Soviet Women Gain Fast Lead in World Gymastics Contest

Romania’s Daniela Silivas posted the first perfect score of the World Gymnastics Championships today, but Svetlana Boginskaya was the best overall and made sure the Soviets opened a sizable lead halfway through the women’s team competition in their effort to regain the title.

Boginskaya, the reigning European champion and Olympic all-around bronze medalist, excelled on all four apparatus exercises and scored 39.837 out of 40 points. She missed a perfect score by the smallest of margins on two occasions.

At the end of compulsory exercises and with the optionals to come, the Soviet Union has 198.058 out of 200 points, ahead of Romania with 196.447 and China with 195.896.

The United States, led by a strong Brandy Johnson, was in fourth place with 193.895.

Silivas, 19, had a perfect 10 on the vault and continued to perform strongly on the other three compulsory events to finish with 39.699, edging China’s Yang Bo, who scored 39.649, for second place.

Silivas, the all-around silver medalist at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, and Boginskaya, 16, already had a close battle in the European all-around championships this spring and look set for another one this week.

The Soviet six-woman team, trying to recapture the title it lost to Romania in the 1987 world championships, was solid throughout as all team members finished in the top dozen. They did so despite the recent retirement of Olympic champion Elena Shoushounova.

The Soviet Union appears to be well on its way to sweep the team titles; the men’s team already opened a huge lead halfway through their competition.

Soviet Olesia Dudnik had a 10 on the floor and looked set to take the lead in the compulsories until she botched her uneven bars routine. She finished 10th overall.

But the mistake was not as obvious as the crash suffered by defending all-around champion Aurelia Dobre, which dampened the Romanians’ chances of retaining their title.

Dobre, still seeking her top form after a series of knee problems, lagged in 43rd place with 38.212. Dobre had a disastrous start to the competition, falling off the uneven bars on her opening move.

A spunky performance by Johnson kept the U.S. team in fourth place, with a wide lead of 1.925 points over East Germany. Johnson finished eighth on the compulsories. It only added to the good showing Sandy Woolsey, finishing 22nd, gave late Sunday.

But pushing into the medals appears unlikely because third-place China holds a lead of 2.001 points over the American team.

The optionals are set for Tuesday and Wednesday, when the medals will be decided.