Jones wants more testing, confidentiality in drugs cases

RALEIGH, North Carolina, Sep 8 (Reuters) Former triple Olympic champion Marion Jones said today she hoped her clearance from doping allegations would lead to more research and confidentiality in drugs testing.

''I hope this whole situation with me is used as a catalyst, a catalyst for more research in testing, a catalyst for better confidentiality of samples and just to protect the athletes,'' Jones told the U S television programme Good Morning America.

Jones's lawyers announced on Wednesday that she had been cleared of potential doping charges after her ''B'' sample tested negative for the banned blood-boosting drug EPO.

The American's initial sample had tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) at the U S championships in Indianapolis in June and the result was leaked to U S media in August.

Had the second sample tested positive, the 30-year-old would have faced a two-year ban from the sport.

The failure of the second test to match the positive result of the first has led to questions about the EPO test used by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and its approved laboratories.

WADA officials have defended the procedure but they told The New York Times yesterday they would conduct an independent review to ensure there is nothing wrong with the test.

''This test is so complex it's possible something could go wrong, as it did in this case,'' biochemist Allen Murray, who witnessed the ''B'' sample analysis for Jones, told the Chicago Tribune.

Jones told Good Morning America, ''I was just totally devastated that a mistake like this had happened..

''I have never taken a performance-enhancing drug and I'm just quite pleased, happy... that this 'B' sample proved that I have never taken a drug,'' said Jones, who had been under scrutiny by the U S Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in connection with the BALCO laboratory doping scandal.

Jones, who won three gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, had been making a comeback in the sport this year before the positive 'A' sample was reported.

She plans to resume competition next week with a 100 metres race at the IAAF World Cup in Athens. She also will run in Shanghai on September 23, her manager has said.

But Jones, in today's interview, would not say definitively that she would continue her career through the 2008 Beijing Olympics as she had previously announced.

''After this whole situation, I just really need to sit down with my family and my friends and just pray about what I am going to do next,'' Jones said.

''I love the sport of track and field,'' she added. ''But I just want to relish the moment and just enjoy the fact that my name has been cleared.'' REUTERS AD RN0307