The Electronic Telegraph Saturday 9 June 2001 Tom Knight MARION JONES competes in Saturday's US Open meeting in Palo Alto, California, her first race since her separation from husband C J Hunter was announced. Jones, the triple Olympic gold medallist, faces world champion Inger Miller over 200 metres. Britain's Paula Radcliffe has chosen the streets of New York to open her season today, in a 10km race against Portugal's Fernanda Ribeiro, the 1996 Olympic 10,000m champion. It will be their 21st race against each other, with Ribeiro leading 12-8. Radcliffe, who finally won the world cross-country title, at her ninth attempt, this year, is full of confidence for the track season. She said: "The cross-country was a really big thing for me. It's something that's there now and I've achieved it. Because it's there, I'm more relaxed. I'm coming into this race hungry because I haven't raced now for six to seven weeks. "I think me and Ribeiro are very close. I tend to be pretty much consistent around a certain mark. I might be a little bit down, a little bit up. But Fernanda can be way down or she can be right there. "It's difficult predicting what kind of shape she's going to be in, but I always respect her." Russia's Ludmila Petrova, the 2000 New York City Marathon winner, said ominously: "I will run behind Radcliffe and will keep behind her." The course record for the New York Mini Marathon, Grete Waitz's 31 min, has lasted since 1980. In Radcliffe's absence, the rest of Britain's 10,000m runners attempt to achieve World Championship qualifying times in Watford. Eamonn Condon www.RunnersGoal.com
