Della
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Olympic Cheat: 'I've Betrayed Your Trust'Source Sky News
| Quote: | Three-time Olympic champion Marion Jones has admitted using performance-enhancing drugs and lying to government investigators about it.
She will find out in January whether she will go to jail.
Outside a court in White Plains, New York, she broke down in tears as she apologised to her family, friends and supporters.
She also announced her retirement from athletics.
With her mother standing next to her she said: "It's with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust.
"I have been dishonest, and you have the right to be angry with me.
"I have let my family down. I have let my country down, and I have let myself down.
"I recognise that by saying I'm deeply sorry, it might not be enough and sufficient to address the pain and hurt that I've caused you.
"Therefore, I want to ask for your forgiveness for my actions, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
In court, Jones, speaking in a clear voice through a microphone, admitted she lied to a federal investigator in November 2003 when he asked if she had used performance-enhancing drugs.
"I answered that I had not. This was a lie, your honour," she said.
She also pleaded guilty to a second count of lying to investigators about her association with a cheque-fraud conspiracy.
Jones said she took steroids from September 2000 to July 2001 and was told by her then-coach Trevor Graham that she was taking flaxseed oil when it was actually "the clear" - a designer steroid.
She said: "I consumed this substance several times before the Sydney Olympics and continued using it after.
"By November 2003, I realised he was giving me performance-enhancing drugs."
Prosecutors have suggested she serve a maximum of six months. The maximum sentence on each count is five years and a $250,000 (£122,000) fine.
US Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth said in a statement that she should "immediately step forward and return the Olympic medals she won while competing in violation of the rules".
These would include gold medals in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4x400 metre relay.
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I just don't understand why athletes nowadays bother, surely theres a good chance they'll get caught with all the random drugs checks they do??
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