US track star Marion Jones announces retirement

US track star Marion Jones announces retirement - channelnewsasia.com

WHITE PLAINS, United States : Tearful US track star Marion Jones said Friday she had broken the trust of her fans and announced she was retiring from the sport after admitting in court to taking steroids.

"It is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you to tell you that I have betrayed ... your trust," the Olympic gold medal winner told a crowd gathered outside the courtroom in White Plains, New York.

Once ranked among the greatest athletes of all time, Jones has seen the clouds of doping gather until they have irrevocably tainted what should have been a glorious career.

Jones, 31, admitted in a US federal court that she had used the designer steroid THG from September 2000 to July 2001, ending years of angry denials of doping allegations.

Jones' confession came as she pleaded guilty to lying to a federal agent about her drug use, charge that could see her jailed. "Link"