Olympic track star Marion Jones pleaded guilty in a White Plains federal courtroom to lying about steroid use before the 2000 Olympic games.

Jones pleaded guilty to two counts of obstructing justice. One count deals with the three-time Olympic gold medalist denying she used performance-enhancing drugs when questioned by federal investigators. The other count is about an unrelated check-cashing scheme.

Jones, who won three gold and two bronze medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics, admitted to using steroids before the Sydney games. She says she took a drug called ?The Clear,? also known as THG, for two years. She claims she got it from her former coach, Trevor Graham, who told her it was flax seed oil. Jones says federal agents questioned her in 2003 about the drug, but by then she'd stopped training with Graham and stopped using the performance-enhancing steroids. The track star says she panicked when the agents showed her a sample, which she immediately recognized, and lied about using the drug.

The International Olympic Committee already has opened an investigation into doping allegations against Jones in December 2004, and said Friday it will step up its probe and move quickly to strip her of her medals.

Jones could face jail time as part of her plea deal. Her sentencing is scheduled for January, 2008.The Associated Press contributed to this story