Jones pleads guilty in steroid case

By Christine Kearney

WHITE PLAINS, New York (Reuters) - Reversing years of denials, U.S. track superstar Marion Jones pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to federal investigators and admitted using steroids, which could cost her the five medals she won in the 2000 Olympics.

In a sober court hearing and a tear-filled appearance before reporters, Jones, 31, admitted using performance-enhancing drugs.

"It is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust," Jones told reporters outside court, addressing her fans and family.

"I want you to know that I have been dishonest and you have the right to be angry with me," she said, breaking down in tears. "I have let my country down and I have let myself down."

The head of the U.S. Olympic Committee urged Jones to give back the medals she won at the Sydney Summer Olympics.

Jones told the court she swallowed tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG, also known as "the clear," which she said had been given to her by her former coach Trevor Graham.

"I consumed the substance several times before the Sydney Games," Jones told U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas in White Plains, just north of New York City. "He (Graham) told me to put it under my tongue and to swallow it."

She pleaded guilty to two felonies -- lying to federal investigators about her steroid use and lying to them about a separate check fraud case.

Jones faces up to six months in jail under a plea agreement with prosecutors. She was released on bail, surrendered her passport, and will be sentenced on January 11.

She later told reporters she was retiring from track and field, ending a spectacular career in which she became the first woman to win five medals at a single Olympics.

She captured the gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4x400-metre relay, and won the bronze in the long jump and 4x100-metre relay at the 2000 Sydney Games.

USOC Chairman Peter Ueberroth said, "Ms. Jones has cheated her sport, her teammates, her competitors, her country and herself.

"She now has an opportunity to make a very different choice by returning her Olympic medals, and in so doing, properly acknowledge the efforts of the vast majority of athletes who choose to compete clean."

The chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Dick Pound, said he expected the IOC to move quickly and strip Jones of her medals.

Jones is already under investigation by the International Olympic Committee for suspicion of using steroids. IOC President Jacques Rogge called it "a sad day for sport."