Marion Jones speaks candidly on Piers Morgan Show
Marion Jones
Former Olympic champion, Marion Jones is the first and only Belizean to win Olympic medals, not one but five. She gained international prominence after winning the medals at the Sydney Olympics in the year 2000. When she crossed the finishing line she raised the Belize flag; she captured the love of the nation and the national stadium was named after her. But she fell from grace in 2007 and had to hand back her medals when a scandal erupted over her use of performance enhancing drugs. Jones initially misled a grand jury about the doping, but eventually confessed and was sentenced to six months in prison for perjury in 2008. In a one on one interview with CNN’s Piers Morgan, Jones opened up about the dramatic change in her life; going from a lauded athlete to a convicted felon and the experience in prison that followed.
Piers Morgan
“Your husband drives you in 2008 to this prison and you get dropped off and you walk in and they take you a cell and the door shuts. What are you thinking?”
Marion Jones, Former Olympic Athlete
“Like how did this happen? How in the world is my worst nightmare actually happening?”
Piers Morgan
“You’d gone from eighty thousand dollars a race—I don’t know how much that is per inch but it’s a lot right and suddenly you’re in this tiny cell and you’re a felon.”
Marion Jones
“I think to put things in perspective, when I was a child I used to always want so bad for my name to be written in the paper, for my accomplishments of course and my reality now is sometimes I don’t want it written in the paper and sometimes it’s tough being a celebrity because when I walk into prison, unlike most people who go to prison—I’ll tell you cause I don’t think you have any history in that—most people go unknown. I walked in and everybody knew who I was; there helicopters circling, there were photographers trying to jump the fence to get that picture, I walked past the TV room where the inmates watch television and my story was being played. I was there for almost six months and there were nights that were extremely hard, missing my family.”
Piers Morgan
“Your kids went to stay with your family in Barbados.”
Marion Jones
“Correct.”
Piers Morgan
“So they were protected in a sense.”
Marion Jones
“Yeah.”
Piers Morgan
“But you weren’t though; you were on your own there.”
Marion Jones
“Right and I think some of these women would come up and they had been in there for ten, fifteen years and they hadn’t had a visit or a letter from a family member. And so at night, when sometimes I would cry and I would just be in this deep, deep place and I would say you know what Marion, why are you acting like this when the woman down the hall has been here over a decade and she has no family that’s interested in her?”
“Marion Jones is the first and only Belizean to win Olympic medals” WTF!!! SHE IS NOT A BELIZEAN!! SHE IS AN AMERICAN!!!
I agree with you 110% … Marion Jones ran under the American flag in the Olympics. She by no means whatsoever represented Belize. Furthermore, it´s a shame that a national sports complex is named after her when there are so many local Belizean athletes to chose from!!
She was on the American team that won Olympic medals for U.S.A.
@True Belizean: U disown her? Really if she was still at the top would you, or because she disgraced herself you no longer agree she’s Belizean? Either way she is, so deal with it. Just take a look at the stadium that serves as a reminder.
True,Demo,John u are so ignorant, she ran with the Belize Flag, she gave money for the stadium and she visited Belize that is why her name is there. This is a reminder to people that u don’t mess with American Law, because no matter how HIGH u are, u can be taken down.
Change the name of the stadium … DON’T HONOR CHEATERS!!!
How many times did she mention Belize in the interview?
@Sarah, the stadium is an unfinished pile of doo doo, and a disgrace to the country, so what does that say about Marion?
LOL..countless people have given money to that dump of a crabhole stadium yet its still a dump. Plus Marion Jones is a CHEATER.
First of all Belize dose not have a stadium.
MJ has accomplish more than most of us will ever do in our life time. Mad respect ,and we as belizean should give each other support most when things are at its worst. Some of the above comments show the nasty attitude that has belize backwards
Ya man lets name the stadium “Shine Stadium” NOT! lol lol
The reason why America throw Marion, under the bus, was because she held up that Belize’s flag. And America wanted to get the recognized. Stop be a hater people. Who are we to judged. Some of us have our own beeswax to tend to.
Yeah, she visit Belize…and have a stadium named for her…..where are the stadiums for other Belizean heroes? For single mothers keeping their kids off drugs and gangs and in school in such a horrible economy? Oh, she wave the flag, oh she gone to jail, lets pray for her and be proud…..give me a break……..
Marion Jones made a business decision to run under the American Flag.
Anyone with half of a brain would have made the same decision.
No one in Belize could or was willing to pay her what she earned in America.
Unfortunately too many Belizeans are too busy being jealous of her success.
Even if PED did not come up some Belizeans would still be hating her.
That is one of the reasons why Belize will always struggle.
I am not saying what she did was right but give credit where credit is due.
She did not need PED to win any of those medals.
lol. haha good one ” Shine Stadium” not ever.! He is a real Belizean and have done nothing for his country, but abondoned it. Yes we all want to discriminate against MJ. I get it she is not a belizean her parents are, but yet we cant just appreciate the little she have done. Yes it would of bin nice if she did something else beside a studium that we dont even use, but atleast she tried. yall need to stop hating! unless you have done something to help Belize i would advise you keep your tail between your legs and be Quiet. Mj aient perfect and again i say she is not Belizean but yet she had us in her mind, my question is what have Shine done for his home land. NOTHING!