Regina Jacobs

Regina Jacobs (born August 28, 1963) is a former middle distance runner from the United States. After graduating from Stanford University she represented the USA in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea, before ending her career in disgrace after a positive drug test.

Jacobs took second place in the 1500 m race at the 6th World Championships in Athletics in Athens (4:04.63) in 1997, and again won the silver medal in the 1500 m at the World Championships in Sevilla in 1999 (4:00.35). In her years of running she won 25 national titles. On February 2, 2003 at age 39 Jacobs set a world record in the indoor 1500 m with a time of 3:59.58, becoming the first woman to break 4 minutes in the event.

With rumors of her use of performance enhancing drugs going back as far as 1995 [ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/writers/mike_fish/11/25/hamilton/ SI.com - Writers - Mike Fish: Favor Hamilton second guessing rival Jacobs - Tuesday November 25, 2003 7:27PM ] ] , in 2003 she tested positive for BALCO's 'designer' steroid THG and was subsequently suspended from competing in track & field for four years by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

Post Track & Field Career

Since her positive doping test and subsequent retirement from track & field, she has become a real estate agent in Oakland, CA. Originally she used her past athletics successes to promote her new career, stating "I am regarded as one of the finest middle-distance runners ever to grace American soil, setting records to age forty. The reason for a long outstanding career was not luck and out of this world talent". There was no mention made of her drug suspension or any of the medals that she had fraudulently won. After an outcry in the athletics community Jacobs eventually deleted the quote from her website.

ee also

*List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

References

*Fish, Mike [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/writers/mike_fish/11/25/hamilton/ Second guessing: Track star left wondering about rival's edge in marquee races] Sports Illustrated Online, 11-25-03

External links

*http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/3723213.stm
*http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/3/3_2/1044.shtml
*http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9405E3D71431F937A15753C1A9659C8B63