Former Olympic champion Marion Jones has been sentenced to six months in jail for lying to federal investigators about her use of performance enhancing drugs.

The District Court judge in New York ignored pleas that she shouldn't be separated from her two young children.

Speaking after the sentence, which begins in March, Jones said she was a reformed character.

“I stand for what is right, I respect the judge's orders and truly hope that people will learn from my mistakes,” Jones said.

Prison life will be a big change for the sprinter who was once the most celebrated female athlete in the world.

She won three golds and two bronze medals at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

But her ability on the track looks likely to be forgotten.  It's more probable she'll go down as one of the biggest drug cheats in the history of sport.

Jones was stripped of her Olympic medals when she was exposed as a drug cheat.

The runner earned the wrath of the law by contiually denying her guilt.

“I have never failed a test. No information exists to even suggest that I have failed a test. I have truthfully answered all the questions asked of me under oath by the government and the grand Jury during the investigation,” Jones had said.