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Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones denied any knowledge yesterday of a check from her bank account that reportedly had been sent to Victor Conte, the founder of a San Francisco company that is at the center of an investigation into performance-enhancing drugs.
Speaking yesterday after running the anchor leg of the victorious 4x100- and
4x200-meter relay teams in the "USA vs. The World" competition at
the Penn Relays, Jones said she "never signed, endorsed, agreed upon or
sent any check" to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO).
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The New York Times reported in yesterday's editions that a check for $7,350 from Jones' bank account was made out to Conte, and was deposited on Sept. 8, 2000, one week before the Sydney Olympics, where Jones won three gold and two bronze medals.
"My stance on it is I never signed, agreed, sought or sent any check to
BALCO, or knew about it," Jones said. "I can't say what it might have
been for. I don't know. I never knew anything about the check."
The Times reported that two people familiar with the check said that the signature
of the document belonged to C.J. Hunter, Jones' former husband and a retired
shot-putter who was linked to BALCO. Jones said she had not talked to Hunter.
Jones testified last year before a federal grand jury investigating a performance-enhancing
drug scandal. The probe resulted in charges being filed against Conte and three
other men, including the trainer for San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds.
Jones said she doesn't think people are out to get her. She also said she isn't
shocked by anything that's reported about the investigation.
"I'm at a point now where I'm just going to let the judicial process do
what it's supposed to do," she said. "I'm confident that in the near
future that my name will be cleared from this whole situation."
Jones said later that "all of the athletes in sports in general" were
looking forward to the case being resolved.
Jones declined comment about any relationship she had with Conte, saying it
would be illegal to do so because of her grand-jury testimony.