Harare — ZIMBABWEAN national and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Director for International Cooperation and Development, Tommy Sithole, has spoken for the first time about the raging Marion Jones controversy in which the disgraced Olympic champion has since asked to return medals that she won in international athletic competitions.

Sithole warned both Zimbabwean athletes and administrators against the use of banned substances and said they should always watch what they eat in order to avoid embarrassing themselves.

"It's really unfortunate that such a great athlete like Marion Jones chose to embarrass herself by taking banned substances. She was great looking and very convincing in her denial," said Sithole.

"Jones' confession is just the beginning, but the question is whether her colleagues in the relay teams should also be stripped of their medals since they were helped by a person using substances."

Sithole said cheats are always a few steps ahead of the Olympic doping teams, which is why it took so long for Jones' case to be detected.

"Measures in the Olympic family against the use of banned substances are clear but the cheats have a sophisticated way of doing it. They are always one step forward."

Sithole, who was speaking from Lausanne, Switzerland , said Zimbabwe is pushing forward the United Nations Olympic Truth Resolution number 107 on safety.

"Zimbabwe has helped collect signatures of countries subscribing to environmental awareness in Olympic competitions," said Sithole.

The former Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC) president will next week lead a delegation of about 300 environmentalists from throughout the country to China to inspect environmental conditions in Chinese cities, which will host Olympic games next year.

"The Marion Jones case is lesson to our people, Zimbabweans athletes should be careful about their food supplements such as caffeine but our athletes need to be educated on these things," said Sithole.