Marion Jones shrinks a little more

The relationship always seemed incongruous. She was tall, attractive, famous, outgoing, a star in two sports. He was short, shy, given to mumbling in interviews, and, until the end of his career, just another very good athlete on the international track circuit.

When they made the deal public, with Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery sharing a kiss and hug after he set a world record in the 100 meters on Sept. 14, 2002 (nine months before Jones gave birth to Tim Montgomery Jr.), you had to wonder what Jones saw in the man known as Tiny Tim and what they could possibly have talked about.

Six years later, after both have spent time in prison, and had their track and field achievements either officially erased or rendered meaningless, the differences between them are even more apparent.

None is bigger than this: Montgomery has shown the courage to tell the truth, while Jones plainly continues to dissemble about her use of performance-enhancing drugs.

That –- not Montgomery’s revelation that he doped before running in the preliminaries of an eventual gold-medal-winning sprint relay at the 2000 Olympics –- is the most dramatic part of the jailhouse interview with Bryant Gumbel that airs tonight night on HBO Real Sport.

Montgomery at first professes that doping guru Victor Conte never told him the substances Conte gave him were steroids. Yet the runner confesses less than a minute later, as Gumbel does a fine job of leading Montgomery to full disclosure.

"I knew," Montgomery said. "I’m not going to lie. I knew."

Gumbel knew where to go with that statement: air a few seconds of Jones’ recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, during which Jones –- who also had a working relationship with Conte –- once again refused to admit she knew was getting performance-enhancing drugs from the Balco boss.

Oprah asks Jones, "What did you think you were taking?"

"I don’t remember what [Conte] told me at this moment he was giving me ... flaxseed oil, that’s what it was," Jones answers.

That wasn’t the only way in which Montgomery now appears to be a bigger person than his ex-companion. Out of respect for their child, Montgomery declined to comment on what Jones had told Oprah.

Montgomery, 33, did a lot more wrong than just take steroids. He got 46 months in prison for his role in a bank fraud scheme about which Jones professed ignorance, a lie federal investigators used to pressure her into admitting to some of her past doping. When that sentence ends, he will begin serving five more years for selling heroin.

Montgomery did not try to cover anything up during the HBO interview. He admitted to being "very lazy" and using doping as a shortcut because "I wanted my name in the papers and my face on TV. He revealed having broken NCAA rules by signing a $98,000 sponsorship deal while still running for Norfolk State. It was evidence, Montgomery said, that "I had a criminal mind then."

Unlike Jones, who tried to explain away her mistakes by telling Oprah, "I didn’t love myself enough," Montgomery did not hide the motivation for his behavior or rationalize its consequences.

Selling heroin?  He did it "for the money."

Could he handle nine years in prison: "I made the bed, and I’m going to lie in it."

The question of who gave whom fleas when Montgomery lay down with Jones once seemed easy to answer.

Truth be told, it is Jones who refuses to stop dogging it when it comes to telling the truth.

-- Phillip Hersh

Photo: Tim Montgomery, left, in a 2002 photo with Marion Jones during a news conference in Madrid.  Credit: Paul White / Associated Press

Comments

[Alison]

I am really over the fact that the one athlete in the world right now who has served jail time for involvement with steroids is a women, Marion Jones. Yes, I know that her ultimate infraction was lying to the federal investigators and check fraud. However, we have been dealing for years and years and years and years and years and years of males cheating by doping, substance abusing, steroid popping and injecting, and juicing in just about every professional and olympic sport. I do not understand the harshness with which Marion is judged and the lack of investigation, prosecution, and follow up done by the officials in the NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB and the Olympic Committees. Is this not ridiculous? I am not saying that I believe that what Marion Jones is not wrong. I do not believe that she did not deserve to lose her medals. Or that her world records be taken away. I am not . My question is simply what about ALL THE MEN who have cheated in their sport by doping? What about their inability to be honest? What about their inability to 'fess up to holding records, trophies, bonuses, and championships all because they cheated and doped? I just don't get it.

[Jorge I. Gomez]

There is a golden rule in professional sports and it's that any thing and every thing is valid to get ahead. When a person seems to be doing extraordinary things, that person is on drugs. Are you listening, Michael Phelps, Lance Armstrong, Roger Clemens, et al? It's stupid to believe that a person can continue breaking records, playing longer without any extra help from "my friends"? It takes moral stamina to admit a wrong doing and professional sports are not the venue to look for those "honest" athletes when money and fame are at the stake. Professional sports are a sham and if athletes wouldn't use drugs, they would become just another mere mortal and there is no money on that. The solution? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out. Ban drugs and people who used for life or allow drugs use and that, my friends, will even the field.

[ERA]

This is a story of two athletes, both of which cheated by taking performance-enhancing drugs, a story of bank fraud, and even drug dealing. Throw in the specter of media coverage and legacy via world records (which mostly have been erased now) and you have a very compelling story.

But leave it to a feminist like "Allison" to conjure up sexism.

[the problemwithcaring]

Jorge comments prove what these people really steal from sports...

[Anthony]

I don't know if you've seen Jone's interview with Oprah, but to me, she was lying through her teeth. I found her to be completely not-credible. My wife and I were both sitting there wondering aloud why, if this was her mea-culpa moment, would she continue to lie. As a former athlete, I can attest to the saying "your body is your temple" is absolutely true. You scrutinize everything you ingest down to the grams of sodium or carbohydrates. I just can't believe that a world-class athlete "doesn't know" what they're taking.