Jones Lawyer - Hunter has axe to grind
A lawyer representing American sprinter Marion Jones insists her former husband CJ Hunter “is lying” over claims she used a number of illegal substances during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
Hunter made the allegations to federal officers investigating the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the company at the centre of a doping scandal in the United States.
Four men, including BALCO founder Victor Conte, are awaiting trial on charges of distributing the previously undetectable designer steroid THG to elite athletes.
Hunter, himself banned for steroid abuse, was divorced from Jones in 2002.
Jones’ lawyer Joseph Burton told BBC Sport: “He needs… to be subjected to a polygraph investigation and prosecuted for lying to federal investigators.
“CJ Hunter has had an axe to grind ever since Marion ended their marriage.
“Fortunately, Hunter’s efforts to exact his revenge are directly contradicted by the statements made to the government investigators of Marion’s former coach, who has supported everything Marion has said all along – that she never used performance enhancing drugs.”
Jones and current boyfriend Tim Montgomery both gave evidence to a federal grand jury last autumn.
Montgomery – the world record holder in the 100 metres – has been charged of doping offences by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) even though he has never failed a drugs test.
Montgomery will not be competing at the Olympics in Athens next month after failing to qualify in the 100m last Sunday.
Jones has repeatedly and vehemently denied taking performance-enhancing substances.
