WEBVTT - Lessons in Moving On, with Marion Jones 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:05.920 Hello Sunshine, Hey Bessies. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:07.920 Today on the bright Side were joined by the former 0:00:08.039 --> 0:00:12.040 fastest woman in the world, Olympic champion and coach, Marion Jones. 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:14.240 At the height of her career, she was caught up 0:00:14.280 --> 0:00:17.520 in a performance enhancing drug scandal that ended up with 0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:20.360 her serving time in jail. Well, now she's back and 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:23.239 she is sharing the lessons she's learned from failure and 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:25.599 also how she's rebuilding her life. 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:28.600 It's Tuesday, February fourth. I'm Simone Boyce. 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:31.040 I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side from 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:33.159 Hello Sunshine. 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:38.360 Okay, Danielle, I am just sitting here thinking about baby 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:41.839 Simone and how her mind would be blown to know 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:44.400 that Marian Jones is coming on her show today. I mean, 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:47.920 I have such vivid memories watching her as a kid. 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:50.559 She was the breakout star of the two thousand Olympics 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:51.040 in Sydney. 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:54.920 She was such a powerhouse and at her Olympic debut 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:58.720 in two thousand, she earned five medals. At the time, 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:01.520 she was known as the fastest woman on the planet 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:03.960 and she really was on top of the world. But 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:07.479 her story took an interesting turn A few years later. 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:11.520 Marian became the subject of an FBI investigation into performance 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:15.880 enhancing drugs, and ultimately Marian admitted that during the investigation 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:19.560 she lied to federal investigators about never having taken performance 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:23.840 enhancing drugs. So four years after that she was sentenced 0:01:23.880 --> 0:01:26.840 to six months in prison. There are a lot of 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:29.520 layers to Marian's story, and I think it's fair to 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:32.839 say that some of them still remain up for debate. 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:35.800 So having her on the show is a really interesting 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:37.880 opportunity to ask her all about it. 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:41.600 I think it takes so much courage to go through 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:45.560 something like that so publicly, especially at such a young age, 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:48.320 and then come back around and be willing to talk 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:51.280 about it, definitely, And what's clear throughout all of it 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:53.200 is that she is someone who has had to take 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:56.880 ownership over those mistakes and learn how to move forward 0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:00.400 and forgive herself and listen, we have all all been 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:01.440 there in some way before. 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:04.440 She's been out of the spotlight for some time, and 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:08.720 she's making her rounds in interviews opening up, So let's 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:11.800 bring her in and hear Marion's story in her own words. 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:15.720 Welcome to the right Side, Marion. Yay, Thank you Simone, 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:17.280 Thank you Danielle for having. 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:21.600 Me welcome, Welcome, So explain this to me. Fastest woman 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:25.000 on the planet. That's quite a title at one. 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:28.639 Point, you know, I, I mean, I never really subscribed 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:32.360 to that title, Danielle, because I'm always I always have 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:36.200 the belief that there's somebody who has like hasn't been 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:40.000 discovered in like the remote region of South America, who 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:44.280 lives in the Amazon jungle or somewhere in Africa, and 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:46.919 they just never had opportunity, and they. 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:48.880 Most likely were the fastest in the world. 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:54.960 But in regards to like my season to shine, I 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:56.760 was definitely one of the fastest. 0:02:56.919 --> 0:02:59.040 So it was a fun time. But it really does 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:02.680 seem like a whole other life ago. You know, our job. 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:05.560 In our job, we get to interview people who have 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:10.160 really interesting titles often and I hear things like. 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:14.919 Richest person in North America or. 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:22.760 Highest IQ in Greenland. It's rare that I get something 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:26.400 that's like in the plan on the planet, like fastest 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:29.720 women on the planet is a wild title. But you've 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:32.639 recently stepped back into the public eye to tell your 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:35.880 story after what feels like a long time away. What 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:39.160 is this phase about What in your life makes it 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:42.400 feel like this is the right time to start talking. 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:46.640 As you all know, being constantly being in the spotlight 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:52.920 can become very heavy, especially if you find that that 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:56.720 spotlight can become a distraction to family and to friends 0:03:56.960 --> 0:03:59.720 and really to your life journey and growth. 0:04:00.360 --> 0:04:02.480 And I applaud anybody. 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:04.520 Who you know has made the decision to be in 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:07.520 the spotlight and then made the decision to step away. 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:12.000 It's a very courageous move, you're saying. More and more, 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:13.880 Actually athletes do that. 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:14.160 Now. 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.640 You saw Simone Biles do that. 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:21.479 And not to say that it was for my positive 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:25.039 mental health journey, but in essence it is. I made 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:29.320 the decision to raise a family, and I wanted the 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:31.960 focus to be on them and not me having to juggle, 0:04:32.320 --> 0:04:36.400 you know, answering questions or being part of a media 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:41.040 system that can be intrusive and obtrusive and all that. 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:43.280 And so it was about a decade I just made 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:45.040 the decision that I wanted to be mom. 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:45.960 I wanted to. 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:50.080 Create my own space, not based off of something that 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:52.760 I had done or not done, but really see what 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:55.120 I can do in my community. 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:58.080 But last year, you. 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:02.640 Know, I but my kids are older too, you know, 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:05.159 out of the house now, like just have my fifteen 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:07.560 year old daughter here, and I was just in a 0:05:07.600 --> 0:05:14.360 space where I felt that people needed to hear a 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:19.080 story of I could come back story Like, there's so 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:22.520 much negativity in the media and so many things that 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:26.440 when you listen or see like this brings you down. 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:31.040 And I just generally felt that my story could could 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:34.039 resonate with a lot of people. The story is, hey, 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:37.440 you know, once there are poor decisions made made for 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:40.520 you or you make them yourself, Like that doesn't have 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:42.880 to be the end of your story. That it could 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:45.880 be a catalyst for bigger and better things. And people 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:47.919 are like, how much bigger and better could it be 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:51.000 than winning gold medals or being considered the fastest women 0:05:51.080 --> 0:05:51.600 in the world. 0:05:52.000 --> 0:05:54.160 But when you get older. 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:56.960 And you realize that, like, your true test of character 0:05:57.120 --> 0:05:59.120 is the impact that you make. 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:01.680 On people's day to day lives. 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:04.200 When you get old enough and you're like, man, like 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:09.920 I helped somebody move from one dark space like out 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:13.320 of that and like that is so fulfilling, And that 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:17.080 is what I thought that my story could do and 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:19.600 it has so that that is an in a nutshell, 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:22.000 that's kind of why I decided to, you know, share 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:22.960 my story more. 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:26.200 I feel like we are getting closer to the heart 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.200 of your story, Marion, but I do think we have 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:31.480 to take a moment to properly set up the stakes. 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:35.080 So take us back to the year two thousand, Marion. 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:38.599 You were on top of the world, five Olympic medals, 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:42.599 Nike Deals, Wheaties boxes, and the cover of Vogue. I mean, 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:44.440 this is like, this has got to be the stuff 0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:47.760 you dream of as an aspiring athlete. What was the 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:51.600 moment when you realized you made it as a professional athlete. 0:06:51.880 --> 0:06:54.240 When I made my first Olympic team at the age 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:58.880 of fifteen years old, that's probably the first time that 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:02.800 I knew like, okay, like I got some talent going on, 0:07:03.279 --> 0:07:07.200 you know, genetically, I've been blessed and gifted, but I 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:09.120 have pretty unique work ethic. 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:10.760 What makes it unique. 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:14.440 I'm originally from the Los Angeles area and at nine, 0:07:14.920 --> 0:07:18.280 the nineteen eighty four Olympics came to LA and that 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:20.120 was my first exposure. 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:22.560 To the Olympic experience, and I knew that summer. 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:24.480 I wrote on my chalkboard all that that I was 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:27.160 going to be an Olympic champion, and from the age 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:28.640 of nine, that. 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:31.600 Was my world That was my that was my goal, 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:32.840 that was my priority. 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:35.120 My mom says, you know, the only way that you 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:37.560 can compete in sports is if you get good grades. 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:38.640 Check, go to. 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:42.360 Practice, be diligent, check check check, work harder than anybody else. 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:42.720 Check. 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:47.200 And that narrative kind of just continued with me. Right, like, 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:52.040 I never was distracted with you know, social pressures or 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:54.040 any of that. You know, at that point, I knew 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:55.080 that I wanted to be a star. 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:56.000 Right. 0:07:56.320 --> 0:08:01.720 You couple the pursuit of stardom with an incredible work ethic. 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:05.160 For example, I remember when I would train at the 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:08.320 highest of heights, Simone. I would when I would travel 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:11.360 to my training site, I would flip down my rearview mirror, 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:14.200 my mirror in my vehicle, and I would ask myself 0:08:14.240 --> 0:08:19.040 prior to every session, will anybody train harder than you. 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:21.800 Today in the world, Marion? And I would close it. 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:24.520 I would go work out to three four hours, come back, 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:28.520 flip it down, and just me, I'd ask myself, Okay, honestly, 0:08:28.560 --> 0:08:30.760 one on one, is there anybody you think in the 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:34.280 world that trained harder or better or smarter than you? 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:38.240 And I could say probably in a decade span, there 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:41.520 might have been a I got handful, maybe less than. 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:44.040 Five times that I said to myself, you know what. 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:48.200 I probably would have been beaten today for whatever reason. 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:53.120 Wait, this is such a fascinating look into your inner dialogue, 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:54.679 your inner monologue. 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:55.320 Into my crazy. 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:58.480 Hey, if I think it takes a little bit crazy, 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:00.360 you know, if you're trying to go somewhere, you need 0:09:00.400 --> 0:09:01.400 to have a little bit of crazy. 0:09:01.520 --> 0:09:02.280 Oh, no doubt. 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:04.600 I actually wanted to go back to something that you 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:08.679 said earlier. You said that the spotlight felt heavy, like 0:09:08.720 --> 0:09:12.679 you really looking back and acknowledge that what was the 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:16.200 heaviest part of being the fastest woman on the planet 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:19.440 at that time, of enjoying the limelight, Well. 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:24.800 The heaviest part is I mean, this is all in retrospects, right, right, 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:27.920 And I'm almost fifty This year, I will be fifty 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:29.400 years old, and that's. 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:30.360 Crazy even to say that. 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:34.880 But the idea that in that season of my life, 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:39.959 I surrounded myself with people who were what I call 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:46.080 yes people and entertainers and celebrities, and the lights can 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:49.920 understand when you achieve a certain level of success, like 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:51.400 everybody wants to be your friend. 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:54.439 Right, for whatever reason, you can take the. 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:58.120 Care of them, right, It's it's just a thing that 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:01.920 people gravitate towards. And because of my age at that time, 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.400 I was young. I was in my early twenties. You 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:08.840 like the idea of somebody saying, ah, Danielle Simon, y'all 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:09.880 are like, y'all are. 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:11.160 Awesome, y'all are rocking it. 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:14.480 You're achieving success like this, that and the other, and 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:19.240 you start to only want that around you, people who 0:10:19.280 --> 0:10:21.000 are going to say yes to whatever you want, and 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:24.000 you start distancing yourself from the people in your life 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:26.960 that will give it to you straight sometimes even when 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:27.760 you're a success. 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:30.679 And so for me, that was. 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:34.000 The hardest part getting caught in what I call that 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:38.880 wave of stardom, meaning it took me out in the 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:42.319 ocean and I was surrounded the ocean for me were 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:43.120 yes people. 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:45.280 And I made the decision, like I'm. 0:10:45.120 --> 0:10:48.520 Not blaming anybody else, right, I guess if there's anything 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:52.360 it was naivety, right, Like I was just young and 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:54.720 got caught and thought for a while that I only 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:56.360 wanted to be around people who are going to tell 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:58.960 me how great I was. And at the shore were 0:10:58.960 --> 0:11:02.880 the people my family, right, my childhood friends, the people 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:06.120 who I should have stayed close to but would have said, 0:11:06.400 --> 0:11:10.319 you know what, Mariyan like, hmm, probably look twice at 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:13.079 that relationship or that business decision or this, that and 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:16.360 the other. But I didn't, and because of that, poor 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:22.000 choices were made. Consequences all of that, And yeah, people say, 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:24.520 if you could do things differently, Mary, and what would 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:26.800 it be, And I'd certainly say, hey, I would make 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:29.880 sure that I'll enjoy the ocean, right, but I won't 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:32.240 get too far away where I can't swim my way 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:34.160 back to shore whenever I want or need to. 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:37.560 Yeah, we've got to take a short break, but don't 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:50.040 go anywhere. We'll be right back with Marion Jones. And 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:54.720 we're back with olympian and performance coach Marion Jones. I 0:11:54.720 --> 0:11:58.600 think everyone who's you know, watched you perform, who's followed 0:11:58.600 --> 0:12:01.280 your career, they know that you have gained and won, 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:05.640 but not everyone knows how much you lost. So in 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:08.640 two thousand and three, you were interviewed by federal agents. 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:10.040 What happened next? 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:14.240 Well, in two thousand and three, to take people back 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:16.520 to that time, especially people that are younger and don't 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:19.440 remember or know what happened, there was a lot of 0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:24.840 talk investigations about professional athletes and performance enhancing drugs and 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.000 who was giving that to them, who was supplying that 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:28.200 to them, and the. 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:29.480 Whole cover up. 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:34.839 And when I was invited to speak to federal investigators 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:40.200 in three I accepted that invitation based off of the 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.840 knowledge that, hey, I'm here to answer whatever questions you 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:46.200 might have. I don't have any personal knowledge of it, 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:48.679 but hey, maybe we can talk, right, you don't You 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:53.160 don't really turn down an interview request by federal investigators 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:57.640 f L. And so we went there and my attorneys 0:12:57.640 --> 0:12:59.880 were with me, and you know, they're like, hey, Marion, 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:02.679 you know anything with us that you want to share 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:03.640 that you're nervous for? 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:07.160 And I said no. And prior to the meeting. 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:09.480 And most many people don't know, Simon and Daniel is 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:11.920 prior to the meeting, I signed what's. 0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:13.800 Called a clean for a Day letter. 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:18.160 It's a very popular letter in that prior to meeting 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:21.959 with federal investigators, if you sign this in essence says 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:25.679 that no matter what you share with them, if you 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:29.600 tell the truth to them, they won't pursue you in 0:13:29.640 --> 0:13:34.679 any prosecution. Right, So, and it's like protecting you. And 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:38.680 because I had nothing to hide. I signed the letter 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.240 with my attorneys giving me information, making sure I have 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:43.240 all of the information. 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:44.160 Cool sign the letters. 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:48.000 So we go into the interview and I'm being asked 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:50.880 questions about if I knew this, if I knew about 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:53.080 this supplement, and I'm like, no, I don't you know. 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:55.760 I have a relationship with a certain company and they 0:13:55.920 --> 0:14:00.000 supply my supplements, and I've been tested probably the most 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:03.199 tested athlete in the world in terms of if I'm 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:06.959 taking performance enhancing drugs, and never ever did anything come 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:13.840 up as positive. And finally they took something out of 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:15.640 their bag. It was in a little zip lacked bag 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:18.160 and they kind of pushed it across the table, and. 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:21.280 Immediately when they did that, I recognized it. 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:23.320 I recognized that it had been something that I had 0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:25.640 been given for a good amount of time prior to 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:28.480 the Games and was told that it was something else. 0:14:29.000 --> 0:14:34.880 And in the span of forty five seconds, I realized 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:38.680 that what I had been reading about in the news 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:43.640 right was this particular supplement or performance enhancing drug and 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:46.000 I had taken it, had been given it and taken 0:14:46.040 --> 0:14:48.040 it and told that it was something else. So I 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:52.920 made the decision in that split moment, Okay, if I 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:56.120 tell them that I know what this is and that 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:57.640 indeed I had taken it. 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:01.760 In that I felt that. 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:04.040 If I was told them the truth, everything that I 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:07.240 had worked for, everything that I dreamed of, all the 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:10.800 successes that I had would be gone. So I made 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:12.920 the decision in that split moment to lie to them 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:16.280 and tell them, hey, don't know what it is, never 0:15:16.360 --> 0:15:20.120 seen it, never taken it. Fast forward, however, many years 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:24.440 the weights of that lie, although like they never pursued 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:27.400 me or anything, the weight of that lie became heavy. 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:29.640 And at that point I had kids. 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:32.480 I had my two boys by that point, and I'm, 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:34.880 you know, trying to do the right thing as a parent, 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:39.160 tell them like, hey, you know, son, once you make 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:41.320 a poor decision, what are you supposed to do? And 0:15:41.360 --> 0:15:43.760 they're little boys at this point. Sure, you tell them, hey, 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:45.920 we're all going to make mistakes, and when you make 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:48.000 a mistake, you come and tell mammy, right, and there 0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:50.960 probably will be a consequence, but it's better if you 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:56.560 tell me sooner rather than later, right, And That's was 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:59.240 what I was feeling, right like, I'm telling my boys this, 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:02.440 but I'm not this And I knew that if I 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:05.760 decided to, you know, come clean and tell the truth, 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:09.840 that there would be severe consequences, and there were, but 0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:13.440 I could never have guessed how severe they were my issue. 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.080 People think, you know what she she went to prison 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:18.720 and I was sentenced to six months incarceration. I spent 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:22.120 forty nine days in solitary confinement. I didn't go to 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:25.880 prison because I took performance enhancing drugs. I went to 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:29.040 prison because I lied to federal investigators and that that 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:30.480 was my that was my crime. 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:33.440 Were you shocked by your sentence? Ah? 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:38.640 Like understatement of the century right like there I was. 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:41.680 Certainly this was the president and the judge even in 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:46.000 sharing the sentence with us and with me, saying, hey, 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.840 you will be the example. You will be the example. 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:54.920 Even going into that particular court day, it was highly 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:59.320 recommended from the court that I'd be sentenced to probation 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:03.040 and you know, community service and doing things with young 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:06.720 athletes about you know, good choices and all those type 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:07.040 of things. 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:08.160 So we walked in there. 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:12.040 Really really thinking that that's what's going to be my sentence, 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:15.359 knowing that the other sentence was out there. It's always 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:17.960 out there, but that would not be a reality and 0:17:18.000 --> 0:17:20.560 two and a half three hours later into the sentencing, 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:23.439 I had to look to my lefts and ask my 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:28.440 attorneys like, wait, hold on, is this what I think 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:28.840 it is? 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:29.920 And it was. 0:17:30.119 --> 0:17:33.879 And there's been a lot of time for me to 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:35.760 sit and say like like. 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:38.879 Why why why me? Woe is me? Woe is me? 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:42.480 That really hasn't gotten me anywhere. There was a moment's. 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:46.600 There when I was in prison that I allowed myself 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:48.960 to go to that dark place like man. 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:51.879 Man, you you've lost it all? Like where do you 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:52.680 go from here? 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:54.760 And there were really a few moments where I was 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:57.480 I sat there saying like this is a mess. 0:17:57.520 --> 0:18:00.280 I don't know what else I can do. But then 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:02.119 I snapped out of it and people ask well, like 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:04.400 how do you do that? Like that is the key, 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:06.280 Like that is what I want to share with people. 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:08.639 And the way that I did that is that you 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:12.440 know what, it was one poor choice. It was one 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:15.280 poor choice and it does not define who I am, 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:18.680 Like I have so much respect for my incredible mother 0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:21.320 who raised my brother and I as a single parent. 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:22.800 She came to this. 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:25.280 Country at a very young age to create a better 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:28.040 life for herself and her family, and I says I 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:32.200 Am not going to step out of this facility thinking 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:36.320 that I'm not worthy of anything good. And how do 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:40.679 I do that? I fight, I reframe, I make a plan. 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:44.560 What's my next steps? What are my strengths? And there 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:46.960 are a lot more than just being the fastest woman 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:51.560 in the world, thankfully, and I have ways to connect 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:52.199 with people. 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:56.080 I have gifts that had nothing to do with sport. 0:18:56.640 --> 0:18:58.959 How do I start to tap into all of those? 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:01.159 And that's what I started to do step by step. 0:19:02.160 --> 0:19:02.480 Marion. 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:05.200 I know that Simon and I are both so curious 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:08.000 about the now, but I do want to go back 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:11.800 for a moment to when you were sentenced, because the 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:16.000 public was really shocked and they were kind of aggressive 0:19:16.359 --> 0:19:20.760 about you using these drugs. But the athletic world is 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:25.439 different than the public sphere. How normalized were these in 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:26.720 the athlete world. 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:30.080 The answer to that is, like I would know, my 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:34.200 bubble was small during that time. There was a lot 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:39.840 of tainting of supplements, so most professional athletes hired companies 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:41.720 to create our supplements. 0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:42.040 Right. 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:45.920 I can remember that in the news, certain athletes going 0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:49.200 to the gncs of the world and getting their supplements 0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:52.159 and they're being tainted with things that potentially could be 0:19:52.280 --> 0:19:56.280 performance enhancing. Well, when you are an elite professional athlete 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:58.320 and you're getting paid a lot of money, you can't 0:19:58.400 --> 0:19:59.639 afford that to happen. 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:01.560 So you hire a company. 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:05.359 You hire companies to make sure that what you are taking, 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:08.560 which is natural, you are asking a lot of your body. 0:20:08.640 --> 0:20:11.159 You need supplements, you need things to make sure that 0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:12.000 you can recover. 0:20:12.160 --> 0:20:15.879 It's just the way that it is. And you bring 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:19.040 in outside people to fulfill all those roles. 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:21.280 You have a coach to make sure that you're programming 0:20:21.280 --> 0:20:23.719 and you're working out in a certain way. You have 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:29.480 a psychologist to make sure that your mindset is prepared 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:30.560 for What about. 0:20:30.480 --> 0:20:33.520 You have all these people whom you. 0:20:33.480 --> 0:20:36.560 Hire, who are you're in your corner, and whom you 0:20:36.680 --> 0:20:40.680 rely on to make certain decisions for you. Even more 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:43.920 so when you're nineteen and twenty and twenty one years 0:20:43.960 --> 0:20:46.720 old and you're just out of college. I ask people 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:50.040 a lot of times who are very who were very aggressive, 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:52.040