American sprinter Marion Jones returns to action in a 400m race against Australia's Olympic 400m hurdles champion Jana Pittman on Sunday.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/athletics/4444059.stm It will be Jones' first race since failing to win a medal at the Athens Games last summer. Jones has endured a year of doping accusations despite never failing a drugs test. But her new coach Steve Riddick said he expected the 29-year-old sprinter to run "very well" in Los Angeles. Jones, who won five medals in the Sydney 2000 Games, competed in the long jump and 4x100m relay in Athens without success. And she failed to make the USA Olympic team in either the 100m or 200m. Riddick, a former sprinter who began working with Jones last September, said: "Marion is fit. She is ready to go. She is going to run, and run tough. "I guess 'very well' could be anywhere under 50 seconds. "Once she gets one [race] under her belt, it is going to be tough for the rest of the world. "I think she is back where she wants to be." Riddick said giving birth to a child in 2003 had affected Jones' performances last year. "I figured it would take a couple of years for her to come back," he said. "When you give life you lose a little bit." Riddick said Jones was striving to make the USA team for August's Helsinki World Championships in both the 100m and 200m and the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. Her manager Charles Wells said Jones had no plans to compete in the long jump this year. ENDS
