Athletics: Jones to Take on Block at Nowrich Union Grand Prix

Marion Jones's comeback may have only just started but she is already preparing to put her reputation on the line against her biggest rival in the Norwich Union Grand Prix at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham next week.

The American, who won the 60 metres sprint in the Millrose Games in New York last Friday in her first race after a 17-month maternity break, will compete over the same distance against Zhanna Block in an event that will headline the 8,000-ticket sell-out on February 20.

It was the Ukrainian who ended Jones's four-year, 42-race unbeaten record when she defeated her to win the 100m title in the world championships in Edmonton in 2001 in one of the biggest upsets in the event's history.

"I think everyone in the sport is delighted to see Marion Jones back on the track and it will be great for the British crowd to see her in Birmingham," said Block.

"She is an excellent athlete. It is up to the rest of the leading sprinters to rise to her challenge."

The winner of five Olympic medals in the 2000 Sydney games, including three gold, Jones will start as the favourite simply on the strength of her renown. But she had not raced indoors for six years before her outing in New York and struggled to win in 7.21sec after a poor start.

Block, in contrast, is a proven performer on the boards. "I always seem to do well in Birmingham," she said. "I won the Norwich Union grand prix there last year and then won world indoor gold on the same track just a few weeks later."

It will be a busy evening for Jones because she is also due to compete in the long jump, where she is promising to unveil a better technique after extensive work with her new coach Dan Pfaff.

Scottish Athletics has appointed the former British international marathon runner Geoff Wightman as its chief executive.

Wightman, 43, will join them in May from his current job as sports marketing manager for Puma.