Great Britain's Helene Raynsford made history on Thursday by winning the first Paralympic Games gold medal ever awarded in the sport of Rowing with a runaway 12-second victory in the Women's Single Sculls - Arms at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.

The 2006 world champion and world-best time setter started fastest of the six oarswomen to lead Luidmila Vauchok of Belarus and Svitlana Kupriianova of Ukraine through the 250-meter mark by a margin of over four seconds.

Her advantage grew to almost 10 seconds by the halfway mark, and with 250 meters to go her gold medal was sealed and the main interest swung to who would take silver and bronze.

Vauchok produced an effort 200 meters from the finish to secure her second place, but a rapidly tiring Kupriianova had no answers for a fast-finishing Laura Schwanger of the United States who took the bronze in the shadows of the finish line.

Raynsford won in a time of 6:12:93 minutes.

(BOCOG September 11, 2008)