Marion Jones, the Olympic 100 metres champion, has vowed to stand by her man, CJ Hunter, after it was revealed that he had tested positive for an anabolic steroid in four separate drug tests this summer.

At an emotional press conference here yesterday, Jones said she has "full and complete respect" for her husband, the 1999 world shot champion, and was confident that he would be cleared.

Hunter has hired Johnnie Cochran, the lawyer who helped get OJ Simpson off his murder charge, as his attorney. Cochran also represented Jones as a schoolgirl in 1991 when she escaped a four-year suspension after it was alleged she had avoided an out-of-competition drugs test.

A day after it was confirmed that Hunter tested positive for the steroid nandrolone at the Bislett Games in Oslo on July 28th, the International Amateur Athletic Federation said he had failed three other tests for the same banned substance.

Arne Ljungqvist, the IAAF chief anti-doping officer, said that Hunter had also tested positive this summer at Milan, Rome and Zurich. "This appears to confirm that he has been ingesting a banned substance over a period of time," Ljungqvist said.

But the IAAF will treat all four positives as one case which means that, instead of a life ban for two offences, Hunter will face only a two-year suspension. A shotputter testing positive for steroids hardly qualifies as shocking. Hunter's proximity to Jones might be. Besides casting his giant shadow over her quest to become the first female athlete to win five golds in one Olympics, it set more than the usual number of tongues wagging.

One of them belonged to the president of the International Olympic Committee's medical commission Prince Alexandre de Merode. He accused US track and field officials of covering up five positive drug tests before the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

The US Olympic Committee said the cases were publicised 12 years ago and the athletes involved were cleared because they used the drug ephedrine accidentally.

Inevitably Hunter claimed he was innocent, despite a legal reading 1,000 times above the permitted level, and blamed nutritional supplements. Breaking down in tears, Hunter said: "Nobody on the planet could say I don't love my wife and don't love my kids. I have never in my life, nor would I ever, do anything to jeopardise their opinion of me."

Victor Conte, Hunter's nutritionist, claimed that Hunter had ingested the drug in a supplement. "The bottom line is we think it's the result of nutritional supplements CJ was taking," he said.

"I don't know what has happened and I don't know how it has happened," said Hunter. "I promise everybody I'm going to find out."

Hunter's defence failed to impress senior international officials. "It's the usual excuse," said the IOC executive Jacques Rogge, vice-chairman of the medical commission. "Even if he would be positive with food supplements, it's his responsibility to take legal substances."

The IAAF has a policy of strict liability which means that an athlete is responsible for anything found in his or her body. Nandrolone helps athletes gain strength and muscle bulk by repairing the damage of high-level training and competition.