Her Greatest Race

First time I saw her I fell for her. The looks, the charming smile and the stride.

Marion Jones had won almost everyone’s heart with her great sprints in the late 90s and in the golden year of 2000.

Remember the TIME cover before the Sydney Olympics? That pretty face and elegant stride. The cover story talked about Jones’s determination to win five gold medals in the Games. She came close. She won three golds and two bronzes. And, how well she paraded them! You remember all those pictures.

She was the athlete.

The men around her had bad testimonies. The then husband JC Hunter, the discuss thrower, was banned for using banned substances. Her coach Trevor Graham was linked to the Balco case. Then Tim Montgomery, the once fastest man. He too was striped of his medal for using banned drugs.

Marion had been involved with flawed men. Her obvious links to them had dragged her name to doping circles. But how vehemently she had defended herself!

A communications graduate, she knew how to get her message across. We wanted to believe what she said even though there were some elements of doubt.

True, she was never tested positive (“the clear” must be effective). But the way she had denied the allegation and her inherent charm had made even most-seasoned journalists believe her.

New York Times columnist William C Rhoden, after Jones press meet during the 2004 US Track and Fields trials in Sacramento, confessed: “Frankly, I’m impressed.”

The track and field has lost its three champions to doping: Ben Johnson, Justin Gatlin and Marion Jones.

No other sport would recover from falls off such heights. Who will buy their “clean” stories now? Who will follow the sport with a religious fervour?

Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay have not tested positive, not even once. So was Jones. Who knows after some years, these guys may call a press conference and break down.

I watched Jones’s confession carefully. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. She broke down in between. She gathered courage to speak out. There was light in her eyes.

Why did she do it? Is this another of her skillful enactment?

One of her sentences was: “I ask the Almighty God for forgiveness.”

That could be the reason. Only if the Maker touches, will your heart change.

She has returned the medals. Reports say she is broke. But if Marion Jones has met her Maker, all this doesn’t matter. And, that’s her greatest race. The one she won without medals, the one the fans thought she lost. But, the only race that she won.