Marion Jones Might Have To Sell Some Of Her Gold Medals

Back in 2000, female track star Marion Jones seemed to have it all. She won five(3 gold and 2 bronze) medals at the summer Olympics in Sydney, and had won numerous events and set a variety of records. She had reached a point where she was earning "between $70,000 and $80,000 a race, plus at least another $1 million from race bonuses and endorsement deals".

All that is gone now, as the Los Angeles Times discovered during a recent review of court documents. According to them, Jones is "down to a bank balance of about $2,000". That's a long way away from the Marion Jones who used to live near Michael Jordan in a $2.5 million home. That house was foreclosed on by Jones' bank, and she's also been forced to sell her mother's home in order to raise money for court judgments.

Having BALCO founder Victor Conte state that he personally gave her illegal performance enhancing drugs hasn't helped Jones. Neither did the counterfeit check scheme that she was allegedly involved in with her track coach Steven Riddick.

While it is sad to see someone who at one point had it all, fall so far. You can't help but feel that Jones brought it on herself because of her involvement with BALCO, Charlie Francis, and many signs that point to alleged use of performance enhancing drugs. Hopefully she can get everything in order before she's forced to sell one of her gold medals. Possibly one of the last things she has to remind her of what it was like to be on top.