Individual, Women

Zsuzsanna Vőrős (HUN) had won the World Championships in 1999 and was favored at Sydney in 2000, but a poor performance placed her only 15th. Since Sydney she had won the World Championships again in 2003 and 2004. She was co-favorite with Britain’s Georgina Harland, who was world-ranked #1. Vőrős started out strongly in the shooting and fencing and took the lead after two phases. A fourth-place in swimming and ninth in riding helped her extend the lead after both those events, taking a 164 point lead into the cross-country run. She did not have to extend herself and won the gold medal easily. Harland started out horrifically, placing 30th of 32 in the shooting. But she placed second in swimming and won the cross-country run to come back and win a bronze medal, after being in 14th place after the fourth phase.