Marion Jones and her boyfriend, Tim Montgomery, both failed to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics in the 100 meter event. Both are suspected of using banned drugs to enhance their performance in the past.

All of the stories I have read about the qualifying competition this weekend (Sports Illustrated and New York Times, for instance) seem to imply that the “stress of the investigation” and the “intense media spotlight” have hampered their performance. I wonder why none of the papers say that she's stopped taking her steroids due to the intense media and investigative spotlight. So her poor performance is because she is running clean for the first time in years.

I guess they're afraid of getting sued. But that's probably the truth.

This is probably the best thing that could have happened for the sport. They would have had to drop her from the team, which would have caused her to sue, which would have been a distraction and/or controversey for the Olympics.