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1988 Olympic Games Seoul - Women's 4 x 100 m

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Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1988 Olympic Games Seoul - (Athletics); Last Updated: 23 July 2016; Hits: 641

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Host City: Seoul, South Korea

Format: Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Date Started: September 30, 1988

Format: Top four in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the semi-finals.

Date Finished: October 1, 1988

(Competitors: 81; Countries: 19; Finalists: 32/8)

Venue(s): Olympic Stadium, Seoul Sports Complex, Seoul

Overview by IAAF

The fastest heat winners with 42.39 were the USA, and they won their semi-final in 42.12, although the quickest in the second round was USSR with 42.01, ahead of the GDR’s 42.23. In the final Brown established a slim lead over Möller, with Kondratyeva a metre behind. But Malchugina and Behrendt overtook Echols on the second leg. Unsurprisingly Griffith Joyner ate up the deficit on the third leg and went into the changeover with a 2m lead. The advantage was lost with a poor change, which left Ashford in third behind Göhr and Pomoshchnikova. The Russian quickly caught Göhr, but then suffered a muscle cramp after 60m. Ashford swept by and passed Göhr with 20m remaining, giving and the US victory by a metre, with the USSR just holding off FRG for third.

Summary by Sports-reference.com

The GDR had been the top 4×100 relay team since the late 70s, but the US had defeated them at the 1987 World Championships. And in Seoul, they were led by 100/200 champion Florence Griffith Joyner and 1984 100 gold medalist Evelyn Ashford. They had formidable speed but could not match the superior baton work of the East Germans. In the final, Alice Brown put the US into a slight lead on the opener. But the GDR and the Soviet Union pulled ahead on the second leg. Griffith Joyner was chosen to run the final turn and she got to the final exchange two metres in front. But she and Ashford botched the pass, and the US was in third starting the final 100. Ashford was opposed by her long-time East German rival, Marlies Göhr, and she ran her down for the gold medal. The Soviet anchor, Nataliya Pomoshchnikova, actually took the lead after the final exchange but cramped slightly at 60 metres and had to hold on to finish third.

Records

These were the standing World and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.

World Record	41.37	Silke Gladisch Sabine Rieger Ingrid Auerswald Marlies Göhr	Canberra (AUS)	October 6, 1985
Olympic Record	41.60	Romy Muller Barbel Wockel Ingrid Auerswald Marlies Göhr	Moscow (URS)	August 1, 1980

		Results
These are the official results of the Women's 4 × 100 m Relay event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. There were a total number of 19 nations competing. This was a race between three strong teams with many athletes at their peak. From the gun, Alice Brown was out fastest for the USA in lane 6, almost making up the stagger on Zvetanka Ilieva leading off for Bulgaria on her outside. Meanwhile East German star, 1987 World Champion Silke Möller was losing ground in lane 5 as Soviet Lyudmila Kondratyeva was gaining in lane 4. All the handoffs were efficient before both Kerstin Behrendt and Galina Malchugina closed the gap on the American Sheila Echols on the second leg. The American handoff to the year's phenom, world record holder Florence Griffith-Joyner was safe but not particularly efficient, the East German underhanded pass to Ingrid Auerswald is a textbook demonstration of an efficient handoff, and gave East Germany the lead. It would still be expected that the way FloJo dominated the sprint events, she would be able to pull away from Auerswald, but running the longer distance around the turn she only made a marginal gain and Marina Zhirova also put the Soviet team in close contention. Both the Soviet team and East German teams executed efficient handoffs, leaving Natalya Pomoshchnikova just slightly behind 1983 World Champion Marlies Goehr. The American handoff was not as efficient as Griffith-Joyner ran up on veteran anchor Evelyn Ashford leaving USA two metres behind. Pomoshchnikova accelerated and was able to pull even with Goehr while Ashford was in full stride and gaining. 50 metres from the finish it was three abreast across the center of the track. Ashford won the 1984 Olympic championship in the absence of the boycotting East Germans and Soviets, specifically Goehr. Here they were head to head. Pomoshchnikova's hamstring seized suddenly she was limping in pain. Ashford continued right past Goehr to a meter and a half victory and redemption. The three teams were so far ahead of the rest of the world, Pomoshchnikova was able to limp across the finish line ahead of the West German team for the bronze medal.
*4 x 100 m*	Women	Final	1 October

Rank	Mark	Team	Country	NOC	Records
1	41.98	Alice Brown, Sheila Echols, Florence Griffith-Joyner, Evelyn Ashford	United States	USA
2	42.09	Silke Möller GER, Kerstin Behrendt GER, Ingrid Lange GER, Marlies Göhr GER	East Germany	GDR
3	42.75	Lyudmila Kondratyeva RUS, Galina Malchugina RUS, Marina Zhirova RUS, Natalya Voronova RUS	Soviet Union	URS
4	42.76	Sabine Richter GER, Ulrike Sarvari GER, Andrea Thomas GER, Ute Thimm GER	West Germany	FRG
5	43.02	Tsvetanka Ilieva, Valya Demireva, Nadezhda Georgieva, Yordanka Donkova	Bulgaria	BUL
6	43.93	Joanna Smolarek, Jolanta Janota, Ewa Pisiewicz, Agnieszka Siwek	Poland	POL
7	44.02	Françoise Leroux, Muriel Leroy, Laurence Bily, Patricia Girard	France	FRA
*4 x 100 m*	Women	Semifinal 1	1 October

Rank	Mark	Team	Country	NOC	Records
1	42.01	Lyudmila Kondratyeva RUS, Galina Malchugina RUS, Marina Zhirova RUS, Natalya Voronova RUS	Soviet Union	URS
2	42.23	Silke Möller GER, Kerstin Behrendt GER, Ingrid Lange GER, Marlies Göhr GER	East Germany	GDR
3	43.30	Grace Jackson Small, Vivienne Spence-Gardner, Ethlyn Tate, Merlene Ottey SLO	Jamaica	JAM
4	43.44	Joanna Smolarek, Jolanta Janota, Ewa Pisiewicz, Agnieszka Siwek	Poland	POL
5	43.48	Nelli Cooman, Marjan Olyslager, Gretha Tromp, Els Vader	Netherlands	NED
6	43.50	Sallyanne Short, Bev Kinch, Simmone Jacobs, Paula Dunn	Great Britain	GBR
7	43.97	Rita Angotzi, Rossella Tarolo, Daniela Ferrian, Marisa Masullo	Italy	ITA
8	45.74	Maria Tsoni, Paraskeví Patoulídou, Katerína Kóffa, Marina Skourti	Greece	GRE
*4 x 100 m*	Women	Semifinal 2	1 October

Rank	Mark	Team	Country	NOC	Records
1	42.12	Alice Brown, Sheila Echols, Florence Griffith-Joyner, Evelyn Ashford	United States	USA
2	42.69	Sabine Richter GER, Ulrike Sarvari GER, Andrea Thomas GER, Ute Thimm GER	West Germany	FRG
3	43.07	Tsvetanka Ilieva, Valya Demireva, Nadezhda Georgieva, Yordanka Donkova	Bulgaria	BUL
4	43.66	Françoise Leroux, Marie-Christine Cazier, Muriel Leroy, Laurence Bily	France	FRA
5	43.82	Angela Bailey, Angela Phipps, Angella Issajenko, Katie Anderson	Canada	CAN
6	44.30	Veronica Bawuah, Dinah Yankey, Mercy Addy, Martha Appiah	Ghana	GHA
7	44.36	Zhang Xiaoqiong, Liu Shaomei, Xie Zhiling, Zhang Gaihua	China	CHN
*4 x 100 m*	Women	Heat 1	30 September

Rank	Mark	Team	Country	NOC	Records
1	42.88	Lyudmila Kondratyeva RUS, Galina Malchugina RUS, Marina Zhirova RUS, Natalya Voronova RUS	Soviet Union	URS
2	42.99	Sabine Richter GER, Ulrike Sarvari GER, Andrea Thomas GER, Ute Thimm GER	West Germany	FRG
3	43.43	Françoise Leroux, Marie-Christine Cazier, Muriel Leroy, Laurence Bily	France	FRA
4	43.92	Tsvetanka Ilieva, Valya Demireva, Nadezhda Georgieva, Yordanka Donkova	Bulgaria	BUL
5	45.46	Amparo Caicedo, Norfalia Carabalí ESP, Olga Escalante, Ximena Restrepo	Colombia	COL
6	46.21	Chang Feng-Hua, Chen Wen-Xing, Chen Ya-Li, Wang Huei-Chen	Chinese Taipei	TPE
*4 x 100 m*	Women	Heat 2	30 September

Rank	Mark	Team	Country	NOC	Records
1	42.92	Silke Möller GER, Ingrid Lange GER, Kerstin Behrendt GER, Marlies Göhr GER	East Germany	GDR
2	43.50	Laurel Johnson, Grace Jackson Small, Vivienne Spence-Gardner, Ethlyn Tate	Jamaica	JAM
3	43.92	Angela Bailey, Angela Phipps, Angella Issajenko, Katie Anderson	Canada	CAN
4	44.29	Zhang Xiaoqiong, Liu Shaomei, Xie Zhiling, Zhang Gaihua	China	CHN
5	44.33	Rita Angotzi, Rossella Tarolo, Daniela Ferrian, Marisa Masullo	Italy	ITA
6	45.44	Maria Tsoni, Paraskeví Patoulídou, Georgia Zouganeli, Marina Skourti	Greece	GRE
7	45.83	Yoon Mi-Kyong, Woo Yang-Ja, Park Mi-Sun, Lee Young-Sook	South Korea	KOR
*4 x 100 m*	Women	Heat 3	30 September

Rank	Mark	Team	Country	NOC	Records
1	42.39	Alice Brown, Sheila Echols, Dannette Young, Evelyn Ashford	United States	USA
2	43.91	Sallyanne Short, Bev Kinch, Simmone Jacobs, Paula Dunn	Great Britain	GBR
3	43.96	Nelli Cooman, Marjan Olyslager, Gretha Tromp, Els Vader	Netherlands	NED
4	43.98	Joanna Smolarek, Jolanta Janota, Ewa Pisiewicz, Agnieszka Siwek	Poland	POL
5	44.12	Veronica Bawuah, Dinah Yankey, Mercy Addy, Martha Appiah	Ghana	GHA
6	46.55	Ruth Kyalisima, Farida Kyakutewa, Oliver Acii, Grace Buzu	Uganda	UGA