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

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Women's 200 metres
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Venue Olympic Stadium
Date28 September 1988 (heats, quarter-finals)
29 September 1988 (semi-final, final)
Competitors59 from 43 nations
Winning time21.34 WR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Florence Griffith-Joyner
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Grace Jackson
Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica
Bronze medal icon.svg Heike Drechsler
Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany
  1984
1992  
Official Video Highlights TV-icon-2.svg
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]

Contents

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 4th place Ottey twice.

Medalists

Gold Florence Griffith-Joyner
Flag of the United States.svg United States
Silver Grace Jackson
Flag of Jamaica.svg Jamaica
Bronze Heike Drechsler
Flag of East Germany.svg East Germany

Records

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

World Record21.71 Flag of East Germany.svg Marita Koch Karl-Marx-Stadt (GDR)June 10, 1979
Olympic Record21.81 Flag of the United States.svg Valerie Brisco-Hooks Los Angeles (USA)August 9, 1984

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

DateEventAthleteTimeORWR
September 28, 1988QuarterfinalFlag of the United States.svg  Florence Griffith-Joyner  (USA)21.76 sOR
September 29, 1988SemifinalFlag of the United States.svg  Florence Griffith-Joyner  (USA)21.56 sORWR
September 29, 1988FinalFlag of the United States.svg  Florence Griffith-Joyner  (USA)21.34 sORWR

Results

Heats

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

RankHeatNameNationalityTimeNotes
15 Florence Griffith-Joyner Flag of the United States.svg  United States 22.51Q
26 Grace Jackson Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 22.66Q
32 Nadezhda Georgieva Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg  Bulgaria 22.80Q
42 Mary Onyali Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria 22.82Q
53 Galina Malchugina Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 22.85Q
67 Gwen Torrence Flag of the United States.svg  United States 22.87Q
72 Andrea Thomas Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 22.92Q
81 Heike Drechsler Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 22.93Q
96 Maya Azarachvili Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 22.98Q
104 Merlene Ottey Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 23.06Q
113 Silke Möller Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 23.07Q
127 Pauline Davis Flag of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas 23.08Q
131 Agnieszka Siwek Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 23.10Q
141 Falilat Ogunkoya Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria 23.12Q
155 Katrin Krabbe Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 23.14Q
165 Muriel Leroy Flag of France.svg  France 23.19Q
177 Kerry Johnson Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 23.20Q
185 Regula Aebi Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 23.22q
198 Paula Dunn Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 23.32Q
203 Jolanta Janota Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 23.40Q
217 Simmone Jacobs Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 23.47q
224 Marie-José Pérec Flag of France.svg  France 23.49Q
237 Marie-Christine Cazier-Ballo Flag of France.svg  France 23.50q
244 Silke Knoll Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 23.51Q
253 Jocelyn Joseph Flag of Antigua and Barbuda.svg  Antigua and Barbuda 23.57q
263 Marisa Masullo Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 23.58q
272 Rita Angotzi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 23.59q
284 Louise Stuart Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 23.61q
298 Maria Magnólia Figueiredo Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 23.71Q
301 Angela Williams Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago 23.76q
316 Norfalia Carabalí Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 23.78Q
326 Yolande Straughn Flag of Barbados.svg  Barbados 23.81
338 Karin Janke Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 23.83Q
341 Ximena Restrepo Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 24.00
358 Xie Zhiling Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 24.01
362 Marina Skordi Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 24.06
375 Zhang Xiaoqiong Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 24.08
384 Joyce Odhiambo Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 24.26
394 Oliver Acii Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 24.39
406 Gaily Dube Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 24.42
417 Claudia Acerenza Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 24.46
422 Ruth Morris Flag of the United States Virgin Islands.svg  Virgin Islands 24.51
432 Agnes Griffith Flag of Grenada.svg  Grenada 24.79
446 Yvonne Hasler Flag of Liechtenstein.svg  Liechtenstein 24.91
453 U Yang-ja Flag of South Korea (1984-1997).svg  South Korea 24.94
465 Ivette Bonapart Flag of Suriname.svg  Suriname 24.95
477 Chen Ya-Li Flag of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg  Chinese Taipei 25.03
484 Judith Diankolela-Missengui Flag of the People's Republic of Congo.svg  Republic of the Congo 25.20
492 Ng Ka Yi Flag of Hong Kong (1959-1997).svg  Hong Kong 25.35
501 Felicite Bada Flag of Benin (1975-1990).svg  Benin 25.42
513 Melvina Wulah Flag of Liberia.svg  Liberia 25.46
525 Guilhermina da Cruz Flag of Angola.svg  Angola 25.62
534 Evelyn Farrell Flag of Aruba.svg  Aruba 25.74
546 Aminata Diarra Flag of Mali.svg  Mali 25.81
551 Mariama Ouiminga Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso 26.08
563 Erin Tierney Flag of the Cook Islands.svg  Cook Islands 26.16
578 Olivette Daruhi Flag of Vanuatu.svg  Vanuatu 26.88
588 Rosa Mbuamangongo Flag of Equatorial Guinea.svg  Equatorial Guinea 31.12
8 Pamela Marshall Flag of the United States.svg  United States DNF
6 Maree Holland Flag of Australia.svg  Australia DNS

Quarterfinals

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

RankHeatNameNationalityTimeNotes
11 Florence Griffith-Joyner Flag of the United States.svg  United States 21.76Q
23 Grace Jackson Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 22.24Q
32 Gwen Torrence Flag of the United States.svg  United States 22.25Q
42 Merlene Ottey Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 22.30Q
51 Maya Azarachvili Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 22.37Q
61 Heike Drechsler Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 22.38Q
72 Nadezhda Georgieva Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg  Bulgaria 22.60Q
82 Katrin Krabbe Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 22.67Q
94 Galina Malchugina Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 22.77Q
103 Andrea Thomas Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 22.84Q
113 Silke Möller Flag of East Germany.svg  East Germany 22.86Q
121 Regula Aebi Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 22.88Q
122 Falilat Ogunkoya Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria 22.88
144 Mary Onyali Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria 22.89Q
154 Pauline Davis Flag of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas 22.92Q
164 Agnieszka Siwek Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 22.96Q
171 Kerry Johnson Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 23.01
183 Paula Dunn Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 23.04Q
191 Silke Knoll Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 23.15
203 Muriel Leroy Flag of France.svg  France 23.22
212 Rita Angotzi Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 23.33
222 Jolanta Janota Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 23.34
234 Simmone Jacobs Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 23.38
241 Angela Williams Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago 23.48
253 Marisa Masullo Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 23.52
262 Louise Stuart Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 23.59
263 Jocelyn Joseph Flag of Antigua and Barbuda.svg  Antigua and Barbuda 23.59
281 Marie-Christine Cazier-Ballo Flag of France.svg  France 23.63
294 Maria Magnólia Figueiredo Flag of Brazil (1968-1992).svg  Brazil 23.67
304 Karin Janke Flag of Germany.svg  West Germany 23.87
313 Norfalia Carabalí Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 23.96
324 Marie-José Pérec Flag of France.svg  France 24.22

Semi finals

RANKHEAT 1TIME
1.Flag of the United States.svg  Florence Griffith-Joyner  (USA)21.56(WR)
2.Flag of Jamaica.svg  Merlene Ottey  (JAM)22.07
3.Flag of East Germany.svg  Silke Möller  (GDR)22.15
4.Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Maya Azarachvili  (URS)22.33
5.Flag of Nigeria.svg  Mary Onyali  (NGR)22.43
6.Flag of East Germany.svg  Katrin Krabbe  (GDR)22.59
7.Flag of the Bahamas.svg  Pauline Davis  (BAH)22.67
8.Flag of Germany.svg  Andrea Thomas  (FRG)22.91


RANKHEAT 2TIME
1.Flag of Jamaica.svg  Grace Jackson  (JAM)22.13
2.Flag of East Germany.svg  Heike Drechsler  (GDR)22.27
3.Flag of the United States.svg  Gwen Torrence  (USA)22.53
4.Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Galina Malchugina  (URS)22.55
5.Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg  Nadezhda Georgieva  (BUL)22.67
6.Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Paula Dunn  (GBR)23.14
7.Flag of Poland.svg  Agnieszka Siwek  (POL)23.20
8.Flag of Switzerland.svg  Regula Aebi  (SUI)23.33

Final

RANKFINALTIME
Med 1.png Flag of the United States.svg  Florence Griffith-Joyner  (USA)21.34 (WR)
Med 2.png Flag of Jamaica.svg  Grace Jackson  (JAM)21.72
Med 3.png Flag of East Germany.svg  Heike Drechsler  (GDR)21.95
4.Flag of Jamaica.svg  Merlene Ottey  (JAM)21.99
5.Flag of East Germany.svg  Silke Möller  (GDR)22.09
6.Flag of the United States.svg  Gwen Torrence  (USA)22.17
7.Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Maya Azarachvili  (URS)22.33
8.Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Galina Malchugina  (URS)22.42

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References

  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.