Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metres

The Women's 800 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 29 competitors, with four qualifying heats (29) and two semi-finals (16), before the final (8) took off on Monday September 26, 1988.[1]

Women's 800 metres
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates24 September 1988 (heats)
25 September 1988 (semi-finals)
26 September 1988 (final)
Competitors29 from 19 nations
Winning time1:56.10
Medalists
Sigrun Wodars
 East Germany
Christine Wachtel
 East Germany
Kim Gallagher
 United States
Athletics at the
1988 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mmenwomen
1500 mmenwomen
3000 mwomen
5000 mmen
10,000 mmenwomen
100 m hurdleswomen
110 m hurdlesmen
400 m hurdlesmenwomen
3000 m
steeplechase		men
4×100 m relaymenwomen
4×400 m relaymenwomen
Road events
Marathonmenwomen
20 km walkmen
50 km walkmen
Field events
Long jumpmenwomen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmenwomen
Pole vaultmen
Shot putmenwomen
Discus throwmenwomen
Javelin throwmenwomen
Hammer throwmen
Combined events
Heptathlonwomen
Decathlonmen
Wheelchair races

Medalists
GoldSigrun Wodars
 East Germany
SilverChristine Wachtel
 East Germany
BronzeKim Gallagher
 United States

Records

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

World Record 1:53.28 Jarmila Kratochvílová Munich (FGR) July 26, 1983
Olympic Record 1:53.43 Nadiya Olizarenko Moscow (URS) July 27, 1980

Summary

The final started with returning silver medalist Kim Gallagher running the fastest first turn to take the lead at the break. But that was short lived as the two East German teammates ran past her down the backstretch, Christine Wachtel on the inside, leading Sigrun Wodars tight on her shoulder. Inna Yevseyeva moved to the outside to run past Gallagher, with Slobodanka Čolović in her wake while Gallagher had her teammate Delisa Walton-Floyd a step behind her. As Yevseyeva moved forward, the first lap was a fast 56.43. Through the penultimate turn, Wodars took the lead and pushed the pace. Behind her, a break began to form as Walton-Floyd, Maite Zúñiga and Diane Edwards couldn't keep up. Wachtel made up a little lost ground on the backstretch and pulled shoulder to shoulder with Wodars by the 600 mark in 1:25.5, then taking the lead into the final turn. It was a lead in formality only as Wodars, Yevseyeva and Čolović lining up in close order drill, getting ready to pounce coming off the turn. As the straightaway neared, Gallagher seized the gap on the inside, running through to Wachtel's heels. Yevseyeva struggled to keep up, as Gallagher moved to the outside of Wodars, leaving Čolović with nowhere to run and the first three all having clear running room to the finish line. Just like the World Championships the year before, Wachtel had a slight edge coming off the turn and a long history of winning, but in the big ones, Wodars had slightly more speed to edge ahead and take the gold even more decisively. The race lost, Wachtel struggled toward the end but Gallagher couldn't catch her for the silver.

Final
RANK FINAL TIME
 Sigrun Wodars (GDR) 1:56.10
 Christine Wachtel (GDR) 1:56.64
 Kim Gallagher (USA) 1:56.91
4.  Slobodanka Čolović (YUG) 1:57.50
5.  Delisa Walton-Floyd (USA) 1:57.80
6.  Inna Yevseyeva (URS) 1:59.37
7.  Maite Zúñiga (ESP) 1:59.82
8.  Diane Edwards (GBR) 2:00.77

Semi finals
RANK HEAT 1 TIME
1.  Sigrun Wodars (GDR) 1:57.21
2.  Kim Gallagher (USA) 1:57.39
3.  Slobodanka Čolović (YUG) 1:57.49
4.  Maite Zúñiga (ESP) 1:58.85
5.  Kirsty Wade (GBR) 2:00.86
6.  Soraya Telles (BRA) 2:01.86
7.  Joetta Clark (USA) 2:03.32
8.  Nadiya Olizarenko (URS) 2:05.27


RANK HEAT 2 TIME
1.  Christine Wachtel (GDR) 1:58.44
2.  Delisa Walton-Floyd (USA) 1:58.82
3.  Inna Yevseyeva (URS) 1:59.10
4.  Diane Edwards (GBR) 1:59.66
5.  Gabi Lesch (FRG) 1:59.85
6.  Shireen Bailey (GBR) 1:59.94
7.  Dalya Matoussiavichene (URS) 2:00.15
8.  Letitia Vriesde (SUR) 2:02.34

Qualifying heats
RANK HEAT 1 TIME
1.  Inna Yevseyeva (URS) 2:01.59
2.  Slobodanka Čolović (YUG) 2:01.80
3.  Shireen Bailey (GBR) 2:02.36
4.  Sharon Powell (JAM) 2:03.49
5.  Montserrat Pujol (ESP) 2:03.73
6.  Choi Se-Beom (KOR) 2:06.65
7.  Assumpta Achuo-Bei (CMR) 2:07.10
8.  Christine Bakombo (ZAI) 2:11.00


RANK HEAT 2 TIME
1.  Christine Wachtel (GDR) 2:00.62
2.  Joetta Clark (USA) 2:00.83
3.  Gabi Lesch (FRG) 2:00.95
4.  Mayte Zúñiga (ESP) 2:00.98
5.  Mary Burzminski (CAN) 2:02.85
6.  Shiny Abraham-Wilson (IND) 2:03.26
7.  Maria Mutola (MOZ) 2:04.36
8.  Sheila Seebaluck (MRI) 2:08.93


RANK HEAT 3 TIME
1.  Sigrun Wodars (GDR) 2:02.24
2.  Delisa Walton-Floyd (USA) 2:02.37
3.  Soraya Telles (BRA) 2:02.48
4.  Dalya Matusevičienė (URS) 2:02.57
5.  Kirsty Wade (GBR) 2:02.75
6.  Maureen Stewart (CRC) 2:08.17
7.  Laverne Bryan (ANT) 2:12.18
—  Sun Sumei (CHN) DNS


RANK HEAT 4 TIME
1.  Kim Gallagher (USA) 2:01.70
2.  Diane Edwards (GBR) 2:01.79
3.  Nadiya Olizarenko (URS) 2:01.81
4.  Letitia Vriesde (SUR) 2:01.83
5.  Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) 2:03.33
6.  Renée Belanger (CAN) 2:04.74
—  Rosa Colorada (ESP) DNS

See also

References
  1. "Athletics at the 1988 Seoul Games: Women's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
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