German student wins modern pentathlon gold

By Erik Kirschbaum

BEIJING (Reuters) - Lena Schoeneborn of Germany won the gold medal in the women's modern pentathlon on Friday, putting in stellar performances in the five events.

Heather Fell of Britain won the silver medal while Victoria Tereshuk of Ukraine took the bronze in the quintessential Olympic test of strength and stamina involving fencing, shooting, swimming, horse riding and running.

Schoeneborn, a 22-year-old Berlin student, won the silver medal at the 2007 world championship. She took the overall lead with a clear victory in the second event of the day, fencing, and never looked back.

Hungary's Zsuzsanna Voros, who won the gold medal four years ago at the Athens Olympics, finished far down the field. She had a miserable day in fencing, winning only 15 of her 35 bouts, and never recovered.

(Editing by Jon Bramley)