Rylan Howe

Meet director Tim Weaver and track coach Stanley Redwine announce track star Marion Jones’ participation in the Kansas Relays during a press conference yesterday.

She won America’s heart in Sydney when she won five medals. She caught America’s eye amidst last year’s Bay Area Lab Co-Operative steroid scandal. But this April, Marion Jones will bring her celebrity to Lawrence.

Tim Weaver, director of the Kansas Relays, and track coach Stanley Redwine announced that Jones will compete in the relays from 2 to 5 p.m. April 23. The Olympic sprinter/jumper will join almost a dozen other Olympic athletes in the “Gold Zone.” The Gold Zone will match top athletes against each other in a format never tried before at the Kansas Relays. Maurice Green, Stacy Draglia and University of Kansas graduate Charlie Gruber plan to compete.

“We made a list of the biggest names in track,” Weaver said of himself, Redwine and Kansas athletics Director Lew Perkins. “We were left with the top three: Maurice, Marion and Stacy. They’re not just track stars, they’re superstars.”

Jones said she was really looking forward to being able to compete in the Relays.

“It’s one of those historic meets that everyone is talking about again,” Jones said.

The Kansas Relays recorded its highest attendance since 1983 in 2000, when Maurice Green, a Kansas City, Kan., native, competed in the 4x100 meter relay.

“Without exaggeration, this will be the greatest collection of Olympic talent the relays have ever seen. It will the biggest KU Relays crowd in history,” Weaver said.

Jones won three gold and two bronze medals in the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney, Australia. In 2004, she finished first in the Olympic long jump preliminaries, but finished fifth in Athens, dropping out of the 200-meter dash and not qualifying in the 100-meter dash.

Later that year, Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative head Victor Conte accused Jones of using steroids in 2001. She sued Conte on December 16, 2004. Federal investigation has linked BALCO laboratories to several other athletes, including Jones’ husband, Tim Montgomery. Montgomery, who owns the world record in the 100-meter dash, 9.78 seconds, admitted to using steroids on June 24, 2004. When asked if Jones participation in the relays would bring bad publicity, Weaver said not at all.

“People are so excited just to see her on the street. They will be more excited just to see her compete,” Weaver said.

Jones is currently training for the World Championships in Helsinki.

“It’s a thrill that her path goes through here,” Weaver said.

Despite recent controversy, the addition of Jones adds additional publicity to the Kansas Relays, more than other athletes could. Her entry in the relays will mark her second meet since she competed in Athens. She plans to run at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., the week before coming to Lawrence.

“I have no doubt she will be ready to go,” Weaver said. “All I have ever seen her do is run fast.”

Redwine anticipates Jones’ visit to Lawrence will be a tutorial for his team.

“In order to become a champion, you have to see a champion,” Redwine said.