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Drug Testing Forum

Olympic champion Marion Jones is tired of seeing her name linked to steroid allegations and recently issued a plea for a public hearing that she hopes will clear her name and allow her to compete in the Athens Games.

The track star is one of the most prominent athletes who are being investigated for possible violations of rules banning drugs. She testified in a federal probe of a drug lab accused of illegally distributing steroids and she answered questions from a grand jury, but the sprinter remains under a cloud of suspicion. Jones said she wants a public hearing to ensure a fair process.

"I am not going to engage in the United States Anti-Doping Agency's secret kangaroo court," said Jones, who won five medals at the 2000 Olympics. "I will answer questions in a public forum that will be open for the entire world to see, hear and evaluate."

Frustrated with the probe and maintaining that she has "never, ever used performance-enhancing drugs," Jones added, "I'm trying to make the U.S. Olympic team and this is a constant distraction ... I'm hoping to send a message to USADA that I want this done and I want my name cleared. I want to move on."

However, the doping agency said it would not provide special treatment for Jones by holding a hearing before possible arbitration.

"If Ms. Jones wants the truth to come out, then we share that goal," said Travis Tygart, USADA's director of legal affairs. "No athlete is entitled to preferred treatment or will be allowed to circumvent that process."

Shortly after her plea, Jones' attorney Joseph Burton released results of a lie detector test she took. "The passing of the polygraph just vindicates and supports fully the position Marion has taken through all this time," Burton said.

Doping officials apparently don't have positive drug tests for most of the Olympic hopefuls linked to the scandal, but they do have other evidence that allegedly describes the use of banned drugs.

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