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Last Updated: Nov 8th, 2007 - 09:38:18 |
I am a 54-year-old Black woman. I’ve never met the five-time Olympic medal winner in person but I was one of the millions of fans passionately cheering her on from the TV sidelines. I shouted at the screen, silently prayed to God to give her strength and leapt for joy when she crossed the finish line ahead of her competitors. And I felt a distinct surge of pride when the microphone was put to her mouth and this beautiful, graceful young Black woman spoke with such elegance about her accomplishment.
Marion Jones was my hero.
So on October 5, as I watched from the TV sidelines when she uttered those career damning words “I have betrayed your trust, I have been dishonest” and admitted lying to federal investigators about steroid use before the 2000 games, I felt the pain, shame and humiliation as much as I had felt pride in her victories. When she took that moment to take complete and total responsibility for what she had done – that familiar pride seeped back into my soul.
Part of me was hoping that she had been duped by the boyfriend or the coach and that she had unwittingly taken a banned substance without initially actually knowing what it was. And a careful reading of the facts indicates she may well have been misled. And oh, how easy it would have been for her to make such a claim—to lay the blame on others and have it be her word against theirs. Who would her adoring fans believe—her or them? But as I listened to her fight like a champion through the tears welling up in her throat and say, ‘I am responsible fully for my actions, I have no one to blame but myself for what I have done,’ I realized she’s still my hero.
Marion Jones career will most certainly take another path. The Olympic committee has already vowed to strip her gold medals in record-breaking speed. There will be plenty of people holding her up as the poster child for cheating athletes. But I, for one, will remain an adoring fan who saw a woman who—yes, made a serious mistake—but who took full ownership of her mistake, swallowed her pride and faced the cameras in grace and dignity..
I have a 15-year-old granddaughter who has a striking resemblance to Marian Jones. Everyone tells her that on a regular basis. This is now a teachable moment for me with my granddaughter Emahn. And I’ll teach her that while every one of us in human form will make mistakes in our lives, the true winners are those who own those mistakes, pick themselves up and finish the race. As far as I’m concerned, Marion Jones reclaimed her dignity and she is still my hero.
Verna Avery-Brown is the Washington bureau chief for Pacifica Radio. Click here to discuss Marion Jones on our message boards.
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