Tim Montgomery

October 11th, 2008 filed in Olympics, Track and Field

Tim Montgomery, the disgraced former 100-meter world record holder, has been sentenced to five years in prison. The sentencing, which came on Friday from Virginia, follows his admission to distributing heroin. Montgomery admitted to BALCO investigators in 2003, to using a once undetectable steroid back in 2001. Despite not failing a drug test, the admission was enough to strip him of his 2000 Sydney Olympic gold medal in the 4×100m relay, and his 100m world record from 2002.

For his links to the BALCO scandal, Montgomery drew a 2-year ban from Track and Field in 2005, and subsequently retired from the sport. Apparently that is when he looked to illegal drug trafficking as his new career. He has one son, Tim, who was born to fellow disgraced US Track Star, Marion Jones. This is Montgomery’s second prison sentence, as he is currently serving four years for conspiracy and bank fraud.

From the Associated Press :

US Drug Enforcement Administration agents said Montgomery sold 111 grams of heroin to an undercover informant for about 8,500 dollars, with four meetings between Montgomery and the informant videotaped by the federal authorities. Montgomery was sentenced to three years and 10 months last May for his role in the check fraud scheme after pleading guilty to conspiracy and bank fraud in April of last year.

The Los Angeles Times has the reaction from BALCO founder Victor Conte :

Conte, who has also served prison time for his role as a performance-enhancing supplier to elite athletes like Montgomery and Jones, has long made it known he despised the former couple. Friday was not the day for “vindication,” Conte told The Times. “I see the sadness of this. This is about more than someone getting the consequences of what they deserved. I’ve asked the question often: How can we get beyond this scandal and get to forgiveness?”

Tim Montgomery is a CHEATer
Chester Cheater
Yet again we see how far an elite athlete can fall. In a disastrous plunge, Montgomery has gone from the top of the world, to the bottom of it in about 6 years. As Victor Conte commented, “His world spiraled out of control.” Might we be looking into the future of Usain Bolt?