Marion Jones Admits Steroid Use

Having spent years denying it Marion Jones is said to be admitting that she used steroids prior to the 2000 Olympic Games.

Marion Jones is ready to admit she took performance-enhancing substances after years of denials, according to reports in the United States.

The three-time Olympic gold medallist is due to appear in the US District Court in White Plains, New York on Friday to plead guilty to charges in connection with steroid use, according to a federal law enforcement source. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, and would not provide details about the plea.

The Washington Post broke the story on Thursday that Jones sent family and friends a letter in which she admitted to using steroids before the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

“I want to apologise for all of this,” the Post reported Jones saying in her letter, quoting a person who received a copy and read it to the paper. “I am sorry for disappointing you all in so many ways.”

Jones could both be jailed and lose her Olympic medals:

Australia's Olympic chief welcomed on Friday the reported admission by Marion Jones that she used steroids in the lead-up to the 2000 Sydney Games, saying she should be stripped of the medals she won there.

Australian Olympic Committee chief John Coates said the former sprint queen should lose the three gold and two bronze medals she won in Sydney if reports she would plead guilty to lying to federal agents about her drug use were accurate.

"I would hope the medals would be taken away," Coates told reporters, pointing out that transgressions dating back eight years could be punished under the new world anti-doping code.

Here's the CBS report on Marion Jones' admissions of steroid use:

And the AP report.

And more on it all: