Redemption is the goal for sprinter Marion Jones

Doping suspicions have chased the former Olympic champion.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Justin Gatlin is thinking world record as always and Marion Jones will be racing for redemption when the U.S. track and field championships open a four-day run today.
Halfway between Olympics, and with no world championships this year, Gatlin's sprint rivalry with Jamaican Asafa Powell is keeping the often-overlooked sport in the headlines.
So is Jones, who will face fierce competition in Indianapolis from reigning world 100-meter champion Lauryn Williams and others.
Jones also is entered in the 200, where the favorite is world champion and Olympic silver medalist Allyson Felix.
For subplots, world decathlon champion Bryan Clay has the American and world records in his sights, Olympic and world 400 champion Jeremy Wariner is limiting himself to the 200 and Sanya Richards hopes for a 200-400 double.
Dynamic duo
Gatlin, reigning Olympic and world 100 champion, will race for the first time since Powell again tied the world record they share with a 9.77-second run June 11 in Gateshead, England.
"What do I think about Asafa?" Gatlin said, repeating a questioner Wednesday. "I think I've been asked that question too much."
For the first time since his record-tying run in Doha, Qatar, Gatlin -- who has run 9.88 or faster four times this season -- should have good weather this week at Carroll Stadium near downtown Indianapolis.
"This year, whenever I step on the track, I'm going out there to run a great time," he said. "My goal last year was to be a world champion, my goal the year before that was to be Olympic champion. I'm going to strive for my goals, and I'm going to go out there and make sure I put the world record out of reach by the time I retire."
The USA Track & amp; Field news conference Wednesday was a showcase of the sport's young stars -- Gatlin, Williams, Felix, Clay, Wariner, Richards and hurdler Ginnie Powell, who broke the collegiate 100-meter hurdle record two weeks ago at the NCAA championships, then signed a contract with Nike.
Back after injuries
Jones was nowhere to be found. USA track officials prefer the attention go to the youngsters.
But Jones is back, and is scheduled to be in the field for the 100 preliminaries today.
The 30-year-old Jones is a 13-time U.S. champion -- four times in the 100, five in the 200 and four in the long jump. At Sydney in 2000, she won a record five Olympic track medals -- three of them gold.
But she has been dogged by doping suspicions in recent years, allegations she vehemently denies.
She has split with boyfriend Tim Montgomery, the former world 100 record holder who retired from the sport after being banned for two years for using steroids and other performance enhancers. He never tested positive but was suspended based on evidence gathered in the criminal probe of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.
Jones was hampered by injury last season. But she has twice run 11.06 in the 100 this season, the fourth-fastest time in the world this year. Among Americans, only Felix's 11.04 is faster, and Felix isn't running the 100 this week.
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