Jump to content

Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metres

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Women's 200 metres
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium
Date28 September 1988 (heats, quarter-finals)
29 September 1988 (semi-final, final)
Competitors59 from 43 nations
Winning time21.34 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Florence Griffith-Joyner
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Grace Jackson
 Jamaica
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Heike Drechsler
 East Germany
← 1984
1992 →
Official Video Highlights

The Women's 200 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 60 competitors, with eight qualifying heats (60), four second-round races (32) and two semi-finals (16), before the final (8) took off on Thursday September 29, 1988.[1]

The winning margin was 0.38 seconds which as of 2023 remains the only time the women's Olympic 200 metres has been won by more than 0.3 seconds since the introduction of fully automatic timing.

At the 1988 Olympic Trials, her 21.77 American record already showed Florence Griffith-Joyner was going to be a contender against the East Germans who had dominated the sprints for the previous decade. Marita Koch had retired but her equal Heike Drechsler was here. In the quarter-final round, Griffith-Joyner improved to 21.76, but then she had set the world record in the 100 metres. The semi-finals the following day showed she had more, her 21.56 was a .15 improvement on the world record. More than a quarter century later, the time still stands as the second fastest 200 metres ever run by a woman. The final was more impressive, Griffith-Joyner gradually making up the stagger on Grace Jackson to her outside and Merlene Ottey running about equal through the turn. From there she simply pulled away from the best in the world. The tall Jackson was able to separate from her Jamaican teammate but was still three long steps behind Griffith-Joyner. Inhibited by the tight turn of lane 1, Drechsler made a late rush on the inside to catch Ottey for bronze.

21.34 knocked another .22 off her world record from earlier in the day (.37 taken from the world record on one day). The time has never been approached since. Jackson, in second place in this race missed the previous world record by .01 and did not look in contention. Five women have since surpassed Koch and Drechsler's world record, including fourth place Ottey twice.

Medalists

[edit]
Gold Florence Griffith-Joyner
 United States
Silver Grace Jackson
 Jamaica
Bronze Heike Drechsler
 East Germany

Records

[edit]

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.

World Record 21.71 East Germany Marita Koch Karl-Marx-Stadt (GDR) June 10, 1979
Olympic Record 21.81 United States Valerie Brisco-Hooks Los Angeles (USA) August 9, 1984

The following World and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Date Event Athlete Time OR WR
September 28, 1988 Quarterfinal  Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) 21.76 s OR
September 29, 1988 Semifinal  Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) 21.56 s OR WR
September 29, 1988 Final  Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) 21.34 s OR WR

Results

[edit]

Heats

[edit]

First 3 from each heat (Q) and the next 8 fastest (q) qualified for the quarterfinals.

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes
1 5 Florence Griffith-Joyner  United States 22.51 Q
2 6 Grace Jackson  Jamaica 22.66 Q
3 2 Nadezhda Georgieva  Bulgaria 22.80 Q
4 2 Mary Onyali  Nigeria 22.82 Q
5 3 Galina Malchugina  Soviet Union 22.85 Q
6 7 Gwen Torrence  United States 22.87 Q
7 2 Andrea Thomas  West Germany 22.92 Q
8 1 Heike Drechsler  East Germany 22.93 Q
9 6 Maya Azarachvili  Soviet Union 22.98 Q
10 4 Merlene Ottey  Jamaica 23.06 Q
11 3 Silke Möller  East Germany 23.07 Q
12 7 Pauline Davis  Bahamas 23.08 Q
13 1 Agnieszka Siwek  Poland 23.10 Q
14 1 Falilat Ogunkoya  Nigeria 23.12 Q
15 5 Katrin Krabbe  East Germany 23.14 Q
16 5 Muriel Leroy  France 23.19 Q
17 7 Kerry Johnson  Australia 23.20 Q
18 5 Regula Aebi  Switzerland 23.22 q
19 8 Paula Dunn  Great Britain 23.32 Q
20 3 Jolanta Janota  Poland 23.40 Q
21 7 Simmone Jacobs  Great Britain 23.47 q
22 4 Marie-José Pérec  France 23.49 Q
23 7 Marie-Christine Cazier-Ballo  France 23.50 q
24 4 Silke Knoll  West Germany 23.51 Q
25 3 Jocelyn Joseph  Antigua and Barbuda 23.57 q
26 3 Marisa Masullo  Italy 23.58 q
27 2 Rita Angotzi  Italy 23.59 q
28 4 Louise Stuart  Great Britain 23.61 q
29 8 Maria Magnólia Figueiredo  Brazil 23.71 Q
30 1 Angela Williams  Trinidad and Tobago 23.76 q
31 6 Norfalia Carabalí  Colombia 23.78 Q
32 6 Yolande Straughn  Barbados 23.81
33 8 Karin Janke  West Germany 23.83 Q
34 1 Ximena Restrepo  Colombia 24.00
35 8 Xie Zhiling  China 24.01
36 2 Marina Skordi  Greece 24.06
37 5 Zhang Xiaoqiong  China 24.08
38 4 Joyce Odhiambo  Kenya 24.26
39 4 Oliver Acii  Uganda 24.39
40 6 Gaily Dube  Zimbabwe 24.42
41 7 Claudia Acerenza  Uruguay 24.46
42 2 Ruth Morris  Virgin Islands 24.51
43 2 Agnes Griffith  Grenada 24.79
44 6 Yvonne Hasler  Liechtenstein 24.91
45 3 U Yang-ja  South Korea 24.94
46 5 Ivette Bonapart  Suriname 24.95
47 7 Chen Ya-Li  Chinese Taipei 25.03
48 4 Judith Diankolela-Missengui  Republic of the Congo 25.20
49 2 Ng Ka Yi  Hong Kong 25.35
50 1 Felicite Bada  Benin 25.42
51 3 Melvina Wulah  Liberia 25.46
52 5 Guilhermina da Cruz  Angola 25.62
53 4 Evelyn Farrell  Aruba 25.74
54 6 Aminata Diarra  Mali 25.81
55 1 Mariama Ouiminga  Burkina Faso 26.08
56 3 Erin Tierney  Cook Islands 26.16
57 8 Olivette Daruhi  Vanuatu 26.88
58 8 Rosa Mbuamangongo  Equatorial Guinea 31.12
8 Pamela Marshall  United States DNF
6 Maree Holland  Australia DNS

Quarterfinals

[edit]

First 4 from each heat qualified directly (Q) for the semifinals.

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes
1 1 Florence Griffith-Joyner  United States 21.76 Q
2 3 Grace Jackson  Jamaica 22.24 Q
3 2 Gwen Torrence  United States 22.25 Q
4 2 Merlene Ottey  Jamaica 22.30 Q
5 1 Maya Azarachvili  Soviet Union 22.37 Q
6 1 Heike Drechsler  East Germany 22.38 Q
7 2 Nadezhda Georgieva  Bulgaria 22.60 Q
8 2 Katrin Krabbe  East Germany 22.67 Q
9 4 Galina Malchugina  Soviet Union 22.77 Q
10 3 Andrea Thomas  West Germany 22.84 Q
11 3 Silke Möller  East Germany 22.86 Q
12 1 Regula Aebi  Switzerland 22.88 Q
12 2 Falilat Ogunkoya  Nigeria 22.88
14 4 Mary Onyali  Nigeria 22.89 Q
15 4 Pauline Davis  Bahamas 22.92 Q
16 4 Agnieszka Siwek  Poland 22.96 Q
17 1 Kerry Johnson  Australia 23.01
18 3 Paula Dunn  Great Britain 23.04 Q
19 1 Silke Knoll  West Germany 23.15
20 3 Muriel Leroy  France 23.22
21 2 Rita Angotzi  Italy 23.33
22 2 Jolanta Janota  Poland 23.34
23 4 Simmone Jacobs  Great Britain 23.38
24 1 Angela Williams  Trinidad and Tobago 23.48
25 3 Marisa Masullo  Italy 23.52
26 2 Louise Stuart  Great Britain 23.59
26 3 Jocelyn Joseph  Antigua and Barbuda 23.59
28 1 Marie-Christine Cazier-Ballo  France 23.63
29 4 Maria Magnólia Figueiredo  Brazil 23.67
30 4 Karin Janke  West Germany 23.87
31 3 Norfalia Carabalí  Colombia 23.96
32 4 Marie-José Pérec  France 24.22

Semi finals

[edit]
RANK HEAT 1 TIME
1.  Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) 21.56(WR)
2.  Merlene Ottey (JAM) 22.07
3.  Silke Möller (GDR) 22.15
4.  Maya Azarachvili (URS) 22.33
5.  Mary Onyali (NGR) 22.43
6.  Katrin Krabbe (GDR) 22.59
7.  Pauline Davis (BAH) 22.67
8.  Andrea Thomas (FRG) 22.91


RANK HEAT 2 TIME
1.  Grace Jackson (JAM) 22.13
2.  Heike Drechsler (GDR) 22.27
3.  Gwen Torrence (USA) 22.53
4.  Galina Malchugina (URS) 22.55
5.  Nadezhda Georgieva (BUL) 22.67
6.  Paula Dunn (GBR) 23.14
7.  Agnieszka Siwek (POL) 23.20
8.  Regula Aebi (SUI) 23.33

Final

[edit]
RANK FINAL TIME
 Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) 21.34 (WR)
 Grace Jackson (JAM) 21.72
 Heike Drechsler (GDR) 21.95
4.  Merlene Ottey (JAM) 21.99
5.  Silke Möller (GDR) 22.09
6.  Gwen Torrence (USA) 22.17
7.  Maya Azarachvili (URS) 22.33
8.  Galina Malchugina (URS) 22.42

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1988 Seoul Games: Women's 200 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
[edit]