Ottey backs Jones in doping row
2006-09-22 08:31
Shanghai - Age-defying sprint queen Merlene Ottey on Friday backed Marion Jones over her recent doping troubles and hit out at the laboratory "mistake" which returned a positive test for EPO.
Ottey, 46, who tested positive for nandrolone in 1999 but later had her ban rescinded, called for improved testing procedures.
"I can only imagine the pressure, the stress she was under, knowing she was innocent," Ottey said here ahead of the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix.
"It's a bad situation because it's the athlete's life. I don't think a mistake like that should be made. You cannot go back and erase everything, it will always be there in the mind of the athlete.
"Unfortunately tests are not 100% and I'm hoping in the future no athlete should go through something like this."
US star Jones tested positive for the banned blood-booster in June before being cleared when her 'B' sample came back negative.
The case has similarities with Ottey's, whose ban was lifted when the IAAF found fault with laboratory testing procedures.
The Jamaican-born runner, now representing Slovenia, has a record eight Olympic track and field medals and 14 World Championship medals.
Track legend Michael Johnson this week said Jones, who has long been under a cloud of doping suspicion and was linked to the Balco steroid probe, would never be able to repair her image and should retire.