The greatest women’s track and field star of her generation flashes a contagious smile. The energy is undeniable. The intensity that once defined her on the track is still present, but in a different form.

Marion Jones is happy.

Jones celebrates her 50th birthday on Sunday. It’s been a roller coaster of a half-century. She was an all-around star of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney as a sprinter and a jumper. Six years prior, Jones, then a dual-sport athlete at the University of North Carolina, won an NCAA basketball championship and was on the court as a freshman point guard when teammate Charlotte Smith hit one of the biggest shots in college basketball history. Basketball success ultimately led to her later playing two seasons with the Tulsa Shock of the WNBA. She was the league’s oldest rookie at 34.

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But Jones also had track accomplishments stripped — along with those of her teammates — after a tempestuous doping scandal, which led to her serving six months in a federal prison in 2008.

Fast forward to a new phase of life. It’s been 21 years since Jones’ last appearance in Olympic competition, 17 since her release from incarceration and 14 since she last played professional basketball.

Jones is now many things: A mother. A podcaster. A motivational speaker and trainer. After all the tearful confessions from the 2000s, she refuses to keep apologizing.

The past doesn’t weigh on her anymore.

“You not onl