LOS ANGELES (April 22) - Is Marion Jones ready for her close-up?
Just a year after giving birth to son Tim Montgomery, Jr., Jones will be on center stage at the The Home Depot Track & Field Invitational only two months before the U.S. Olympic Trials and just three months before the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece where she hopes to compete for five gold medals.

\"This is going to be a real challenge for Marion, competing in both the 100 meters and the long jump against many of the athletes she will see at the Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games,\" said Bill Peterson, Managing Director of The Home Depot Center. \"It's also a great opportunity for Southern California Track fans to watch one of the United States' greatest all time women's track athletes.\"

Jones won the 100 and 200 meters in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia as well as a gold medal in the 4x400-meter relay. She won bronze medals in the long jump and on the 4x100-meter relay. But her return to competition in 2004 has been slow and she is undertaking an increasingly busy schedule to whip herself into shape.

Ready to challenge Jones at The Home Depot Center on May 22 will be 100-meter stars including Sydney bronze medalist Tayna Lawrence of Jamaica and four-time NCAA 100 champion Angela Williams, formerly of USC. The dash will be the first running event of the day, at 1:05 p.m.

Just 60 minutes later, the women's long jump will begin with Jones competing against a small but powerful field.

The newly-released meet schedule shows the speed events as the highlight of the second edition of The Home Depot Invitational, with Jones in the women's 100, Sydney gold medalist Maurice Greene in the men's 100 and two-time Olympic gold medal winner Gail Devers matching up against world champion Perdita Felicien of Canada in the women's 100-meter hurdles. In addition, seven 19-foot pole vaulters will compete, including 2001 world champion Dmitri Markov of Australia, Olympic champion Nick Hysong of the U.S. and American record-holder Jeff Hartwig.

It's all part of the meet's theme of \"See Athens Before It Happens\" with 21 events in all and $140,000 in prize money. More than 40 Olympians from a dozen nations are expected to compete on The Home Depot Center's lightning-fast Mondo Super-X track. Rich Perelman is the Meet Director with Bruce Tenen serving as Elite Athlete Coordinator.
Tickets for The Home Depot Track & Field Invitational are priced at $40.00 (VIP), $25.00 (home
straight) and $17.00 (back straight) are available through Ticketmaster's Charge-By-Phone network at (213) 480-3232, at all Ticketmaster retail ticket center locations including Wherehouse Records, Robinson's-May, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations and online at www.ticketmaster.com.
Tickets are also available at The Home Depot Center's box office and the box office at TEAM LA at Universal CityWalk. Group sales ticketing and discount ticket information is available at 1-866-LAGroup (1-866-524-7687) or on-line at www.homedepotinvitational.com. The Home Depot Invitational will be broadcast live on NBC television from 1-3 p.m. Pacific time.

The Home Depot Track & Field Invitational is presented and produced by AEG, one of the world's leading presenters of sports and entertainment programs. AEG owns or operates facilities such as STAPLES Center, The Home Depot Center, HealthSouth Training Center, Kodak Theatre and NOKIA Live at Grand Prairie. The organization owns the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), Redding Royals (ECHL) and Manchester Monarchs (AHL), the Los Angeles Galaxy and four other MLS franchises and four hockey franchises operated in Europe. AEG LIVE is the world's second largest concert promoter.

The Home Depot Center is Southern California's new home of world-class competition and training facilities for amateur, Olympic, collegiate and professional athletes. The $150 million, privatelyfinanced facility was developed and is operated by AEG on a 125-acre site on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The Home Depot Center features a 13,000-seat stadium for tennis, a 27,000-seat stadium for soccer, athletic competitions and outdoor concerts, a 20,000-capacity facility for track & field, the ADT Event Center, a 3,500-seat indoor velodrome
(opening summer 2004) and other facilities for softball, baseball, beach volleyball, basketball and other sports.

Named an Official U.S. Olympic Training Site, The Home Depot Center is also the national team
training headquarters for the U.S. Soccer Federation. The \"complex,\" which is also the home of the nationally recognized Athletes Performance Training Center for elite and professional athletes has additionally be designated \"official\" training sites for USA Cycling, United States Track & Field, the U.S. Tennis Association and the Association of Volleyball Professionals.
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For additional information and media credentials, please contact
Jan Fambro at (310) 826-2962 or trackmedia@aol.com.

Schedule of Events
(as of April 20, 2004)
Saturday, May 22, 2004
12:00 noon
The Home Depot Center, California State University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA
Time No. Event
12:00 p.m. Opening Ceremonies
12:10 p.m. 1. Men's Long Jump (ends ~ 1:40 p.m.)
12:20 p.m. 2. Women's Pole Vault (ends ~ 1:45 p.m.)
1:00 p.m. 3. Women's High Jump (ends ~ 2:30 p.m.)
(NBC airtime begins 1:00 p.m.)
1:05 p.m. 4. Women's 100 meters
1:16 p.m. 5. Men's 1,500 meters
1:27 p.m. 6. Women's 100 m Hurdles
1:37 p.m. 7. Men's 110 m Hurdles
1:47 p.m. 8. Women's 1,500 meters
2:00 p.m. 9. Women's 400 meters
2:10 p.m. 10. Men's 400 meters
2:22 p.m. 11. Women's 800 meters
2:35 p.m. 12. Men's 800 meters
2:48 p.m. 13. Men's 100 meters
1:45 p.m. 14. Men's Shot Put (ends ~ 2:45 p.m.)
2:05 p.m. 15. Women's Long Jump (ends ~ 2:55 p.m.)
(NBC airtime ends 3:00 p.m.)
2:00 p.m. 16. Men's Pole Vault (ends ~ 3:30 p.m.)
2:30 p.m. 17. Women's Discus (ends ~ 3:30 p.m.)
3:00 p.m. 18. Special Olympics 100 meters
3:10 p.m. 19. Women's Olympic Development 400 m Hurdles
3:20 p.m. 20. Men's Olympic Development 400 m Hurdles
3:30 p.m. 21. GailFORCE 4x100 m youth relay
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