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


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, four second-round races and two semi-finals, before the final took off on Thursday September 29, 1988.
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. 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

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.
World Record21.71 Marita KochKarl-Marx-Stadt June 10, 1979
Olympic Record21.81 Valerie Brisco-HooksLos Angeles August 9, 1984

The following World and Olympic records were set during this competition.
DateEventAthleteTimeORWR
September 28, 1988Quarterfinal21.76 sOR
September 29, 1988Semifinal21.56 sORWR
September 29, 1988Final21.34 sORWR

Results

Heats

First 3 from each heat and the next 8 fastest qualified for the quarterfinals.
RankHeatNameNationalityTimeNotes
15Florence Griffith-Joyner22.51Q
26Grace Jackson22.66Q
32Nadezhda Georgieva22.80Q
42Mary Onyali22.82Q
53Galina Malchugina22.85Q
67Gwen Torrence22.87Q
72Andrea Thomas22.92Q
81Heike Drechsler22.93Q
96Maya Azarachvili22.98Q
104Merlene Ottey23.06Q
113Silke Möller23.07Q
127Pauline Davis23.08Q
131Agnieszka Siwek23.10Q
141Falilat Ogunkoya23.12Q
155Katrin Krabbe23.14Q
165Muriel Leroy23.19Q
177Kerry Johnson23.20Q
185Regula Aebi23.22q
198Paula Dunn23.32Q
203Jolanta Janota23.40Q
217Simmone Jacobs23.47q
224Marie-José Pérec23.49Q
237Marie-Christine Cazier-Ballo23.50q
244Silke Knoll23.51Q
253Jocelyn Joseph23.57q
263Marisa Masullo23.58q
272Rita Angotzi23.59q
284Louise Stuart23.61q
298Maria Magnólia Figueiredo23.71Q
301Angela Williams23.76q
316Norfalia Carabalí23.78Q
326Yolande Straughn23.81
338Karin Janke23.83Q
341Ximena Restrepo24.00
358Xie Zhiling24.01
362Marina Skordi24.06
375Zhang Xiaoqiong24.08
384Joyce Odhiambo24.26
394Oliver Acii24.39
406Gaily Dube24.42
417Claudia Acerenza24.46
422Ruth Morris24.51
432Agnes Griffith24.79
446Yvonne Hasler24.91
453U Yang-ja24.94
465Ivette Bonapart24.95
477Chen Ya-Li25.03
484Judith Diankolela-Missengui25.20
492Ng Ka Yi25.35
501Felicite Bada25.42
513Melvina Wulah25.46
525Guilhermina da Cruz25.62
534Evelyn Farrell25.74
546Aminata Diarra25.81
551Mariama Ouiminga26.08
563Erin Tierney26.16
578Olivette Daruhi26.88
588Rosa Mbuamangongo31.12
8Pamela Marshall
6Maree Holland

Quarterfinals

First 4 from each heat qualified directly for the semifinals.
RankHeatNameNationalityTimeNotes
11Florence Griffith-Joyner21.76Q
23Grace Jackson22.24Q
32Gwen Torrence22.25Q
42Merlene Ottey22.30Q
51Maya Azarachvili22.37Q
61Heike Drechsler22.38Q
72Nadezhda Georgieva22.60Q
82Katrin Krabbe22.67Q
94Galina Malchugina22.77Q
103Andrea Thomas22.84Q
113Silke Möller22.86Q
121Regula Aebi22.88Q
122Falilat Ogunkoya22.88
144Mary Onyali22.89Q
154Pauline Davis22.92Q
164Agnieszka Siwek22.96Q
171Kerry Johnson23.01
183Paula Dunn23.04Q
191Silke Knoll23.15
203Muriel Leroy23.22
212Rita Angotzi23.33
222Jolanta Janota23.34
234Simmone Jacobs23.38
241Angela Williams23.48
253Marisa Masullo23.52
262Louise Stuart23.59
263Jocelyn Joseph23.59
281Marie-Christine Cazier-Ballo23.63
294Maria Magnólia Figueiredo23.67
304Karin Janke23.87
313Norfalia Carabalí23.96
324Marie-José Pérec24.22

Semi finals

RANKHEAT 2TIME
1.22.13
2.22.27
3.22.53
4.22.55
5.22.67
6.23.14
7.23.20
8.23.33

Final