Decathlete Stephen Moore of the USA (© Getty Images)
American Stephen Moore and Götzis 3rd placed Nataliya Dobrynska of Ukraine were in the lead with 4340 and 3707 points at the end of the first day of competition at the Arles International meeting, part of the 2004 IAAF World Combined Events Challenge.
The weather conditions would have been excellent if it weren't for the strong winds that caused great concern about the validity of performances in regards to Olympics qualifying standards.
Only 10th after two events, Nataliya Dobrynska, who competed with her left thigh strapped, moved up to second position thanks to a 14,96m effort in the Shot Put and then to the top as little-known Tatyana Zhevnova of Belarus (3rd with 3668 points) couldn't maintain her lead in the 200m.
France's Marie Collonville, who has already reached the Olympic standards with her win in Desenzano in May, was second 25 points behind Dobrynska, after dominating the High Jump with 1.88m, a French season's best. Only Zhevnova also broke the 1.80m barrier with 1.82m.
In regards to their season's best, Dobrynska is 65 points behind schedule (3772 in Götzis) while Collonville has a 128 points lead (3554 in Desenzano).
Despite some weaknesses in the High Jump and the Shot Put American Michelle Perry was ranked fifth with 3633 points, just one point behind Turkey's Anzhela Atroshchenko, after having recorded the best times in the 100m Hurdles (12.82, +3.9) and in the 200m (23.13, +5.6). The Shot Put was won by Vera Yepyamashko with 15.54m.
South African record holder Janice Josephs withdrew from the competition just after the High Jump, complaining of a pain above the right knee, following the hurdles.
"The wind disturbed my rhythm and I hit two hurdles (the 6th and the 9th). I prefer to stop because I have to be careful for the Olympics," she explained.
The men's competition was dominated by two men, Stephen Moore of the USA and Estonia's Kristian Rahnu who alternatively took the lead and let no one else have a share of the "Louis d'or" coin offered to the winner of each single event.
Rahnu took command of the 100m and the Shot Put while Moore outclassed the field in the Long Jump, the High Jump and the 400m.
Rahnu had a 45 point lead before the 400m but he lost 141 points to Moore over the one-lap race and was second at the end of the day, with 4244 points against 4340 points the American.
Frenchman Laurent Hernu held the third spot with 4180 points.
The other Frenchman Romain Barras, winner in Desenzano, was rapidly left out of contention after three fouls in the Long Jump, while Arles's 2003 winner Russian Aleksandr Pogorelov withdrew after failing to clear his opening height in the High Jump.
"This is what I expected," said Stephen Moore in the evening. "The 100m and Long Jump are in accordance with my expectations. I gave up 50 points in the Shot Put, but it is my fault, a fault of concentration. I feel I could have performed better in the High Jump, but the take off area had become slick at the end of the event, so I had some problems with my take off. As for the 400m, I could have run half a second to a second faster if it weren't for the wind. I have been more consistent on my second day with PBs in the discus and the pole vault this year, so I'm hoping for another 3900-4000 points. It's good to have someone like Rahnu against me, because when the competition is close, it helps me to push harder."
Carole Fuchs for the IAAF
