A place in the history books beckons for Marion Jones.

For, at just 24-years-old, the American is entering her very own modern pentathlon at the Sydney Olympics.

Jones heads Down Under with the chance to equal the record of five golds at one Games, set by Finnish long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi in 1924.

The Californian has qualified for the 100m, 200m and long jump, and with her place in the 4x100m and 4x400m squads secure she is targeting a five-star show at her first Olympics.

But the schedule is daunting.

With six sprint heats, long jump qualifiers and three finals before she even considers the relays, Jones will have to call upon all of her stamina - and a little bit of luck - to achieve the seemingly unachievable.

Her attempt to claim four medals at last year's World Championships failed when she pulled up in the 200m heats after winning the 100m and taking bronze in the long jump.

Indeed, going back to her glittering college and high school careers, Jones has never managed to pick up more than three victories at the same event.

She did claim two High School Athlete of the Year awards and four successive sprint doubles at the Californian HS meet, but anything more than a hat-trick evaded her.

At just 17, though, Jones emerged from the shadows of college athletics at the 1992 American Olympic trials.

She was fourth in the 200m and fifth in the 100m before going on to win the sprint double at the American Junior Championships and claim a silver medal in the 4x100m relay at the World juniors.

Her college career included four Atlantic Coast Conference titles, but it was after sitting out the whole of the 1996 season that Jones emerged as a truly world-class athlete.

Gold at the 100m at the World Championships and the number one spot in the world rankings in 1997 was a warning to her rivals of what was to come.

For in 1998 Jones won the 100m, 200m and long jump at the American Championships, took the sprint double at the World Cup and the Goodwill Games and ran a personal best in her first 400m race for six years.

Her 35 victories from 36 events put her at the top of the world rankings at 100m, 200m and long jump, becoming only the third person to achieve the feat.

An injury-hit 1999 followed but Jones showed she was back to her best with a 100m victory at the DN Galan meeting in Stockholm early this season.

Her time was a stadium record, the reward a £6,250 diamond - not bad for 10.68 seconds work.

It may not please the purists - brought up on a diet of riding, fencing, shooting, swimming and running - but Jones is in form and her modern pentathlon is within her reach.