What do we want from a sports hero?

Re “Steroids: Take one for the team,” Opinion, Oct. 14

While I agree with Kate Schmidt that Marion Jones is “arguably the greatest female sprinter in our history,” Jones didn’t achieve that status because she injected steroids. Jones’ athletic achievements are the result of hard work and, not to be dismissed, good genetics. There is no doubt that any steroids Jones took assisted her training, but steroids alone did not make her an elite athlete. She still had to do all her training, competing and mental psyching. It’s about time that people admit this fact.

It’s also about time we decide what we want from the sports figures we turn into social icons. Do we want good, clean, honestly competitive sport, or are we more interested in supermen and women? Do we admire our athletes enough to want them to stick around for our pleasure and awe, or are we satisfied to get a few incredible seasons from them, only to see them waste away from the effects of synthetic assistance? Assisted or otherwise, Jones earned her medals. The U.S. Olympic Committee should return them and punish those who convinced her that she couldn’t succeed without their “help.”

Michelle Solotar

Los Angeles