Several doping cases dominated the headlines this year.

The doping case of Marion Jones would probably take first place in the most controversial doping case of 2008. The once proud and impressive star of the track tearfully confessed on Oprah her doping sins. She served her jail term in connection with her use of steroids and her involvement in a check fraud case in March this year. She was released September 5 but remains on probation.

The guts of the Russian track and field athletes to manipulate urine samples also grabbed international attention. Seven women athletes attempted, but failed, to pass detection by swapping urine samples. The International Association of Athletics Federation smelled something pissy, er, fishy when said athletes provided untroubled access during unannounced random testing. The Russians were punctual, ready and happy to comply with the testing. When IAAF officials carried out further investigation they found out that the athletes’ DNA did not match those in the stored urine samples.

The Greek athletes systematic doping also shocked many including their countrymen, prompting Greek authorities to implement tougher penalties for wayward athletes.

In March, eleven of the 14 members of the Greek weightlifting team tested positive for the steroid methyltrienolone in out-of-competition testing in Athens. Swimmers Yiannis Drymonakos and Maria Demertzi, rower Yiannis Tsamis and an unnamed boxer were also disqualified from joining the Beijing Olympics due to failed dope tests.

Fani Halkia, 2004 gold medalist in 400-meter hurdles, sprinter Dimitris Regas, and Anastasios Gousis also got banned for testing positive also for methyltrienolone. The spate of failed dope tests allegedly prompted IOC president Jacques Rogge of saying “Greece had won the gold medal in doping”.

The sport of cycling, considered to be the most doped sport by many, also got its share of newspaper columns.  Four riders in the Tour de France, including the Tour’s best climber and third finisher Bernhard Kohl, were suspended for testing positive for the blood booster CERA.

In the NFL, the several athletes tested positive for the loop diuretic bumetanide. Pat Williams and Kevin Williams of the Vikings were among the players who tested positive for the banned compound which is considered to be a masking agent for anabolic steroids.

The repercussions of the Mitchell Report of last year and the BALCO scandal of eons ago are still huge this year and possibly up to 2009. The cases of Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds warranted ample media coverage and the frenzy could double once Bonds’ doping trial starts March 2009

Marion Jones appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and talked about her journey with anabolic steroids.

It was the Olympic sprint athlete’s first interview since her release from a federal prison in Texas a month ago. Jones had served a six-month sentence for lying about steroid use and her role in a check-fraud scam.

The 33-year-old had consistently denied her use of steroids until her testimony in a federal court last year when she admitted that she had used the designer steroid known as ‘The Clear’ from September 2000 to July 2001. She had been stripped of all the five medals she won at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 – 3 golds, 2 bronzes – after her admission.

“I made the decision I was going to lie and try to cover it up,” Marion Jones told the Queen of Talk Show about lying to prosecutors when they showed her a vial of “The Clear”, a designer steroid. “I knew that all of my performances would be questioned.”

“The Clear” was the design of the now defunct Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative of the anabolic steroid tetrahydrogestrinone, also known as THG. BALCO was reportedly the source of performance-enhancing drugs of many elite athletes including Jones.

Jones’ teammates in the relay teams were also stripped of their medals, and she apologized to her teammates for doing what she did.

“When I stepped on that track, I thought everybody was drug-free, including myself,” Jones said. “I apologize for having to put everybody through all of this.

“I’m trying to move on. I hope that everybody else can move on, too.”

Jones’ U.S. teammates in the 400-meter and 1,600-meter relays were also disqualified by the International Olympic Committee due to Jones’ doping violation and have filed an appeal in the Court of Sports Arbitration.

Jones said to Oprah that she will never run again and instead wants to inspire young people to do things the right way.

“I don’t have athletics anymore to hide behind,” Jones said. “In the past, it was Marion Jones, the athlete. … I don’t have that cover anymore. I have really had to find out who I am and why I make certain choices.”

In the end, There were rumors Marion Jones was going to buy steroids directly from BALCO, but decided to buy steroids thru her Olympic coach.  This is what caused her downfall in the Olympic world.  She started a cycle of steroid abuse, backed by her great Olympic performances.