Athletics-Marion Jones still undecided on future

SALVO, North Carolina, Dec 15 (Reuters) Former triple Olympic champion Marion Jones says she is still undecided about her athletics future.

The 31-year-old American is not in training, even though most of the world's elite sprinters have already begun preparations for the 2007 season.

''I just need to make a lot of decisions,'' Jones told a news conference in Belize while visiting her mother's Central American homeland with her three-year-old son Monty.

''My son is getting to an age where it is necessary for me to be present more and more. I'll make some decisions with my family in the next several months about what the future holds.'' Jones, who won three gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, said her family life was far more important than athletics.

''Please don't get it wrong that track and field is the number one priority in my life, being a mother and being part of a family is the number one thing,'' she said.

BEIJING GAMES Jones has often said she would retire after the 2008 Beijing Olympics but the controversy surrounding a doping test at the US championships in June has led her to contemplate leaving the sport earlier.

''Absolutely,'' she told the New York Times earlier this year when asked if she was considering retirement.

Jones's initial test for the blood-boosting drug erythropoietin was positive at the championships but she was cleared when her B sample was negative.

However, she remains under scrutiny by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in connection with the BALCO doping scandal.

''I've moved past it a long time ago,'' said Jones when asked about the scandal.

''I've never done anything wrong, I've never taken any illegal substances and that's really what it comes down to.'' REUTERS DKS PM0510