Jones and Green set to storm Osaka

MAY 12: In a quest to win five Olympic gold medals in Sydney, American sprint queen Marion Jones launches her first international campaign...

MAY 12: In a quest to win five Olympic gold medals in Sydney, American sprint queen Marion Jones launches her first international campaign of the season with Maurice Green at the IAAF Japan Grand Prix on Saturday.

Jones will compete in women’s 100m and long jump while Green heads the men’s 100m At the opener of the 10-round Grand Prix series.

World 100m Champion Jones, 24, returned to competition last month in California since back spasms caused her to collapse in agony in the world championships 200m semi-finals at Seville in August last season.

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She marked 49.59 seconds in the women’s 400m In California, better than any recorded by a woman during the 1999 season, and then anchored a US quartet to a world record of 1:27.46 in the 4x200m relay in Philadelphia.

Jones, who has said she is after the world 100m, 200m and long jump records before her career is over, dreams of winning the three races as well as 4x100m And 4x400m relay crowns in Sydney.

At Seville, her dress rehearsal for the Sydney Games ended with the gold in the 100m and bronze in the long jump before collapsing in the 200m.

Green set the 100m World record of 9.79 in Athens in June last year before becoming the first man to achieve the 100/200 World championship double. He also anchored to win the 4x100M relay in Seville.

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In Osaka, Jones faces challenges from Bahamas’ Sevatheda Fynes and Chandra Sturrup, Philomena Mensah of Canada, Melinda Gainsford-Taylor of Australia and Mercy Nku of Nigeria in the 100m.

Her main rivals in the long jump are compatriot Dawn Burrel, Mirela Dulgheru-Renda of Turkey, Guan Yingnan of China and Lacena Golding of Jamaica.

Green will take on Bruny Surin of Canada whom he defeated into second in Seville, fellow Americans Tim Harden and Dennis Mitchell, Obadele Thompson of Barbados, and Leonard Myles-Mills of Ghana.

Other prominent athletes include Jones’ husband, world shotput champion CJ Hunter, Alejandro Cardenas of Mexico and Americans Antonio Pettigrew and Jerome Young in the 400m.

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World champion Karsten Kobs of Germany competes against Atlanta Olympic champion Blazs Kiss of Hungary and World bronze medallist Vladislav Piskunov of Ukraine in the men’s hammer throw.

To the disappointment of fans, World women’s pole vault record holder Emma George of Australia and Asia’s fastest sprinter Koji Ito of Japan pulled out due to injuries.