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Marion Jones Movie

Marion Jones Movie - Just about the only thing that was able to catch up with Olympian Marion Jones was the law. Now John Singleton’s new film, “Press Pause,” examines the long, glorious, ultimately tarnished career of the track and field superstar and asks: should she be forgiven? The documentary debuts tonight at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN as part of its “30-for-30” series.

Through interviews with her coaches, teammates, attorney, husband and sportswriters, Singleton takes viewers on the roller-coaster ride which has been Jones’ life. The movie follows her from budding track and basketball star at the University of North Carolina to becoming the first woman to win five medals (three gold, two bronze) at a single Olympics to accusations of doping, lying to federal investigators, imprisonment and finally, comeback. Jones, now age 35, is currently a guard on the Tulsa Shock WNBA team, and a mother of three. Her second autobiography, “On the Right Track,” was recently released by Simon and Schuster.

While Singleton’s portrait of a woman trying to put the pieces of her life back together is compelling, the film shies away from the two lingering questions at the crux of Jones’ story: what role did racism and sexism play in her conviction and is she still not telling the whole truth about her steroid use?

When federal investigators raided the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO) in September 2003, files were seized on some forty athletes – including Jones, Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds. In addition, a survey conducted by Major League Baseball in 2003 found that 104 of 1200 players tested positive for performance enhancing drugs (Sports Illustrated’s Selena Roberts later reported that Alex Rodriguez tested positive). In 2005 Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Jose Canseco, Rafael Palmiero and seven others testified before the House Government Reform Committee about steroid use. The 2007 Mitchell Report named 89 alleged steroid users, including Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miquel Tejada, Eric Gagne, Gary Sheffield, David Justice, Bonds and Giambi.

To date, only Clemens and Bonds have been indicted for perjury. Bonds was convicted in 2007 and will not be tried until 2011. Clemens testified in 2008, wasn’t indicted for perjury until 2010 and his trial is also scheduled for 2011.

Marion Jones Movie
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