Marion Jones makes a return
Disgraced American sprinter Marion Jones returned to competitive sport, after her dope scandal in athletics that caused her suspension, disgrace besides being stripped of her Olympic medals.She won five medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, in what was touted as one of the greatest displays in the history of the sports, as she reigned supreme on the track. In October 2007 she eventually agreed to forfeit all medals and prizes dating back to September 2000 after admitting that she took performance-enhancing drugs.
She made the admission that she had taken steroids before the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics and acknowledged that she had, in fact, lied when she previously denied steroid use in statements to the press, to various sports agencies, and—most significantly—to two grand juries. The athlete who was once a darling of the crowd, with her vivacious personality and achievements on the filed remained at the centre of the action. On Saturday the 35 year old made an appearance in a different sport, starting a career in basketball as more of a cheerleader than an on court star.
Stripped of her Olympic medals and sentenced to six-months in prison for lying to federal investigators about her use of performance-enhancing drugs, Jones' tainted past did not bother a curious crowd who offered her a warm welcome. But unlike the past she made a surprisingly quiet and unspectacular return to the sporting arena spending most of her debut game anchored to the Tulsa Shock bench during a season-opening 80-74 loss to the Minnesota Lynx. Hailed as the world's greatest female athlete before her stunning fall from grace, Jones finished with no points, rebounds or assists and one foul in just over three minutes of play, in a clear indication that she has to go a long way before even coming close to matching her track and field achievements on the basketball court.
Yet this was not the first time she had basketball a hit as she played a pivotal role in helping North Carolina capture an NCAA championship as a freshman point guard in 1994.
The return to the court this weekend was altogether different, as she became WNBA’s oldest rookie, a 34-year-old mother of three looking for a fresh start. The season-opener was listed as a sell-out of 7,806, the $125 courtside seats filled with Tulsa's movers and shakers including Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry and WNBA Commissioner Donna Orender.
Understandably there was huge anticipation of Jones re-entry in the sporting arena, and the league is set to gain more prominence with her presence on court, or even as a cheer leader for her team.
Jones' debut attracted interest around the world with television crew from France and a reporter from Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport attending the match.
Yet the American media greeted the development with muted enthusiasm media as only USA Today and the Washington Post dispatched reporters to Tulsa. The media snub was in stark contrast to the public gaze and attention that Jones was once used to regularly appearing on the covers of Vogue and Sports Illustrated, every competition she took part in was a must-cover media event, in fact every move she made was covered in the media.
But fewer than 25 news organisations covered her return to the court, media seats that at one time might have been occupied by Time and Newsweek now filled with writers from Swish Appeal, Hoopfeed, UR Woman the Sports Animal. As they say the world of glitz and glamour has a charmed, yet short and and superficial life, and no one would have felt it more than Marion Jones on her reappearance to the maddening world!
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