Jones out of Olympic sprint events

Olympic 100 and 200 metres champion Marion Jones has withdrawn from tonight’s 200m heats at the US Olympic trials in Sacramento.

Her decision means she will not be defending either title at the Games in Athens next month.

Jones ran the 200m preliminaries on Friday night, finishing last of five in her heat but progressing to today’s semi-finals as a fastest loser.

She was due to run in the second of those semis, which are due to start at 2.02pm local time, but has instead called a media conference for 2pm, at which it is understood she will explain her reasons for not competing.

Jones has had a difficult nine days in Sacramento amid problems over drugs.

Jones has not been charged with any doping offence and has not failed a drugs test, but she came into the trials under a cloud of suspicion as a result of the investigation into the distribution of a previously undetectable designer steroid THG to elite athletes by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO).

Jones and her boyfriend Tim Montgomery both gave evidence to a federal grand jury last autumn.

Men’s 100m world record holder Montgomery has since been charged on the basis of non-analytical positives by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for doping violations, although he too has not tested positive in any drugs test.

Montgomery failed to qualify for the 100m last Sunday and will not be competing in Athens.

Jones has repeatedly and vehemently denied she has taken performance-enhancing substances but the threat of charges from USADA and ensuing media scrutiny appears to have affected her performances on the track.

She failed to qualify for the 100m after finishing fifth in last Saturday’s final but ensured her appearance in Athens by winning the trials’ long jump final on Thursday night.

In an event at which she won bronze in Sydney four years ago, Jones produced her best jump in six years to earn the second longest jump in the world this year.

The situation has also made for a difficult relationship with the media, whom she has until today refused to talk to during the trials.