World sprint queen Marion Jones ran a personal best of 10.71 seconds over 100 metres at Chengdu, China, yesterday, and said the world record and five gold medals at the Sydney 2000 Olympics were within her grasp.

"I'm in great shape, a lot better than last year and I'm looking forward to running a lot faster through the season," she said.

"I thought I could run 10.60 something, but its early in the season, and I don't know about this year, but I will definitely break the world record before my career is over," the American added.

Her time yesterday was five hundredths of a second faster than her previous best, which she set in Brussels in August 1997. It makes her the world's second fastest woman sprinter of all time, behind Florence Griffith-Joyner, who ran 10.49 seconds in Indianapolis in July 1988.

"My goals and my dreams are to win five gold medals in the Sydney Olympics. I think it is very possible, if I stay healthy and if everything goes as it should," Jones said.

"I've been blessed to have a group of men who surround me every day - my manager, my coach, my fiance - to make sure that this doesn't get out of hand. We have set up the next couple of years, so that I have fun . . . so I don't get burned out," she added.

Sevatheda Fynes of the Bahamas came in second in yesterday's race at 11.06 with compatriot Chandra Sturrup third in 11.09.

China's best hope in a much hyped event, Li Xuemei, finished a disappointing fourth at 11.21 after clocking 1997's second-fastest 100m with a surprise 10.79 at last year's Chinese National Games.

"I never expected such a bad run. It was not a clean start, and I am very very sorry to all the people from my home province, Sichuan," she said.