The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad and commonly known as Seoul 1988, was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represented at the games by a total of 8,391 athletes. 237 events were held and 27,221 volunteers helped to prepare the Olympics.
The 1988 Summer Paralympics were the first Paralympics in 24 years to take place in the same city as the Olympic Games. They took place in Seoul, South Korea. This was the first time the term "Paralympic" was used officially.
World Taekwondo, called the World Taekwondo Federation until June 2017, is an international federation governing the sport of taekwondo and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).
Solomon Islands sent a delegation to compete at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea from 17 September to 2 October 1988. This was the island nation's second time participating in a Summer Olympic Games, following their debut four years earlier. Solomon Islands competed at these games in track and field, archery, boxing, and weightlifting, with one competitor in each category. Only Benjamin Fafale, the weightlifter, completed an event final, finishing 22nd in the middleweight category.
The shooting competitions at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place in Seoul, South Korea. Competitions were held in a total of thirteen events—seven men's events, four women's events, and two events open to both genders. It was the first games for the 10 metre air pistol events, and the last for the 50 metre running target event, later replaced by 10 metre running target. It was also the first time the Olympic shooting competitions included finals for the top eight competitors.
The 1958 Asian Games, officially the Third Asian Games and commonly known as Tokyo 1958, was a multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 May to 1 June 1958. It was governed by the Asian Games Federation. A total of 1,820 athletes representing 20 Asian National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the Games. The program featured competitions in 13 different sports encompassing 97 events, including four non-Olympic sports, judo, table tennis, tennis and volleyball. Four of these competition sports – field hockey, table tennis, tennis and volleyball – were introduced for the first time in the Asian Games.
Taekwondo at the Summer Olympics made its first appearance as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The opening ceremony featured a mass demonstration of taekwondo with hundreds of adults and children performing moves in unison. Taekwondo was again a demonstration sport at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Taekwondo became a full medal sport at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and has been a sport in the Olympic games since then.
At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, four diving events were contested during a competition that took place at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool, from 17 to 20 September and from 26 to 29 September, comprising 89 divers from 30 nations.
Athletes from Burma competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. The nation sent a small delegation of two athletes and three officials.
The men's marathon at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea was held on Sunday October 2, 1988. The race started at 14:30h local time. A total of 98 athletes completed the race, with Polin Belisle from Belize finishing in last position in 3'14:02. There were 118 competitors from 60 countries. Twenty of them did not finish. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Gelindo Bordin of Italy, the nation's first victory in the Olympic men's marathon and first medal in the event since 1924. Kenya and Djibouti each won their first Olympic men's marathon medal.
The men's ISSF 50 meter pistol was one of the thirteen shooting events at the 1988 Summer Olympics. It was the second Olympic free pistol competition to feature final shooting, after an abortive attempt in 1960. There were 43 competitors from 31 nations. Nations had been limited to two shooters each since the 1952 Games. The event was won by Sorin Babii of Romania, the nation's first victory in the event and first medal in free pistol since 1972. Ragnar Skanåker of Sweden repeated as silver medalist, the second man to earn three medals in the free pistol; four years later, he would become the first to win four medals. Soviet Igor Basinski took bronze.
Women's 25 metre pistol was one of the thirteen shooting events at the 1988 Summer Olympics. It was the second installment of the event, the first to feature final shooting, and the last with the old rapid-fire target. Nino Salukvadze won the competition. Tomoko Hasegawa and Jasna Šekarić finished on the same score, four points behind Salukvadze, and Hasegawa won the silver medal due to higher score in the two-series final.
Trap was one of the thirteen shooting events at the 1988 Summer Olympics. It was held on 20 September 1988 at the Taereung International Shooting Range. There were 49 competitors from 28 nations, with each nation having up to four shooters. The event was decided by a shoot-off between Dmitry Monakov of the Soviet Union and Miloslav Bednařík of Czechoslovakia, with Monakov emerging as the winner with 8–7. Frans Peeters of Belgium took bronze after a three-way shoot-off. Monakov's victory was the first gold medal for the Soviet Union in the trap; Czechoslovakia and Belgium each received their first medal in the event as well. Italy's four-Games medal streak ended.
The men's 100 metre freestyle event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 22 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea. There were 77 competitors from 51 nations. Nations had been limited to two swimmers each since the 1984 Games.
The Australia national baseball team was the third nation, after the United States and Sweden, to participate in baseball at the Summer Olympics, making their first appearance at the 1956 Games in Melbourne, and again as part of its demonstration at the 1988 Games in Seoul.
Bowling at the 1988 Summer Olympics was a demonstration sport for the first, and so far only time. In all, a total 24 Ten-pin bowling bowlers, 12 male and 12 female, from 21 nations competed in the exhibition, which was held on September 18 at the Seoul's Royal Bowling Center.
The men's 200 metre backstroke event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on 22 September at the Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool in Seoul, South Korea. There were 44 competitors from 32 nations. Each nation had been limited to two swimmers in the event since 1984. The event was won by Igor Polyansky of the Soviet Union. Frank Baltrusch of East Germany took silver, while Paul Kingsman of New Zealand earned bronze. The medals were the first in the men's 200 metre backstroke for the Soviet Union and New Zealand; East Germany had not medaled in the event since Roland Matthes won gold in 1968 and 1972. For the first time, the United States competed and did not earn at least silver.
Bowling was featured in the Summer Olympic Games demonstration programme in 1988 in at the Seoul's Royal Bowling Center on 18 September 1988. A total of 20 nations competed in the men's and women's tournament. No bowling professionals competed in the demonstration events. It was also a demonstration sport at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Jacobus "Kobus" Vandenberg is a sailor from the Netherlands. Since the Netherlands did boycott the Moscow Olympic Games Vandenberg represented his National Olympic Committee at the 1980 Summer Olympics, which was boycotted by several countries, in Tallinn, USSR under the Dutch NOC flag. With Boudewijn Binkhorst as helmsman, Vandenberg took the 6th place in the Star. In the 1988 Olympics in Pusan Vandenberg made his second Olympic appearance. Again in the Dutch Star this time with Steven Bakker as helmsman. They took 9th place.
