Ireland’s Natalya Coyle lies 12th after the opening day of the Olympics women’s modern pentathlon in Rio, the marathon fencing session consisting of fights against the other 35 competitors, writes Will Downing.

Of these, the 25-year-old Dubliner, won 19 and lost 16 in Deodoro to earn 214 points – only six points off her fencing record of 220.

It places her 48 points behind Polish soldier Oktawia Nowacka, who lost only eight of her 35 duels, scoring one of her many victories on the day against the Irishwoman.

Reigning Polish champion Nowacka will be hard for Coyle to turn over, being part of the gold-medal winning Polish team from the 2015 World Cup event in Berlin.

Nowacka currently leads Germany’s 2008 Olympic champion Lena Schoneborn by 18 points, with Canadians Melanie McCann and Donna Vakalis third and fourth, 24 and 30 points behind the lead respectively.

Defending Olympic champion Laura Asadauskaite of Lithuania shares the same points total as Coyle going into the deciding day.

Tomorrow sees the conclusion of the competition, with the swimming event starting at 4pm Irish time, followed by a fencing bonus round, then showjumping, before the final climax, the combined biathlon race, consisting of running and shooting.

The men’s fencing involving European champion Arthur Lanigan-O’Keeffe got underway later mid-afternoon, Rio time.