Should They Return Their Medals?
Posted by jenny3 on April 27th, 2008
Since Marion Jones has been testified that she lied to investigators about her use of performance-enhancing drugs and her involvement in a check-fraud scheme, she has returned her five medals from the 2000 Games. However, her relay teammates who won bronze medals in the 4×100m relay and gold medals in the 4×400m relay will also have to return their medals. So on April 23, they made an announcement to appeal the IOC’s decision before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland. The lawyer for the teammates said that the I.O.C. did not grant the athletes a fair hearing before issuing its decision, in violation of the Olympic charter. The teammates also thought they should not be punished for Jones’s misdeeds.
Should Jones’s teammates return their medals? According to the IOC, they should. And in my opinion, morally, they should. When they chose Jones as their teammate, they should know that they were a team, and they should go through everything together, no matter success or defeat. It’s teamwork. They should take the responsibility for they have trusted her. On the other hand, it is very unfair for other teams, especially for the silver team. Everyone dreams to win an Olympic gold medal, and in order to achieve the dream, they must train hard. But if they lost not because they are not good enough, but because the other team, they must be very depressed. And it is against the spirit of the Olympics. Though the teammates may be also the victims, I think they should return their medals!