World Athletics Championships 1987/800 m women

2. World Athletics Championships
discipline	800 meter run
gender	Women
Attendees	28 athletes from 22 countries
venue	Rome
Competition location	Olympic Stadium
Competition phase	August 29th (preliminary) August 30th (semi-finals) August 31st (final)
Medalists Sigrun Wodars ( GDR )   Christine Wachtel ( GDR )   Lyubov Gurina ( URS )

The Olympic Stadium in Rome

The 800-meter run for women at the World Athletics Championships in 1987 was held from August 29 to 31, 1987 in the Olympic Stadium in the Italian capital, Rome .

The middle distance athletes of the GDR achieved a double victory in this competition. World champion became the vice European champion from 1986 Sigrun Wodars . She won ahead of Christine Wachtel . Bronze went to Lyubov Gurina from the Soviet Union , who had already finished third at the 1983 World Championships and the 1986 European Championships.

Existing records

World record	1: 53.28 min	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Munich , FR Germany	July 26, 1983
World championship record	1: 54.68 min		1983 World Cup in Helsinki , Finland	August 9, 1983

• The existing world championship record was not set and not improved at these world championships.
• Two records were set in the final on August 31:
  • 1: 55.26 min - National record for the GDR : Sigrun Wodars (first place)
  • 1: 55.84 min - American record: Ana Fidelia Quirot , Cuba (fourth place)

Preliminary round

August 30, 1987

The preliminary round was held in four runs. The first three athletes per run - highlighted in light blue - as well as the four fastest runners - highlighted in light green - qualified for the quarter-finals.

Forward 1

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)
1	Slobodanka Čolović	Yugoslavia	2: 02.54
2	Delisa Walton-Floyd	United States	2: 02.76
3	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Czechoslovakia	2: 03.06
4th	Pink Colorado	Spain	2: 03.40
5	Soraya Telles	Brazil	2: 03.55
6th	Ausa Mwendachabe	Zambia	2: 07.06
7th	Jacqueline Rasoazanamanalina	Madagascar	2: 11.27
DNS	Maria Lomba	Sao Tome and Principe

Forward 2

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)
1	Ana Fidelia Quirot	Cuba	2: 01.99
2	Mitica Junghiatu	Romania	2: 02.23
3	Nathalie Thoumas	France	2: 02.54
4th	Essie Washington	United States	2: 02.61
5	Selina Chirchir	Kenya	2: 02.90
6th	Jennifer Fisher	Bermuda	2: 09.04
7th	Mireille Sankatsing	Suriname	2: 12.02
DNS	Sarmila Ray	Bangladesh

Forward 3

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)
1	Christine Wachtel	GDR	2: 01.50
2	Lyubov Gurina	Soviet Union	2: 01.74
3	Diane Modahl	Great Britain	2: 02.57
4th	Catalina Gheorghiu	Romania	2: 03.04
5	Angelita Lind	Puerto Rico	2: 04.59
6th	Puseletso Monkoe	Lesotho	2: 22.29
7th	Letticia Thomas	Dominica	2: 26.02
DNS	Andri Avraam	Cyprus

Forward 4

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)
1	Sigrun Wodars	GDR	1: 59.97
2	Gabriela Sedlaková	Czechoslovakia	2: 00.23
3	Nadia Olisarenko	Soviet Union	2: 00.28
4th	Mary Burzminski	Canada	2: 01.62
5	Joetta Clark	United States	2: 01.81
6th	Maria Akraka	Sweden	2: 02.24
7th	Zeina Boulos Neaime	Lebanon	2: 15.75
DNS	Kungu Bankombo	Zaire

Semifinals

August 30, 1987

In each of the two semi-finals, the first three athletes - highlighted in light blue - as well as the two fastest runners - highlighted in light green - qualified for the final.

Semi-final run 1

Diane Modahl - sixth in the first semifinals and eliminated

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)
1	Ana Fidelia Quirot	Cuba	1: 57.96
2	Sigrun Wodars	GDR	1: 58.06
3	Lyubov Gurina	Soviet Union	1: 58.16
4th	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Czechoslovakia	1: 58.65
5	Slobodanka Čolović	Yugoslavia	1: 58.85
6th	Diane Modahl	Great Britain	1: 59.34
7th	Essie Washington	United States	2: 02.65
8th	Mary Burzminski	Canada	2: 03.72

Semi-final run 2

As the seventh of her semi-final race, Maria Akraka (here in 2013) did not reach the final

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)
1	Christine Wachtel	GDR	2: 01.47
2	Nadia Olisarenko	Soviet Union	2: 01.63
3	Mitica Junghiatu	Romania	2: 01.65
4th	Gabriela Sedlaková	Czechoslovakia	2: 02.27
5	Delisa Walton-Floyd	United States	2: 02.45
6th	Nathalie Thoumas	France	2: 03.90
7th	Maria Akraka	Sweden	2: 05.20
8th	Joetta Clark	United States	2: 06.10

final

World champion Sigrun Wodars (right) and silver medalist Christine Wachtel in a race in 1988 with the opposite outcome

August 31, 1987

space	Surname	nation	Time (min)
1	Sigrun Wodars	GDR	1: 55.26 NO
2	Christine Wachtel	GDR	1: 55.32
3	Lyubov Gurina	Soviet Union	1: 55.56
4th	Ana Fidelia Quirot	Cuba	1: 55.84 AM
5	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Czechoslovakia	1: 57.81
6th	Mitica Junghiatu	Romania	1: 59.66
7th	Nadia Olisarenko	Soviet Union	2: 00.28
8th	Slobodanka Čolović	Yugoslavia	2: 02.09

• 

  The defending champion Jarmila Kratochvílová (here in 2012) , over 400 meters also world champion from 1983 , Olympic runner-up in 1980 and vice European champion from 1982 , finished fifth again at the end of her great career

• 

  Eighth place for Slobodanka Čolović

Video

• 1987 World - Rome 800m Women Final on youtube.com, accessed April 1, 2020

Web links

• IAAF World Championships in Athletics, 2nd IAAF World Championships in Athletics , accessed April 1, 2020
• Women 800m Athletics II World Championship Rome (ITA) 1987 at todor66.com, accessed April 1, 2020
• Results in the IAAF Statistics Handbook for the 2019 World Cup in Doha, Women 800 m, Rome 1987 (PDF 10.3 MB, p. 268), English, accessed on April 1, 2020

References and comments

1. ↑ IAAF world records. 800 m women on rekorde-im-sport.de, accessed on April 1, 2020