Marion Jones speaks of her time in jail

Once a five time medalist at the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games, Marion Jones won the hearts of Americans and Belizeans when she concluded a victory lap with both U.S. and Belizean Flags, honouring her heritage with the jewel. The streets of Belize were lined with awe-struck children who dreamt of reaching the heights Jones had dared to achieve. Since then, life has not been the same for the athlete. In October 2007, she admitted she took steroids before the Sydney games and acknowledged that she lied to two grand juries, one which investigated the BALCO designer steroid ring, and the other which investigated a check fraud ring. Jones pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents in the steroid case and was sentenced to six months in prison. She was released on September fifth 2008. Tonight Jones is featured on Oprah and we bring you a highlight from the interview.

Today, all new, from Olympic golden girl to inmate. Released from prison weeks ago, the first and only interview with Marion Jones; she has not been seen or heard from until now.

Oprah Winfrey
But it would take three years for Marion to admit that she lied to federal agents. She was stripped of all her medals and eventually, her freedom. For lying to investigators and for her role in a cheque fraud scam, this mother of two spent six months in prison and is now a convicted felon.

“Well how are you doing?”

Marion Jones, Former Olympic Medallist
“Good.”

Oprah Winfrey
“Since we last talked, I think it’s almost ten months ago, you have now served six months in prison. You served the full six months in prison. And what was that experience like for you? I hear prison can either grow you up or tear you down.”

Marion Jones
“It was certainly life changing. There were moments, Oprah, where I felt like my world was over. I wasn’t with my family, I wasn’t with my kids, I made such a huge mistake and let so many people down. I was sad because I didn’t know—I know I worked hard and I know I’d been blessed with a great amount of talent but I didn’t know in my heart of hearts how much that aided me, how much that assisted me at the Sydney games.”

Oprah Winfrey
“Were you thinking about that in that moment?”

Marion Jones
“Yeah, I mean there was just all these things running through my mind. I thought about my family, I thought about how proud they were when I won the medals and when I achieved success and how disappointed they would be. I thought about my kids or my kid at the time. I only had one at the time. I thought about my finances, I thought about my sponsors. If had just taken a break, if I had stopped the interview that I was having with the prosecutors, walked out of the room, spoken with my attorneys; just taken five minutes I think things would be different.”

You won’t have to wait long to see the full interview, Oprah featuring Marion Jones will be aired on Channel Five tonight at eight p.m.