The Rise And Fall Of Marion Jones
Marion Jones, competing for Rio Mesa High School in Oxnard, sprints toward the finish line in a race at Cerritos College in Norwalk. She won the California state championship in the 100 meters four consecutive years while at Rio Mesa and Thousand Oaks high schools. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
Jones, in a 1991 file photo, was a two-time high school track and field athlete of the year. She ran for Rio Mesa High School in Oxnard and Thousand Oaks High. Jones then went to the University of North Carolina on a basketball scholarship, but gave it up in 1996 to concentrate on track. (Carlos Chavez / Los Angeles Times)
Jones earned a gold medal in the long jump at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Sacramento in July 2004. She competed in the Athens Olympics that year but won no medals. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Jones celebrates after winning the 100-meter final at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She won three gold medals and two bronzes at those games. Last year, after admitting that she had used steroids, she was stripped of those and all other medals she had won since September 2000. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Jones carries a U.S. flag after winning the 200-meter final at the Sydney Olympics. She also won gold in the 100-meters and 4 X 400-meter relay and bronze in the long jump and 4 X 100-meter relay. She was later stripped of those medals. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Jones finishes fifth in 100-meter final at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Sacramento in July 2004, failing to qualify for the event in the Athens Olympics. (Waly Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
Jones comes out of the starting blocks in the 400-meters at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in Walnut in April 2005. She faded down the stretch and finished last. At the time, she was fighting doping allegations. (Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times)
Jones was overcome with emotion Oct. 5, when she met the media outside the federal courthouse in White Plains, N.Y., after pleading guilty to lying to federal investigators when she denied using performance-enhancing drugs. (Mary Altaffer / AP)
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Jones and husband Obadele Thompson walk to the federal courthouse in White Plains, N.Y., today, when a judge sentenced Jones to six months in prison for lying about using steroids and a check-fraud scam. She was ordered to begin her sentence March 11. (Don Emmert / AFP/Getty Images)
