Marion Jones talks about prison and family
Prison life was not easy, but Jones says the hardest part was being away from her family, particularly her sons, who were toddlers at the time of her imprisonment.
Piers Morgan
“What was the single worst moment for you of the whole thing when you look back?”
Marion Jones
“The single worst moment was sitting in solitary confinement on my boys’ birthdays and not getting a chance to talk to them or hold them or hug them and knowing—people might be surprised by that. It wasn’t having to give back my medals, it wasn’t the scandal; it wasn’t all that. It was not—it was, I think, disappointing the ones that loved me and cared for me and supported me and cheered me on, knowing that I hurt them. That to me is the single—and it’s what I deal with everyday, that doesn’t go away and I…”
Piers Morgan
“How have you dealt with that? I mean, I’ve got four kids and I can’t even imagine how you, as a mother, confronts such a thing. Your two kids were pretty young at that time right?”
Marion Jones
Marion Jones
“Yeah, one was turning one and one was turning four.”
Piers Morgan
“Right, so too young to really understand so I mean even now, are they aware of what happened to you?”
Marion Jones
“No, they’re not aware. I mean we’ve been pretty open with my oldest, who is eight years old and sharing with him certain things. But they have—they don’t really understand. We plan to certainly be—when we feel like they’re ready—share certain things with them and share the story with them but in my household, we teach our kids that we all make mistakes like mommy makes mistakes and I’m not an exception. But it’s what you do after the mistake; do you try and cover it up? I made the unfortunate choice to try and cover it up and I made things a lot worse. So do you cover it up and get mom and dad really upset with you or do you come and tell us what you did, we deal with it and we move on. So when I talk with young people now, that’s what I tell them; “hey ok, you’re going to make mistakes, be prepared. But do the right thing after.”
At the end of her trial in 2008, Jones and her attorneys had pleaded with Judge Kenneth Karas not to send her to prison and separate her from her sons. But the judge imposed the sentence, saying that athletes serve as role models to children around the world and letting Jones off easily would have sent all the wrong messages.
That would not have happen to you if you had stay with the usa flag they punish you for being BELIZEAN.
They punish her for perjury.
She got punished because she broke the law. And she is NOT a Belizean. She participated in the Olympics under the American flag and refused to run for Belize although she was eligible to do so!!!
@Stephen: Yeah they punish her for being Belizean, it had nothing to do with her use of performance-enhancing drugs as far back as the 2000 Summer Olympics, or that she had lied about it to a grand jury. U STUPID!!!
U stupid people talking about her being Belizean has nothing to do with the FACT that she confessed and was convicted of taking drug performance. anyone found cheating is punished with jailtime/fines, unlike Belize most people are found NOT GUILTY.
who cares????????
This is a typical example of someone famous getting in over their head and after they get into trouble the rats are first to flee.
Like her husband,friends and government of Belize who could have done better to support her defense and this remarkable young lady in her time of great need.
Marion Jones put color to the map of belize,she brought recognition to belizeans in olympics.You made a mistake Marion hold your head up we love you.
This is a typical example of someone famous getting in over their head and after they get into trouble the rats are first to flee.
Like her husband,friends and government of Belize who could have done better to support her defense and this remarkable young lady in her time of great need.
Marion Jones put color to the map of belize,she brought recognition to belizeans in olympics.You made a mistake Marion hold your head up we love you.
Very true!! W.G.A.F.