:shoot:By Justin Clueless Palmer
LONDON, June 26 Reuters - World 100 metres recordholder Tim Montgomery acknowledged today he had made a mistake in aligning with coach Charlie Francis, the manbehind the biggest scandal in Olympics history.
Montgomery and his partner, triple Olympic championMarion Jones, ended ties with the Canadian coach inFebruary after an international outcry.
Francis was banned for life from coaching Canadianathletes after Ben Johnson tested positive for steroidsfollowing his 100 metres victory in world record time atthe 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Speaking to reporters before flying to Glasgow forSunday’s international meeting, the 28-year-old Americansaid he still felt angry on Francis’s behalf for whatthe media has put him through.'' He still hurts, he still cries, he still bleeds,’‘said Montgomery, who set the men’s world 100 metresrecord of 9.78 seconds in Paris last year.
Elaborating on his and Jones’s decison to link up withFrancis in late November last year, Montgomery said thedisgraced coach had merely wanted to help them gofaster''. He gave me an outlook on what he had written in hisbooks. He taught me all about the right angles on comingout of the blocks,’’ said Montgomery.
That's all he wanted to show me. He did not want toget back into the sport. I didn't want him as my coachand he didn't want to be my coach. Charlie Francis was a person that everyone put thisX on. But he was also a person who had put out a lot ofliterature on how to run, how to do good technique.
I had read those books and I wanted to meet theperson behind those words for who they are in 2003.People do change.'' The athletics world reacted inhorror when Francis confirmed he was working with thefastest man and woman on the planet. Despite making a statement that he now condemned usingperformance-enhancing drugs, Montgomery and Jones wereaccused of making a huge error of judgement. Montgomery said it was not a good decision from a PRpoint of view,’’ but added the association had benefitedboth parties, particularly Francis.
You can't judge a person for what they did, when itinvolves two people,'' Montgomery said of the 1988Olympic scandal. That’s like if you are married and your wife istaking drugs, do you pick up the police and say ‘comepick my wife up and put her in jail’.
No. You are still going to help your wife and try tohelp her see the better picture in life. Charlie’s wife thanked us for having the respect andaudacity to even give her husband a try. He now seesthat the sport has changed.’’