1988 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 800 m (women)

sport	athletics
discipline	800 meter run
gender	Women
Attendees	29 athletes from 19 countries
Competition location	Seoul Olympic Stadium
Competition phase	September 24, 1988 (preliminary round) September 25, 1988 (semi-finals) September 26, 1988 (final)
Medalists Sigrun Wodars ( GDR )   Christine Wachtel ( GDR )   Kim Gallagher ( USA )

The women's 800-meter run at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul was held from September 24 to 26, 1988 in three rounds at the Seoul Olympic Stadium. 29 athletes took part.

Olympic champion was Sigrun Wodars from the GDR. She won ahead of her compatriot Christine Wachtel and the American Kim Gallagher .

Gabriela Lesch took part for the Federal Republic of Germany , who was eliminated in the semifinals.
Runners from Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein did not take part.

Current titleholders

Olympic champion 1984	Doina Melinte ( Romania )	1: 57.60 min	Los Angeles 1984
World Champion 1987	Sigrun Wodars ( GDR )	1: 55.26 min	Rome 1987
European champion 1986	Nadija Olisarenko ( Soviet Union )	1: 57.15 min	Stuttgart 1986
Pan American Champion 1987	Ana Fidelia Quirot ( Cuba )	1: 59.06 min	Indianapolis 1987
Central America and Caribbean Champion 1987	Angelita Lind ( Puerto Rico )	2: 04.87 min	Caracas 1987
South American Champion 1987	Soraya Telles ( Brazil )	2: 07.71 min	São Paulo 1987
Asian champion 1987	Choi Se-bum ( South Korea )	2: 05.11 min	Singapore 1987
African champion in 1988	Hassiba Boulmerka ( Algeria )	2: 06.16 min	Annaba 1988

Existing records

World record	1: 53.28 min	Jarmila Kratochvilová ( Czechoslovakia )	Munich , Federal Republic of Germany (now Germany )	July 26, 1983
Olympic record	1: 53.43 min	Nadija Olisarenko ( Soviet Union )	Final of Moscow , Soviet Union (today Russia )	July 27, 1980

Preliminary round

Date: September 24, 1988

The athletes started a total of four heats on September 24th. The first three athletes of each run qualified for the semi-finals. In addition, the four fastest times, the so-called lucky losers , made it through. The directly qualified athletes are highlighted in light blue, the lucky losers in light green.

Forward 1

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Inna Yevseeva	Soviet Union	2: 01.59 min
2	Slobodanka Čolović	Yugoslavia	2: 1.80 min
3	Shireen Bailey	Great Britain	2: 02.36 min
4th	Sharon Powell	Jamaica	2: 03.49 min
5	Montserrat Pujol	Spain	2: 03.73 min
6th	Choi Se-bum	South Korea	2: 06.65 min
7th	Assumpta Achuo-Bei	Cameroon	2: 07.10 min
8th	Kungu Bakombo	Zaire	2: 11.00 min

Forward 2

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Christine Wachtel	GDR	2: 00.62 min
2	Joetta Clark	United States	2: 00.83 min
3	Gabriela Lesch	BR Germany	2: 00.95 min
4th	Maite Zúñiga	Spain	2: 00.98 min
5	Mary Burzminski	Canada	2: 02.85 min
6th	Shiny Abraham	India	2: 03.26 min
7th	Maria Mutola	Mozambique	2: 04.36 min
8th	Sheila Seebaluck	Mauritius	2: 08.93 min

Forward 3

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Sigrun Wodars	GDR	2: 02.24 min
2	Delisa Floyd	United States	2: 02.37 min
3	Soraya Telles	Brazil	2: 02.48 min
4th	Dalia Matusevičienė	Soviet Union	2: 02.57 min
5	Kirsty Wade	Great Britain	2: 02.75 min
6th	Maureen Stewart	Costa Rica	2: 08.17 min
7th	Laverne Bryan	Antigua and Barbuda	2: 12.18 min
DNS	Sun Sumei	People's Republic of China

Forward 4

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Kim Gallagher	United States	2: 01.70 min
2	Diane Edwards	Great Britain	2: 01.79 min
3	Nadia Olisarenko	Soviet Union	2: 01.81 min
4th	Letitia Vriesde	Suriname	2: 01.83 min
5	Hassiba Boulmerka	Algeria	2: 03.33 min
6th	Renée Bélanger	Canada	2: 04.74 min
DNS	Pink Colorado	Spain

Semifinals

Date: September 25, 1988

The first four athletes in each of the two races (highlighted in light blue) qualified for the final.

Run 1

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Sigrun Wodars	GDR	1: 57.21 min
2	Kim Gallagher	United States	1: 57.39 min
3	Slobodanka Čolović	Yugoslavia	1: 57.49 min
4th	Maite Zúñiga	Spain	1: 58.85 min
5	Kirsty Wade	Great Britain	2: 00.86 min
6th	Soraya Telles	Brazil	2: 01.86 min
7th	Joetta Clark	United States	2: 03.32 min
8th	Nadia Olisarenko	Soviet Union	2: 05.27 min

Run 2

The top two at the GDR championships in 1988: Christine Wachtel (left) and Sigrun Wodars (right) were also in front in Seoul - Wodars won ahead of Wachtel

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Christine Wachtel	GDR	1: 58.44 min
2	Delisa Floyd	United States	1: 58.82 min
3	Inna Yevseeva	Soviet Union	1: 59.10 min
4th	Diane Edwards	Great Britain	1: 59.66 min
5	Gabriela Lesch	BR Germany	1:59, 85 min
6th	Shireen Bailey	Great Britain	1: 59.94 min
7th	Dalia Matusevičienė	Soviet Union	2:00:15 min
8th	Letitia Vriesde	Suriname	2: 02.34 min

final

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Sigrun Wodars	GDR	1: 56.10 min
2	Christine Wachtel	GDR	1: 56.64 min
3	Kim Gallagher	United States	1: 56.91 min
4th	Slobodanka Čolović	Yugoslavia	1: 57.50 min
5	Delisa Floyd	United States	1: 57.80 min
6th	Inna Yevseeva	Soviet Union	1: 59.37 min
7th	Maite Zúñiga	Spain	1: 59.82 min
8th	Diane Edwards	Great Britain	2: 00.77 min

Date: September 26, 1988

Two runners from the GDR and two from the USA each qualified for the final. The starting field was completed with one athlete each from Yugoslavia, Spain, the Soviet Union and Great Britain.

One of the main favorites, Cuban Ana Fidelia Quirot , could not compete due to the Cuban boycott. The world champion Sigrun Wodars and vice world champion Christine Wachtel, both from the GDR, started with the greatest chances of victory and medals .

The two GDR athletes determined the final race from the start. Wachtel was in the lead until shortly before the end of the first lap, then Wodars took the lead. The 400 meter mark was passed in a very fast 56.43 seconds. Third was Inna Evsejewa, USSR, fourth was Yugoslav Slobodanka Čolović, ahead of US American Kim Gallagher. Behind it there was a gap that increased between 400 and 500 meters in the curve. In the target curve, Wachtel pushed past Wodars and Gallagher passed the two opponents in front of her. The two GDR runners and Gallagher were still lying close together and fighting for the medal distribution. The gaps to the rear were getting bigger. On the home stretch, Sigrun countered Wodars Wachtels attack and won the gold medal. Christine Wachtel remained the silver medal that she was able to claim against the strongly emerging American Kim Gallagher. Slobodanka Čolović defended her fourth place, while Inna Yevsejewa fell behind the American Delisa Floyd to sixth.

Sigrun Wodars won the GDR's first Olympic victory over 800 meters for women.

Web links

• SportsReference 800m , accessed January 30, 2018
• Official report on the Olympic Games in Seoul Volume two, part two , athletics results: p. 256f, English / French (PDF, 25.64 MB), accessed on January 30, 2018

Video

• 1988 Seoul Olympic Games Women's 800 , published July 9, 2015 on youtube.com, accessed January 30, 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Beijing 2015, page 795 , accessed on January 30, 2018
2. ↑ Official report on the Olympic Games in Seoul, volume two, part two , athletics results: p. 256f, English / French (PDF, 25.64 MB), accessed on January 30, 2018
3. ↑ ^{a b} Official report on the Olympic Games in Seoul Volume two, part two , Athletics results: p. 257, English / French (PDF, 25.64 MB), accessed on January 30, 2018