THE SEOUL GAMES / DAY 14 : Kristiansen Injured; Soviet Wins 10,000

In the first women’s Olympic 10,000-meter race, the Soviet Union’s Olga Bondarenko used a brilliant strategy and her superior speed to beat Great Britain’s Liz Lynch McColgan to win the gold medal.

Norway’s Ingrid Kristiansen, the world record-holder and the 1987 world champion, was the leader until she stepped off the track 1 1/2 miles into the race with a injured right foot. She was carried off the field on a stretcher.

It was Norway’s second disappointment of these Games in a women’s distance event. Grete Waitz, eight-time New York City Marathon champion, dropped out about halfway through the marathon on the opening day of the track and field competition.

McColgan, who became the first woman to beat Kristiansen on the track at 10,000 meters earlier this summer, inherited the lead from the Norwegian with 18 laps remaining in the 24-lap race and held it until the final 200 meters.

Then Bondarenko, who had been running on McColgan’s heels throughout the race, began her kick and pulled away.

Bondarenko, 28, won in 31:05.21. McColgan finished in 31:08.44, winning the silver medal ahead of the Soviet Union’s Elena Joupieva, who was third in 31:19.82.

The United States’ Francie Larrieu-Smith finished fifth in 31:35.52, just missing Mary Decker Slaney’s U.S. record of 31:35.3.