The Marion Jones Scandal

ones gave back the five medals she won at the Sydney Olympics yesterday and agreed to forfeit all other results dating back to Sept. 1, 2000, further punishment for her admission that she was a drug cheat.

The three gold medals and two bronzes were turned over to U.S. Olympic Committee and U.S. Anti-Doping Agency officials at her attorneys' office in Austin, Texas. They are en route to USOC headquarters in Colorado Springs, and the USOC will return them to the International Olympic Committee.

The IOC and other sports bodies can go back eight years to strip medals and nullify results. In Jones' case, that would include the 2000 Olympics, where she won gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 1,600 relay and bronze in the long jump and 400 relay.

The standings normally would be readjusted, with the second-place finisher moving up to gold, third to silver and fourth to bronze.

Pauline Davis-Thompson of the Bahamas was the silver medalist in the 200 meters, and Tatiana Kotova of Russia was fourth in the long jump. The silver medalist in the 100 meters in Sydney was Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou, at the center of a major doping scandal at the Athens Olympics.

Jones stands to lose more than her Olympic medals, too. The International Association of Athletics Federations can strip athletes of results and medals after notification of a doping violation, and it said last week it was waiting to hear from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Jones won a gold (100 meters) and bronze (long jump) at the 1999 worlds in Seville, Spain, and two gold (200 and 400 relay) and a silver (100) at the 2001 championships in Edmonton.

IAAF rules also allow for athletes busted for doping to be asked to pay back prize money and appearance fees. British sprinter Dwain Chambers, who admitted using the clear, had to pay back a reported $230,615 before he was allowed to return to competition after a two-year ban.

It's unclear whether this would be applied to Jones, who would have earned millions in prizes, bonuses and fees from meets all over the world, including a share of the $1 million Golden League jackpot in 2001 and 2002.

Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones was released Friday from federal prison after completing most of her six-month sentence for lying about her steroid use.

Jones left a halfway house in San Antonio around 8 a.m., said LaTanya Robinson, a community corrections manager for the federal Bureau of Prisons. Jones, who has a house in Austin, will remain on probation.

Jones’ attorney did not immediately respond to a call or e-mail from The Associated Press requesting comment.

The sprinter admitted last October that she used a designer steroid known as “the clear” from September 2000 to July 2001. The drug was linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the lab that became the center of a steroids scandal that touched numerous professional athletes, including baseball star Barry Bonds.

Her admission of drug use in 2007 came after years of denials.

Abebe Bikila Rome Olympic marathon on September 10, 1960

Ethiopia's Abebe Bikila (in the picture) after winning the Rome Olympic marathon on September 10, 1960. Bikila was added to the Ethiopian Olympic team only at the last moment, as the plane to Rome was about to leave. Adidas, the shoe sponsor at the 1960 Summer Olympics, had few shoes left when Bikila went to try out shoes and he ended up with a pair that didn’t fit comfortably, so he ran barefoot, the way he'd trained for the race. Bikila won in a record time of 2:15:16.2, becoming the first African to win an Olympic gold medal.

Vladimir Salnikov Olympic Games in Moscow

Vladimir Salnikov (in the picture) of USSR after winning the 1500 metres freestyle event at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Salnikov won the gold medal with a time of 14:58:27 minutes.

Known as the Sultan of swimming, Salnikov created 12 world records. At the Moscow Olympics, he won three gold medals. In Seoul, he added one more.

He was the first man to break the 15-minute barrier in 1500m freestyle. Salnikov's titles also include four World Championship gold medals, four European Championship gold medals and one European Championship silver medal.

Carl Lewis Olympic athletes

Lewis is one of only four Olympic athletes to win nine gold medals and one of only three to win the same individual event four times. In the 1984 Los Angeles Games, Lewis matched Jesse Owens' achievement of winning four gold medals with victories in the 100m, the 200m, the long jump and the 4x100m relay. He went on to defend his long jump title three times, in 1988, 1992 and 1996.

In 1988, Lewis gained a second gold medal in the 100m after Ben Johnson was disqualified, and picked up a silver in the 200m. And in 1992, the American won another gold as he anchored the 4x100 relay team to victory.

Hassiba Boulmerka "Arab women" in 1992 Olympics in Barcelona

The path to Hassiba's victory in 1992 Olympics in Barcelona was charted in 1991 in Tokyo. In the Japanese capital, Hassiba had scored a stunning victory in the 1500m run at the World Athletics Championships.

She returned to Algiers and was hailed as a national heroine and a role model for all Arab women who wanted to break away from their conservative and restrictive roles. However, she was also condemned by Islamic fundamentalists. That mean she was forced to move to Europe to train. No one in the wide world expected Hassiba to win in Barcelona.

Especially after the manner in which Russia's Lyudmila Rogacheva set a torrid pace and burned away the rest of the field. But two hundred metres from the finish, Hassiba drove past Rogacheva and cruised to victory. Hassiba's success was regarded across the globe as the perfect answer to Muslim fundamentalists who had sought to restrict women from taking part in sport.

"Your victory in Barcelona is a victory for all Arab women. It gives hope for the progress of the Arab woman," Jordan's Queen Noor wrote to her in a letter.

Naim Suleymanoglu (Turkey)

Naim Suleymanoglu was born to Turkish parents living in Bulgaria. He was nicknamed Pocket Hercules as he was only 1.47m tall and he was the second of only seven lifters to clean and jerk three times their bodyweight. He missed the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 as Bulgaria joined the Soviet Union's boycott of the Games.

He was almost a victim of politics when the Communist regime in Bulgaria forced its Turkish minority to adopt Bulgarian names. He was known as Naum Shalamanov. He defected in 1986 to Turkey. There was also a battle over which country he would represent in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

The Bulgarian government demanded and received $1,000,000 from Turkey to allow him to compete for Turkey. He won the featherweight gold in Seoul and repeated his triumph in 1992. In between he also retired briefly. When he went to Atlanta for the 1996 Games, it is safe to say that there was considerable pressure on him. After all, no weightlifter in history had won three successive gold medals. He engaged in a tremendous duel with Valerios Leonidis of Greece to clinch his third gold medal. And he did in style. By breaking his own world record.

Cathy Freeman Aboriginal populations of Australia.

Cathy Freeman had the honour to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony of the Games. She symbolised the desire to reconcile the white and Aboriginal populations of Australia.

Ten days later, she won the 400m final which was a clear victory before an ecstatic crowd. Freeman's family was poor and, like many Australian Aboriginals, suffered discrimination from white Australians. Once, after winning many races at a primary school competition, Cathy, who wasn't given a trophy, had to watch as the white girls she had beaten received trophies.

Her family worked hard to raise the money Cathy needed to take her to competitions in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne.

Nadia Comaneci Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada

Romania's top gymnast Nadia Comaneci (in the picture) performs on the balance beam on July 18, 1976 during the Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada. She became the first Olympic gymnast to score a perfect 10. She added the uneven bars and balance beam gold medals to her all-round title. She won five gold medals and along with Olga Korbut, helped to popularise the sport all over the world.

Scandal Ben Johnson (Canada)

Canadian Sprinter Ben Johnson's dream was always to beat US star Chris Lewis in the 100m. In his attempt to rattle Lewis during the 100m final in the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, Johnson false started. He did have his wish though in Seoul. Johnson lowered his own world record of 9.83 to 9.79 seconds and then had the cheek to say he would have timed better had he not raised his hand to celebrate just before he finished.

However, Johnson's urine samples were found to contain Stanozolol, and he was disqualified three days later. He later admitted that he had used steroids even in the World Championships. Carl Lewis, who finished second was awarded the gold medal. Briton Linford Christie won silver and Calvin Smith of the US won bronze.