Los Angeles, CA (AHN) - Marion Jones may be rich in Olympic medals, but she is flat broke when it comes to her bank account.
Seven years after capturing a women's record five Olympic track and field medals and garnering several multimillion-dollar endorsement deals, Jones' available balance is reportedly down to $2,000, according to reports in the Los Angeles Times.
The three-time Gold medal winner at Sydney has endured plenty of legal trouble and bills since 2003, when she was linked to BALCO, the same Bay Area drug lab allegedly tied to major league baseball players, including Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds.
Jones lost serious funds for retaining attorneys in that case, along with fighting a ban from competing with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Jones also sought legal assistance for an anti-defamation lawsuit she filed against BALCO founder Victor Conte and a breach-of-contract suit against track coach Dan Pfaff.
Not only did Jones lose the latter case, and forfeited nearly $250,000 to Pfaff, she also lost valuable time competing after testing positive for the performance-enhancing drug EPO in 2006.
Although Jones came up negative during the second blood test and was eventually cleared in that matter, she lost nearly $300,000 in fees from a European track tour she was taking part in. In her racing heyday, Jones earned $70,000 to $80,000 in appearance fees and millions more in endorsement deals and bonuses.
A bank foreclosed on Jones $2.5 million estate in Chapel Hill, N.C. last year and she also sold two other properties she owned as her finances continued to fail.
Jones was a tremendous high school athlete, winning the 100 meter event four years in a row in California. She also went on to play point guard on a national champion University of North Carolina basketball squad.

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