Both performances, however, were way outside her personal bests, notably her disappointing sprint which means she faces a struggle in her bid to beat the European record of 7,007 points set by Russian Larisa Nikitina in 1989.

"I wanted to break the European record but after my bad 200 metres I don't think this is possible anymore," said Kluft, who nevertheless was in a positive mood.

"It's fantastic to perform in front of my home crowd, knowing that they all came to see me," she said.

The fans did not seem to mind that Barber had left and kept meeting Kluft's performances with deafening roars.

They will all be back on Tuesday to watch their darling compete in the long jump, the javelin and the 800 metres and then, probably, collect the gold medal.