SYDNEY – The individual gold medal Jenny Thompson so badly craves once again slipped away. And this time so did silver and bronze.

Trying mightily to match the powerful strokes of the Netherlands’ Inge de Bruijn in the 100-meter butterfly final last night, Thompson instead ran herself out of gas and faded badly in the final 30 meters. She dropped all the way to fifth as de Bruijn won in a world record of 56.61 seconds and then defended herself against suspicions that such fantastic times so late in her career are the results of using banned substances.

“If you work hard and get world records, they want to chop your head off,” de Bruijn said. “That is a sad thing. You should be rewarded for that. I am above those accusations. I have the gold now.”

In a three-week span over May and June, de Bruijn broke world records seven times after previously being a good, but not esteemed swimmer. She was widely likened to Ireland’s Michelle Smith, who won three golds in 1996 after being unspectacular beforehand. Smith denied any drug problems, but subsequently was suspended from her sport in 1998.

De Bruijn, 27, claims her success is due to a upgraded cross-training regimen, better swimsuits and a sounder mind after she shunned the 1996 Olympics citing mental fatigue.

“There should be no comparison with [Smith],” de Bruijn said.

Like de Bruijn, Thompson, 27, and fellow American Dara Torres, 33, have been dealing with a drug cloud also because they have swam so well late in their careers. Both also deny any chemical assistance and also credit better fitness and dietary regimens.

Yet, all the improvements could not get Thompson an individual gold. On Saturday, she was part of America’s winning 4×100 women’s relay. That gave her a sixth career gold medal, the most by any American woman in either a Summer or Winter Olympics. But all six have come in relays.

“I gave it my best effort,” Thompson said in her only comments after the race.”

Thompson will have another shot at de Bruijn in the 100 free. But it is more likely she will win golds in two more relays to reach a total of eight than get it in that individual race.

“I wouldn’t count [Thompson] out,” Torres said.