The Netherlands’ Karin Ruckstuhl took an early advantage in the pentathlon, as she beat her seven rivals in the one-day mutli-event’s opening discipline, the 60 metres hurdles.
Ruckstuhl got away quickly to lead to the first flight and was never threatened, her Ukrainian rival, Nataliya Dobrynska, the 2004 world rankings leader, almost standing up out of her blocks and never showing the leg speed required to close the half-metre gap to the Dutchwoman, who clocked a lifetime best 8.39sec for 1041 points.
Dobrynska and Portugal’s Naide Gomes were both timed at 8.48sec, for 1021pts and a personal best for the Ukrainian, who is particularly strong in the shot, the third event, which will get underway at 2.15pm local time.
With Irina Butor (BLR), in fourth on 997pts after a 8.59sec hurdles, four points better than Belgium’s Tia Hellebaut (8.61), and the Kansas-based Lithuanian, Austra Skujyte, on 976pts after her PB 8.69sec, the competition is, as expected, close going into the second event, the high jump, which begins just before midday.
