FACTBOX-Key facts about sprinter Marion Jones

(Reuters) - American sprinter Marion Jones, one of track and field's biggest stars after winning five medals at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, had long denied that steroids played a role in her success.

But Jones pleaded guilty in federal court in White Plains, New York, on Friday to lying to federal investigators about her steroid use and admitted using performance-enhancing drugs.

Here are some facts about Jones:

* Jones won gold medals in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 4x400-metre relay in Sydney. She had hoped for five gold medals but took bronze in the long jump and 4x100-metre relay, which still made her the first woman to win five medals in a single Olympics. She won no medals at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

* Jones has long been tied to BALCO, the California nutritional supplement company at the center of U.S. sports world's steroid scandal. BALCO founder Victor Conte, who served four months in prison on charges related to steroids, repeatedly accused Jones of using performance enhancers. In 2005, she sued Conte, whose clients also included baseball home-run record holder Barry Bonds, for defamation but settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

* Jones told the court that before the Sydney Games she swallowed tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG, also known as "the clear," which she said was given to her by her former coach Trevor Graham. She said she believed at first the substance was flaxseed oil and continued to use it until July 2001.

* Jones had never failed a drug test until 2006 when traces of the banned substance EPO were found. She was cleared when a backup test proved negative.

* Jones' first husband, shot-putter C.J. Hunter, was suspended from competition after testing positive for steroids four times in 2000.

* Tim Montgomery, Jones' ex-boyfriend and father of her son, once had the world's fastest time in the 100 meters but was stripped of the 2002 record after he admitted using steroids and human growth hormone from BALCO. Montgomery pleaded guilty in New York this year to taking part in a multimillion-dollar bank fraud and money-laundering scheme.

* Jones currently is married to another former sprinter, Obadele Thompson of the Bahamas, and lives in Austin, Texas.

* Jones was born October 12, 1975, in Los Angeles and grew up in the Southern California. Her biological father left the family shortly after she was born and her stepfather died when she was a child.

* The Los Angeles Times earlier this year reported Jones had serious financial troubles. A deposition from a breach-of-contract suit against a former coach said a bank had foreclosed on her $2.5 million home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 2006. Many of her debts stemmed from legal bills as she fought doping allegations.

* In her prime, Jones earned millions of dollars through product endorsements and up to $80,000 per race.

(Sources: Reuters, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and sportsillustrated.cnn.com/)