American track star Marion Jones has been banned from participating in the final Golden League meet of the year, to be held in Berlin next month. Her leading European rival, Christine Arron, was coincidentally just complaining in this morning's papers about Jones still being allowed to compete, despite Jones' connection to the BALCO steroids scandal.
It's hard to blame other runners for being angry. In track events, tenths or hundredths of a second can make all the difference, and performance drugs can certainly shave off that much from a runner's finish time. While Jones has never tested positive for drugs or doping, people connected to her have. Perhaps she doesn't deserve to be judged by the company she keeps, but perhaps she should have thought twice before she started keeping that company.
