Marion Jones has denied that steroids have anything to do with the protruberance she found in her groin area, the AP reported today. Jones accused the Olympic Anti-Doping Committee of continuing its smear campaign.

Jones said she first noticed the "growth" two years ago, around the time she was alleged to have begun using steroids. Her urologist, smiling, reassured her it was "a penis."

Jones was sobered but not alarmed by the diagnosis because many of her female competitors, she said, also had penises.

Jones, meanwhile, seems to have lost speed, leading to speculation she may have stopped using performance-enhancing drugs. Only last week, in San Diego, she ran the 100-meters in 15.45, slower than the winning time of the girl who won the Special Olympics.

Jones offered her typical excuse, saying the distractions of the steroid story have affected her. She did not, however, deny having a penis.