005-December-1.

The most difficult Marion Jones has to brace for during this tough spell in her life is not the change of scenery, unfamiliar scenery and loss of freedom, rather the separation from her two sons and her new husband.

She’ll have the comfort of sharing with others to help ease the pain, but the separation won’t fizzle out no matter how much inner strength she has.

The same of her inner-strength and desire was true of her desire to avoid sitting in prison in the first place.

Two Years, Six Months and 800 Hours

Story written by EPelle

Marion Jones is going to be separated from her pursuits of personal life, liberties and happiness for six months - an action which is the equal and just reward for crimes she committed against the United States government and against the sport of athletics.

I didn't revel in her demise when the news reached my computer yesterday, this despite having chased down leads and uncovered truths for five years which have become part of the case of The United States of America vs Marion Lois Jones. Her sentencing left me neither happy nor sad; there is an indifference I feel which is difficult to articulate, but the best way I can describe how I felt was that this won't be the end of the story for Marion Jones in this matter.

Jones skated by with the minimum sentence Federal judge Kenneth Karas felt necessary to send a message to celebrities and sports stars alike, namely don't lie and don't cheat. Her having pleaded guilty in this case automatically disqualifies her from taking the Fifth in Trevor Graham's upcoming trial, and leaves her wide open for further trouble insofar as she has still not come completely clean and full-circle in this case.

Jones risks further questions she'll be forced to answer under oath, and risks even greater humiliation as she is forced to divulge information which she has kept under lock and key thus far into her game - some 11 years after she began playing with fire.

Karas didn't buy her story of being duped by Graham, and stated during his 20-minute sentencing lecture to her that she should have been keenly aware of improvements in her times and practices - especially for an event which is measured in fractions.

Jones has been involved with steroids since her return to the sport in 1997. Trevor Graham's indictment points Jones that direction, and her own words of marked improvements after small adjustements to her training demonstrate not that Graham was a great technician, but that she found a formula for success which would transform her into a two-time USA champion in an implausibly short amount of time.

Jones having been sentenced yesterday to prison isn't worth informing you about, as you have plenty of major and minor news channels from which to draw your headlines. There are no shortage of sensationalised catch-words to reel you in.

Yesterday, I stated that Jones would damn Karas if he handed her a sentence rather than a pardon.

She didn't in public, but instead stated that she accepted "the judge's decision". What she didn't do, however, was ensure the public that what she told them and wanted them to purchase at base price was that she was being completely truthful - even during those, her final hours before sentencing was to take place.

"The offences here are serious. They each involve lies made three years apart," Karas said to Jones. He also informed her that her criminal acts were "not a one-off mistake … but a repetition in an attempt to break the law".

Marion Jones's lawlessness reaches far beyond September 2000, however, and Karas appeared wise to the facts in the matter. I don't know how much information has been shared between Karas and Northern California District Judge Susan Illston in the BALCO matters, but his decisions and comments on the matter with Marion Jones were justified and spot-on.

Marion Jones will likely be sent to Federal Prison Camp Bryan - one of six women's-only detainment centres in America. She has been ordered to self-surrender to the inmate facility on 2008-March-11.

Six months of confiment in the detention centre will provide Jones some reading time and many an hour to contemplate her future steps in life. They will also provide her much-needed time to consider what story to tell the Federal government in the Graham trial in June, and how to tell it.

If she has learned her lesson in this case - one which ends with her forced to spend time away from two sons - of which one is still nursing, she will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help her God. If she decides to take criminal advice from inmates whose own strokes of luck didn't help - rather hurt - their free movements and ability to choose, she'll land in an even bigger mess with harsher consequence and an upgraded prison facility with higher walls and an extra set of razor-wired fence.

The choice is now Marion Jones's to make. She, wanting to be a catalyst to help others, must start off by being truthful to herself. Once she has her inner-demons figured out - those which bring out the sociopathic tendencies in her - she can seek advice to begin changing her ways. She's headed to prison - a place where lies, lies and more lies have gotten a majority of the women in there, and where lies, lies and more lies rule the inner walls where it is challenging to trust your neighbour in the two-floor dormitory setting which houses the 1.000 women there.

If she can make good use of her time in helping others help themselves, Jones may find that honesty really is the best policy to ensure she has a decent shot at a good future and can be a respectable member of society who works for a living and pulls her own weight legally, lawfully and respectfully.

FPC Bryan will allow Jones to use her college degree within the prison walls. Though a communication specilalist, Jones can be granted an opportunity through the prison system to tutor and mentor women who are working toward earning their GED certificates. She will witness no greater truth than observing the varying levels of education women in the facility will possess as she interacts with them - from describing a chore to asking to have the salt passed across the chow table. There is little wiggle room for a person behind on maths or without a good grasp of the English language to fake their way to a passing score.

Marion Jones has an opportunity to make a difference to these women, and by doing so, to start making a difference to herself.

Her postal codes have changed significantly over the past year, and she will soon occupy space in a building located at 1100 Ursuline Avenue in Bryan, Texas - a facility located in an unpopular area of town. Perhaps coming down from her castle to the slums where writings on the walls tell stories of worry, frustration and a longing to be free will liberate Jones.

Then again, as time has shown on more than one occasion, it may only turn her resolve to maintain her inner strength ever the more powerful resulting in a hardness and another facade under which to live, hide and escape when the pressures mount.

She has two months to prepare herself for entry into the penal system and her boot camp. She'll have six additional months to figure out what to do with the rest of her life, and two years and 800 hours to commit to a plan to give back to the sport from which she robbed.

Will you see her sooner rather than later is the pressing question, as she has more tough answers to provide when Graham makes his way into the Federal courthouse in San Francisco, CA in five month's time - or three months into Jones's sentence.

Until then, she can practice playing the children's game "Truth or Dare?" with her eldest son and see how many times she can pick the former, rather than the latter.

Wheels of Justice: Jones Awaits Sentencing

Story written by EPelle

Convicted felon Marion Jones has made a career of injecting her body with chemicals that have been known to be undetectable in a concerted and aggravated effort to provide enhanced performance with little consequence of being outed as a cheat.

She propped her body full of these illegal aides from 1997-2006 to secure fame and fortune by method of fraud, and she has found no reason to discontinue doing so today as she awaits her stay of prison term during this, the 25th hour since her confession to telling lies, lies and more lies to the detriment of two investigations of large proportions.

Marion Jones isn't taking blood-boosting gels, creams or injectable substances today to aid her attempts to dissuade a very experienced Federal judge from being too ambitious with incarceration sentencing guidelines, rather she's injecting herself with a form of "the clear" in a truth serum which has the desired effect of appearing that she is telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help her God.

Marion Jones has put enough serum into her body to persuade her eyes to shed tears and her voice to shake on queue and on camera just as the directions on the unlabeled box stated they would:

Open and use only in case of emergency. Apply two drops to the mouth, once in the morning, once in the evening following an inability to naturally tell the truth. Keep cheeks square, voice raised and visualise unnatural and unpleasant thoughts about nesting with Ugly Betty to provide quivering effect. Practice twice daily in front of a large mirror.

Warning: do not overdose, as doing so may cause one to further perjur themself. Always consult a qualified attorney prior to use. Not re-fillable.

And so it became that, through deception and lies, Marion Jones pinned the tale on the donkey which is the US Justice Department, and she’s hoping she has hit pay dirt with her newest arsenal of attack weapons – one which lost thrust and flare, and contain a sound smaller than a pin drop rather than a loud, bolstering, big bang. She has no assurances from Victor Conte that these drugs will work, as he’s moved on long past her into an apparent clean slate of business, hence Marion Jones is unsure she will hit utopia with the desired outcome.

Insofar as she has lost the opportunity to overpower her opponent, Judge Karas, as she had done so with other government agencies attempting to strike gold in the truth department, by playing victim in perjury matters concerning the drugs, she has no choice but to hope her having displayed a semblance of humility and humanness will win over his desire to punish her with custodial measures. If Karas holds true to form with regard to federal defendants and matters of perjury, Marion Jones will leave court today damning the man whose sole job it is to uphold the law – the rules Marion Jones freely and did with conscious effort broke.

Weeks ago, in the beginning of October, Marion Jones stepped up to the witness stand and allowed the United States government to judge her guilty of lies to which she confessed – yet only to a degree in direct proportion to the punishment she anticipated on receiving. She was ushered away to leave two sets of fingerprints, a palm imprint and DNA samples – requirements for those who are suspected of disobeying the law.

The truth she spoke was revealing to the naked eye, but those who, like Judge Karas, have been with the program and have seen through the thick fog of lies Marion Jones has told even to this day with respect to her involvement with the charges to which she has pleaded guilty, have not been inclined to forgive a person in Marion Jones who provides good theatrics, but has no substance matter to the spiel.

Now that the hour has come to collect a reward of granted pardon or a punishment of prison, Marion Jones will awake this morning as she presumably does on days like today – with a calendar by her side, a marker signifying the importance of the day, and perhaps one final time take a special dose of cocktail drugs designed to provide an enhanced performance. Maybe they’ll be aspirin. Maybe they won’t.

Marion Jones will stand in front of her long mirror, practice her facial expressions to her satisfaction, and head to the court with the same competitive attitude she has demonstrated toward anything which has gotten in her way; her goal is to stay home and raise two boys who need their mother, according to her current husband, Obadele Thompson.

She’ll stand in the blocks today hoping the new dose of drugs will kick in as requested, and she will again act on queue to the great appreciation or utter disappointment – whichever is par for the course – as Karas hands down his decision in the matter of The United States of America vs. Marion Lois Jones.

Should Karas feel so inclined to follow previous precedent for rewarding equal and just punishment for such crimes as these committed, Marion Jones will have to temper her anger and hope she's got enough in reserve to ease the pain of having lost her toughest battle to-date, though she will still have won by not having had to reveal the hidden past before September 2000 - the time-frame she stated Graham began doping her.

And then life will go on, Marion Jones will be a faint memory, and the sport of athletics will continue to go on in a positive spotlight until August, when television commentators will undoubtedly remind their millions of viewers of the tragedy which engulfed the greatest of stars, who, once-upon-a-time, won five medals in a single Olympic Games… all by method of deception and fraud.

Until then, stayed tuned today to news sources near you, as Marion Lois Jones, winner of prestige and honour, money and fame - all by method of deception and fraud - is to stand before society for the sins she has committed against it.

White Clears Her Conscious

Story written by EPelle

Kelli White, as you have learned in the history of this sport from sources unlimited and too numerous to state, had, like Marion Jones, committed the worst possible athletics sin known to the spirit of competition: she did wilfully, and with extreme prejudice for achieving the objective for which she had set out, participate in a plan to execute and cover up a scheme to defraud this sport of its history, records and reputation – resulting in condemnation for her, shame on her family, and banishment for two years from the sport which had provided her success and livelihood.

White sided with Victor Conte and became a cheat, or a person despised for betraying the ethics of hard work and dedication by using an illegal method to defy the limits placed on nature. She carries with that a stigma which will always stick to her side like an unbearable cramp during a marathon race – this one a race away from the past and into a future of her choosing.

By using a needleless syringe filled with a pale yellow-coloured clear under her tongue on an average of every second day, applying the cream to her arm and taking EPO injection shots into her stomach to wilfully deceive and cheat and being linked with using these undetectable drugs, White was immediately removed from her arsenal were the free passes to Eugene, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, Oslo, Zürich – and every other place which seemed to glitter under the night lights by the world’s greatest, most knowledgeable fans in attendance cheering on her every step toward the finish line.

Her redefined place in the sport has been a spot behind a television set several time zones removed from the action in which she had longed to compete, and had sorely missed. White was subsequently stripped of her 2003 USA Outdoor 100m and 200m titles, her 2003 World Championships 100m and 200m titles (including $120.000 in prize money), and was stripped of all results between 2000-December-15 – 2004-May-19.

The results were Kelli White’s own problem and were her own doing. She made a mistake, and the consequences – tough as they might have seemed – were fair, accurate, and immediate.

The thing with Kelli White, however, is that she rose, she fell, she cried and then made her peace with the sport – a seemingly everlasting one which appears to have paid dividends in not having come clean beyond her ability, so help her God, but in having shown true remorse for actions which were shameful and incredibly selfish, and taking action to ensure others have a fighting chance of not repeating her mistakes.

Three years after being exposed as a cheater and stapled together with the BALCO bunch, White spoke before the 2007 Anti-Doping Congress about the lures of using performance-enhancing drugs and the obstacles anti-doping officials are facing to cleaning up the sport.

When she was asked yesterday by the Associated Press why she continues to talk about her failure when so many others have hidden, she simply says that she has to.

“The pain is so deep, it’s important that I tell you ‘Don’t go there, don’t even bother.’”

White carries with her a black mark in the history of the sport which was created with indellible ink – such a mark which stirs up bad memories for those who value the meaning of clean competition and fair play among competitors. She has had her liberties taken from her to a certain extent, but has taken the opportunities afforded her to risk hitting an emotional bottom whilst preventing other athletes faced with similar choices to cheat an opportunity to make the correct choice and not give in to the temptations – despite the lure of money, fame and fortune.

White had earlier testified about her use of performance-enhancing drugs before the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, S. 529/U.S. Anti-Doping Agency on Tuesday, 2005-May-24.

Excerpted are statements White made during that testimony:

“Shortly thereafter [her graduation from the University of Tennessee, and return home to California to train under Remi Korchemny], in December, 2000, my coach introduced me to BALCO founder Victor Conte. Conte initially gave me a package containing both legal supplements, as well as a substance which later became known as the clear or the designer steroid THG. At the time, I was unaware that anything I received from Mr. Conte was a prohibited performance enhancing substance as I was told by both my coach and Mr. Conte that the vial they had given me contained flaxseed oil. A few weeks later, Mr. Conte admitted to me that the substance he had given me was indeed not flaxseed oil, but rather a prohibited substance that if not taken properly, could yield a positive drug test. I immediately ceased using the liquid because at that time in my career I did not believe it was necessary to take performance enhancing drugs to be competitive. I competed over the next two years without the use of any performance enhancing substances despite being constantly urged to do so. I was continuously being told that the usage of performance enhancing substances were necessary to be competitive because everyone else was doing so.”

“In March of 2003, I made a choice that I will forever regret. I visited Mr. Conte at his lab which was near my home, and we sat down and devised a program to utilize performance enhancing drugs in my training and competition. At that time, I began taking EPO, the clear (or THG), the cream and stimulants. I remained on this program over the course of four months, and with the help of Mr. Conte, I was able to pass 17 drug tests both in and out of competition while utilizing these prohibited performance enhancing substances.”

“A few weeks after the World Championships, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies raided the BALCO Laboratory. A few months later, I admitted to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) officials what I had done as I have outlined for you today. I received a two-year ban from competition for my actions, as well as lost all of the results from my previous four years of competition. I also agreed to assist USADA in its mission to clean up sport, and now offer to be of service to this Committee in any way you see fit. I believe athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs are hurting themselves, cheating the public and betraying our youth. A performance-enhancing drug user trades his or her overall health, well-being and integrity for a shot at fame and fortune.”

“My attorney, Jerrold Colton, and I have worked with assisting USADA in its efforts, and we believe this Committee should further support USADA as the fight is a very difficult one. Being mindful that my use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs was not detected through the extensive testing I received, USADA needs the resources to go further in its fight to detect the people who are breaking the rules. The BALCO scandal may not have been discovered without a competitor’s coach anonymously sending a syringe of THG to the USADA testers which ultimately led to the discovery of this heretofore unknown steroid.”

In a twist of fate, White, a former drug-cheat and a deceiver, stands to be the shining star in the BALCO bust by stating that she did, solemnly swear that she took undetectable substances which would be prohibited at all times had they been known – substances which should never be used.

Counsel for Tim Montgomery questioned White's motives in offering her testimony during CAS hearings against Montgomery and Chryste Gaines concerning Montgomery's use of the Clear and, more generally, his relationship with BALCO. They sought without success to impugn her honesty and to draw attention to White's own history of involvement with BALCO and her efforts to conceal that involvement. However, the CAS Panel declared its finding with respect to White's credibility as a witness in those proceedings and its view was that she was telling the truth.

USADA also believed White's having been up-front and personal in the matters concerning her drugs use proved to be an invaluable assett to her.

“Kelli White accepted accountability for her actions and she is able to look herself in the mirror and the world will forgive her,” said Travis Tygart, USADA's general counsel. “These two [Tim Montgomery and Chryste Gaines], for the rest of their lives, will go down as not only using drugs but doing everything possible -- and at great expense to clean athletes -- to avoid the truth.”

Last time White spoke on the matter of BALCO and her drugs use, she was closer to the fall-out, and had fresh experiences from which to describe.

“I felt that to do this (drug use), I had to become someone totally different than I was. I had to compromise my integrity, my value system. I knew it was so wrong. “I look at that person and I'm like, 'That's not Kelli White. That's not who I am, who I started out to be.’”

White, in a story written by USA Today’s Dick Patrick, stated she felt betrayed by a coach with whom she reunited, and was provided drugs without her consent and she contends that Korchemny played clueless when he was indicted for BALCO involvement. She reveals to reporters in a Manhattan conference room in 2004-December that her performance-enhancing drugs usage began after her having later falling behind due to injury and seeing a rival athlete compete well at the 2003 USATF Indoor National Championships.

Despite the foregone conclusion that both White and Conte, two people who had stated they would like to clean up the sport have been deemed cheaters, and have broken a rule in society which is sacred to harmony and trust with others – with White also being deceived by Conte, they have both stated on record – in understandable second-grade terms, that they admit to their wrongdoings, and want to set the record straight as far as drug cheating and performance-enhancing drugs is concerned.

Marion Jones may attempt to take a cue from White's come to Jesus sermons offered up to boys and girls around the United States and take the higher, more moral ground in attempts to tell as much truth as possible. Her 15 minutes of fame have elapsed, however, and White has beaten her to the finish line fairly and squarely - one truthful statement at a time.

I wish White every success in her life's ventures -- despite the fact that in doing so I appear to be praising a "cheat" for coming clean when she should have never gone astray in the first place. There's a hard lesson learned in this mess somewhere, and White, victim of a facial stabbing near James Logan High School, her alma mater, seems poised to tell a good story with the best of intentions.