1988 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 4 × 400 m (women)

sport	athletics
discipline	4 x 400 meter relay
gender	Women
Attendees	61 athletes from 13 countries
Competition location	Seoul Olympic Stadium
Competition phase	September 30, 1988 (preliminary round) October 1, 1988 (final)
Medalists  URS  United States  GDR

The women's 4 x 400 meter relay at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul was held on September 30 and October 1, 1988 in the Seoul Olympic Stadium. 61 athletes took part in thirteen relays.

Olympic champion was the relay of the Soviet Union with Tazzjana Ljadouskaja , Olga Nazarowa , Marija Pinigina , Olha Bryshina / in the heats also: Ljudmyla Dschyhalowa , who achieved a new world record time in the final . The silver medal went to the USA with Denean Howard , Diane Dixon , Valerie Brisco , Florence Griffith-Joyner / in the preliminary stages also: Lillie Leatherwood and Sherri Howard , bronze to the GDR ( Dagmar Neubauer , Kirsten Emmelmann , Sabine Busch , Petra Müller / also in the preliminary stages: Sabine Busch).
The runners used in the heats for the medal relay also received the corresponding precious metal. The world record, on the other hand, was only awarded to the athletes used in the final.

The season of the Federal Republic of Germany reached the final and took fourth place.
Relays from Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein did not take part.

Current titleholders

Olympic champions 1984	United States	3: 18.29 min	Los Angeles 1984
World champions 1984	GDR	3: 18.63 min	Rome 1987
European champions 1986		3: 16.87 min	Stuttgart 1986
Pan American champions 1987	United States	3: 23.35 min	Indianapolis 1987
Central America and Caribbean champions 1987	Cuba	3: 37.23 min	Caracas 1987
South American champions 1987	Brazil	3: 38.13 min	São Paulo 1987
Asian champions 1987	India	3: 34.50 min	Singapore 1987
African champions 1988	Uganda	3: 37.74 min	Annaba 1988

Existing records

World record	3: 15.92 min	GDR ( Gesine Walther , Sabine Busch , Dagmar Rübsam , Marita Koch )	Erfurt , GDR (now Germany )	3rd June 1984
Olympic record	3: 18.29 min	USA ( Lillie Leatherwood , Sherri Howard , Valerie Brisco-Hooks , Chandra Cheeseborough )	Los Angeles final , USA	August 11, 1984

Preliminary round

Date: September 30, 1988

The thirteen seasons were drawn in two runs. The first three seasons of each run qualified for the final. In addition, the two fastest times, the so-called lucky losers , made it through. The directly qualified relays are highlighted in light blue, the lucky losers in light green.

Forward 1

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	GDR	Grit Breuer Dagmar Neubauer Kirsten Emmelmann Petra Müller	3: 27.37 min
2	Canada	Charmaine Crooks Esmie Lawrence Marita Payne-Wiggins Jillian Richardson	3: 27.63 min
3	BR Germany	Helga Arendt Michaela Schabinger Gisela Kinzel Gudrun Abt	3: 27.75 min
4th	Great Britain	Linda Keough Jennifer Stoute Janet Smith Sally Gunnell	3: 28.52 min
5	France	Fabienne Ficher Nathalie Simon Évelyne Élien Nadine Debois	3: 29.95 min
6th	Nigeria	Falilat Ogunkoya Kehinde Vaughan Airat Bakare Mary Onyali	3: 30.21 min
7th	India	Alapurackal Kuttan-Mathews Vandana Rao Vandana Shanbagh Shiny Abraham	3: 30.21 min
DNS	Australia	Debbie Flintoff-King Maree Holland Kerry Johnson Jennifer Laurendet

Forward 2

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	United States	Lillie Leatherwood Sherri Howard Denean Howard Diane Dixon	3: 25.86 min
2	Jamaica	Marcia Tate Andrea Thomas Cathy Rattray-Williams Sharon Powell	3: 26.83 min
3	Soviet Union	Lyudmyla Dschyhalowa Olga Nazarova Marija Pinigina Olha Bryshina	3: 27.14 min
4th	Brazil	Tânia Miranda Suzete Montalvão Soraya Telles Maria Magnólia Figueiredo	3: 36.81 min
5	South Korea	Yang Kyoung-hee Choi Se-beom Lim Chun-ae Kim Soon-ja	3: 51.09 min
DSQ	Colombia	Olga Escalante Noralia Carabalí Amparo Caicedo Ximena Restrepo
DNS	Uganda	Jane Ajilo Grace Buzu Farida Kyakutema Ruth Kyalisiima
	Spain	Blanca Lacambra Esther Lahoz Cristina Perez Teresa Zuniga

final

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	Soviet Union	Tazzjana Lyadouskaja Olga Nazarowa Marija Pinigina Olha Bryshina in the preliminary also: Lyudmyla Jyhalowa	3: 15.17 min	WR
2	United States	Denean Howard Diane Dixon Valerie Brisco Florence Griffith-Joyner in the preliminary also: Lillie Leatherwood Sherri Howard	3: 15.51 min
3	GDR	Dagmar Neubauer Kirsten Emmelmann Sabine Busch Petra Müller in the preliminary stages also: Grit Breuer	3: 18.29 min
4th	BR Germany	Ute Thimm Helga Arendt Andrea Thomas Gudrun Abt in the preliminary stages also: Michaela Schabinger Gisela Kinzel	3: 22.49 min
5	Jamaica	Sandie Richards Andrea Thomas Cathy Rattray-Williams Sharon Powell in the preliminary also: Sandie Richards	3: 26.83 min
6th	Great Britain	Linda Keough Jennifer Stoute Angela Piggford Sally Gunnell in the heats also: Janet Smith	3: 26.89 min
7th	France	Fabienne Ficher Nathalie Simon Nadine Debois Évelyne Élien	3: 29.37 min
DNF	Canada	Charmaine Crooks Molly Killingbeck Marita Payne-Wiggins Jillian Richardson in the preliminary also: Esmie Lawrence

Date: October 1, 1988

A three-way battle between the USA, the GDR and the Soviet Union was expected. With Olha Bryshina, the Soviet Union had the Olympic champion of the individual competition in its ranks. The USA were the Olympic champions of the last games , the GDR world and European champions and world record holders .

The following changes were made to the cast:

• USSR: Tazzjana Ljadouskaja ran for Lyudmyla Dschyhalowa,
• USA: Lillie Leatherwood has been replaced by Valerie Brisco and Sherri Howard has been replaced by Florence Griffith-Joyner.
• GDR: Sabine Busch ran instead of Grit Breuer.
• BR Germany: Ute Thimm ran for Michaela Schabinger and Andrea Thomas instead of Gisela Kinzel.
• Jamaica: Marcia Tate has been replaced by Sandie Richards.
• UK: Angela Piggford ran for Janet Smith.
• Canada: Molly Killingbeck came on for Esmie Lawrence.

The American Denean Howard handed over the baton as leader to Diane Dixon after the first round. But Olga Nazarova ran a quick second part and gave the Soviet relay an eight-meter lead over the USA. The GDR had fallen behind and was fighting for the bronze medal. Valerie Brisco shortened the gap between the Americans and the USSR to half a meter. Florence Griffith-Joyner followed the heels of the Soviet athlete Olha Bryshina as the final runner, but Bryshina crossed the finish line with a lead of three meters. The Soviet season set a new world record and the US season also stayed below the previous mark. The GDR team won the bronze medal just under three seconds behind the United States, a good four seconds ahead of the Federal Republic of Germany. The squadrons from Jamaica and Great Britain were more than four seconds behind the German team in fifth and sixth place.

Web links

• SportsReference 4 × 400 m , accessed February 1, 2018
• Official report on the Olympic Games in Seoul Volume two, part two , athletics results: p. 263f, English / French (PDF, 25.64 MB), accessed on February 1, 2018

Video

• 1988 Olympics - Women's 4x400 Meter Relay , published June 19, 2012 on youtube.com, accessed February 1, 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Beijing 2015 Page 804 ¸ accessed on February 1, 2018
2. ↑ Official report on the Olympic Games in Seoul Volume two, part two , athletics results: p. 263f, English / French (PDF, 25.64 MB), accessed on February 1, 2018
3. ↑ Official report on the Olympic Games in Seoul Volume two, part two , Athletics results: p. 264, English / French (PDF, 25.64 MB), accessed on February 1, 2018