By Leigh Penman

It would appear that Marion Jones might be in danger of losing her crown, when it comes to pleading naivety in the land of steroid use. Stepping up to the throne this week is champion boxer Shane Mosley.

It has been revealed that, prior to his September 13, 2003 title fight with Oscar De La Hoya, Mosley had been taking a potent mix of steroids and EPO. However, in good old Marion Jones tradition, Mosley has admitted publicly and in court documents that he took EPO and the designer steroids “the cream” and “the clear,” but says he did not know that they were either illegal or banned!

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Special Guest Leigh Penman Talks Steroids, Women’s Bodybuilding

Be sure to listen to ‘MuscleSport radio’ live every Tuesday from 3 to 4 pm (Eastern time) on www.blogtalkradio.com. This week’s show, our fourth episode, included MuscleSport Mag staff writer Leigh Penman, who spoke about some of the myths surrounding anabolic steroids, the Marion Jones saga and the state of women’s bodybuilding.

Episodes can be heard live or via download on Blog Talk Radio, iTunes or MuscleSport Mag. On next week’s show, our special guest will be Bill Grant. On 11/18/08, we will be joined by Boyer Coe, and on 11/25/08, Samir Bannout.

By Leigh Penman

And so it came to pass last week that Marion Jones decided to place herself in front of the talk show high priestess, Oprah Winfrey, and tell “all” about her brush with the law and imprisonment for anabolic steroid use during the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

But did she really tell the truth this time around or was it simply a case of trying to crawl her way back into the publics’ hearts?

Well, during the interview Marion looked down a lot when formulating her answers to Oprah’s questions. Now, any student of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) would tell you that this was a sign of searching her feelings and emotions for the appropriate response. However, it could also just be a sign that she was avoiding too much eye contact with Winfrey as she considered her answers (and we don’t need to be students of body science to figure out why). Continue Reading »

Claims That She Would Have Won Without Steroids

Having been suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs all the way back to her high school days, it is difficult to even make a fair comparison to what Marion Jones may have been able to accomplish if she was natural. The track star - who was recently released from federal prison after serving a six-month sentence - made an appearance on “The Orpah Winfrey Show” and claimed that she would have been as successful without steroids.

Not only is that preposterous, but goes against everything that has been previously proven. Jones may regret her decision to use PEDs, but to deny what they did for her performance makes her appear even more a liar than she already has. Continue Reading »

BALCO Sprinter Cut Loose After Nearly 6 Months in Slammer

Give it six months to a year. Tops. That’s how long it should take for Marion Jones to pen her memoirs and jump on the sword in the same breath while blaming everyone else for her troubles. The former Olympic sprinter was recently released from a federal prison before the minimum six months was even up.

Victor Conte, who Jones knows well enough to obtain steroids from and then sue for defamation, has a book that is being released shortly and Jones’ name is sure to come up. For her to combat this, she will need her own soapbox to speak her mind, which she will most likely do with a tell-all book.

According to Jones’ former teammate, Chryste Gaines, who had her own trouble with performance-enhancing drug accusations,
“She’ll be fine,” Gaines said, referring to Jones. “She’ll do her jail time, apologize and write a book about it.” Continue Reading »

Jailed Olympic Track Star Asks for Sentence to be Commuted

With two wars being fought overseas and the situation in Iran becoming even more tense, George W. Bush is quite busy during his last few months in the White House. Perhaps the last thing on his mind is to give a break to Marion Jones, the Olympic track star currently serving a six month prison sentence as part of her plea bargain. After compounding her legal problems of lying to the feds about using performance-enhancing drugs with a fraudulent check scheme, Jones’ chances for early release are not too good.

As confirmed by the Justice Department, Jones is merely one of several hundred applicants applying for sentence commutations and presidential pardons. The difference is that a pardon is an “act of forgiveness” which also removes civil liabilities, while a commutation is either a reduction or elimination of a sentence. Continue Reading »

Former Olympic Hero Completes Downfall with Guilty Plea on Heroin Charges

When they coined the old saying, “How the mighty have fallen,” they could have been writing it about Tim Montgomery. Three memorable track and field performances that included silver and gold medals and a world record have come full circle with a guilty plea in a Virginia courtroom for heroin distribution.

This comes a week before his trial was set to begin, and pursuant to his four year sentence for a check cashing scam and him being stripped of his athletic accomplishments from the BALCO investigation. Continue Reading »

BALCO’s Victor Conte Still Peddlin’

You have to give Victor Conte credit. The mastermind behind BALCO paid his debt to society and is once again pumping supplements, this time probably nothing that will result in a congressional hearing.

The company is called SNAC (www.snac.com) and the Golden Gate Bridge is still looming. The BALCO logo is now available on T-shirts with the saying ‘BALCO Gear’ on the front. A mere $24.95 and you’ll have your own.

As far as the supplements go, these are reportedly very good, although I have never tried them myself. ZMA is back and is an affordable $15.95 for a bottle of 90. Continue Reading »