PARIS, France - After a pair of off seasons that have kept her name in the headlines for less-than-dubious reasons, Marion Jones seems well on her way to finally beat back the detractors that have all but written her off.

In her four wins in as many outings this season, including another U.S. title, the track world this year has seen a glimpse of the Jones who dominated the women's sprint world for much of the past decade. And she promises that there's more to come when she resumes her international season here tonight at the Stade de France. (Editor's note: Marion Jones raced to her first sub-11 clocking in the women's 100 meters since 2002, winning in 10.92, the second-fastest time in world this year.)

"I've always run fast here in Paris," said Jones, who set the meeting record of 10.84 seconds back in 2001. "I'm finally back on track this year and I hope I can continue to run well. I'm most excited about the fact that the meet directors have assembled a field that's quite competitive."

The field is certainly the strongest assembled yet this season. Sherone Simpson, the 21-year-old Jamaican who clocked a world-leading 10.82 last month, leads a pack that also includes world champion Lauryn Williams, Oslo winner Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie, world indoor 60 meter champion Me'Lisa Barber, and 2003 world champion Torri Edwards, fresh off of a strong win in Athens.

Yet despite the credentials of her key rivals, it is still Jones, the Golden girl from the Sydney Olympic Games, who attracts the attention. Her star status has certainly waned. In international newspapers, she's most often described as a "former" or 'ex" superstar. But both savvy and stubborn, Jones would like nothing more than to take advantage of the spotlight, beginning with her first sub-11 second performance since 2002, an absolute necessity if she's to begin an ascent to her former stature.

Given decent conditions, Jones said, "with the field that's been assembled, to win the race you're going to have to run under 11 seconds. I think the body's ready to run under 11. I feel good, and with all the excitement, I think I'll be ready."

Jones has run 11.06 twice this season, and took the U.S. title after the weather in Indianapolis forced the sprinters to run three rounds in one day.

"It says a lot about the training I've been doing this year, that I was able to withstand three rounds." Her 11.10 in the final, she said, was a decent effort given the circumstances. "It's lot to ask of a sprinter to run under 11 seconds after three rounds."

While she's obviously displayed a talent on the track, Jones' other forte in recent years was attracting negative attention, as much for the company she kept than for doping allegations stemming from the Balco scandal, none of which were ever substantiated. Privately, many involved in the sport would nonetheless like nothing more than to see here fade way. But that's hardly been the Jones way.

In 2005, many major meet organizers didn't extend the invitations and lucrative appearance fees Jones had been used to. But she holds no grudges.

"I understand all of the exterior factors about why I wasn't invited. And I wasn't running fast last year," she admits with a laugh. "If I was a meeting director, why pay a lot of money to someone who's not going to come and run fast?"

Now, with most of her problems apparently behind her, Jones said she found a new motivation that was always there lingering in the background: she simply missed the high-level competition she became so used to.

"My motivation is different. Things are going well now in my life and I realize that I belong on the track and that's where I want to be, and I want to run fast again. You sit around and you watch the races and you watch the meets and you don't see yourself out there. On the track is where I belong. I missed seeing myself out there."

Now she said, "I have this feeling again that I want to be back out there."

When she resumed training last November, Jones said she penciled in just a simple goals on her 2006 play book.

"To win. To win races," she said. "There are other little goals, like running under 11, then under 10.9. But most importantly, to win. I'm getting that feeling of getting competitive again. And I've done that so far this season. I think most importantly is to feel my rhythm again. In the 100 meters it's so much about rhythm. You can be in the best shape in the world but if you're not running against the best in the world and you're not in races, you're not going to get that rhythm."

Jones also knows that with the new names that will be surrounding here, she's not considered the woman to beat.

"I'm not necessarily the favorite. Four years ago when I was sitting in this press conference, people were asking me how fast I think I was going to run, and how much I think I was going to win by. So it's a little bit different now. The hunger has intensified."

Jones largely trains alone near her home in Raleigh these days, but travels to Virginia one weekend a month to work with coach Steve Riddick. The primary difference the pair have revised in her training is a new emphasis on her start.

"Historically, I haven't been the best starter in the world. I think that if I can get out with these girls who are a little shorter and more powerful, then I think that I can be in a really good position to make my transition. Usually I'm a step or two behind and I have to make it up. But in my six races this year, I think my start has been wonderful. So that's the thing I've been concentrating on this season. I think the strength is definitely there in the latter part of my race."

That closing strength may be evident as well in how she might in the end outlast her critics. A defamation suit against Balco founder Victor Conte was recently settled out of court; barring any new revelations, that might have been the last chapter in the Balco saga as far as Jones is concerned.

"Overall, I'm glad that the suit is done," she said. "It's was a lot on me but not only on me, but on the people that support me. Particularly my family. So I made the decision to settle of out court and I was able to move on with my life. And I'm glad I did because now I'm able to focus on what I love most, which is running track."