The Sad Case of Marion Jones...Or When Are the East Germans Giving Back Their Medals?

It's easy to jump on an all-righteous bandwagon. Easy to think that former track and field superstar Marion Jones should be stripped of Olympic medals, and erased from the record books for as far back as the summer of 2000. That along with having Jones give back over $700,000 in prize money would be nothing more than justice served right?

Now hold on, not so fast. This is women's track and field we are talking about, something I have followed for years. How can you strip Marion of all that she won and boot her right out of the record books without giving a second thought to the myriad of track and field stars who have also cheated their way onto the record books?

Remember Marita Koch? No? I do. She is the East German wonder woman who still holds the record for the 400 meters. I remember Koch's world record race on October 6, 1985 at the World Cup of track and field. Koch clocked an amazing 47.60 seconds for the distance. It's a record no one has come close to matching or beating. A brilliant run, except for the simple fact that Koch was using anabolic steroids in the form of Oral-Turinabol at the time. Sure, Koch unlike Marion never publicly admitted it, but we have records of it, plenty of documentation from the former program that the East Germans ran. So why can Koch keep her records? Why are her medals not tainted? Why does she get to keep her glory? Why? Because she is not a tearful confessing American, that's why! She was part of a Communist regime where cheating was the order of the day, and the world turned and still turns a blind eye towards the accomplishments of those regimes.

Still not convinced huh? Well then, how about the record holder for the 800 meters, Jarmila Kratochvilova? Ever see her run in her glory days? She who beat Koch at 400 meters and whose 800 meter record is one of the oldest in the books? One look at her manly muscular physique and you had to know that something was up with her. Guess what? Her national team in Czechoslovakia was also heavily into performace enhancing drugs. But is she stripped off her record? Heavens no!

Yet here we stand, with Marion Jones as the sacrifical lamb for the sport. We stand ready to crucify her without an inkling of knowledge on the history of the sport. Very well then, let the first sinless nation cast the first proverbal stone. Ah, I see all former Soviets, East Germans, Romanians, and Chinese dropping their stones and moving silently away from Marion Jones. Just one more thing, how about turning in your medals, prize money and records on your way out.

The Hypocrasy of it all. Well, at least they gave Jim Thorpe back his medals. We will miss you Marion Jones.