Sport-Olympic.com

All Athletics Menu

1988 Olympic Games Seoul - Women's 800 m

Print
Email

Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1988 Olympic Games Seoul - (Athletics); Last Updated: 23 July 2016; Hits: 1468

Tags:

Host City: Seoul, South Korea

Format: Top four in each advanced to the final.

Date Started: September 24, 1988

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

Date Finished: September 26, 1988

(Competitors: 29; Countries: 20; Finalists: 8)

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

Overview by IAAF

Wodars and Wachtel were the semi-final winners, in 1:57.21 and 1:58.44 respectively, and were the pre-race favourites. Wachtel went to the front in the final, with Wodars alongside her. They passed 200m in 27.01 with Yevseyeva, Čolović and Gallagher in close attendance, and Wodars took over after 300m. The World Champion (56.44 at 400m) led through to 600m where Wachtel passed her and led into the straight, with Yevseyeva dropping back and Gallagher passing Čolović to move into third. Wodars drew away from Wachtel, and Gallagher briefly looked as though she might pass Wachtel, but eventually finished 2m behind the German, improving her semi-final pb of 1:57.39 to get within 0.01 of the US record. In 1987-88 Wachtel beat Wodars 10-3, but Wodars won both the world and Olympic titles.

Summary by Sports-reference.com

The East German "twins" Sigrun Wodars and Christine Wachtel were ranked #1 and #2 in the world in 1987, and their career developed almost in parallel. They had been 1-2 at the 1987 World Championships, Wodars winning. But the top runner in 1988 was Cuban Ana Fidelia Quirot, who could not compete in Seoul because Cuba was one of the few boycotting nations that year. Wodars and Wachtel won their semi-finals and were favored in the final. They took the lead together, with Wodars slightly ahead thru 600 metres. Wachtel then took over, but Wodars passed her in the stretch for the gold medal. America's Kim Gallagher, silver medalist in 1984, came on strongly for the bronze after looking like she might catch Wachtel.

Records

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

World Record	1:53.28	Jarmila Kratochvílová	Munich (FGR)	July 26, 1983
Olympic Record	1:53.43	Nadezhda Olizarenko	Moscow (URS)	July 27, 1980

		Results

*800 m*	Women	Final	26 September

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	1.56.10	Sigrun Wodars	East Germany	GDR	7 Nov 65
2	1.56.64	Christine Wachtel	East Germany	GDR	6 Jan 65
3	1.56.91	Kim Gallagher	United States	USA	11 Jun 64
4	1.57.50	Slobodanka Colovic	Yugoslavia	YUG	10 Jan 65
5	1.57.80	Delisa Floyd	United States	USA	28 Jul 61
6	1.59.37	Inna Yevseyeva	Soviet Union	URS	14 Aug 64
7	1.59.82	Mayte Zúñiga	Spain	ESP	28 Dec 64
8	2.00.77	Diane Modahl	Great Britain	GBR	17 Jun 66
*800 m*	Women	Semifinal 1	25 September

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	1.57.21	Sigrun Wodars	East Germany	GDR	7 Nov 65
2	1.57.39	Kim Gallagher	United States	USA	11 Jun 64
3	1.58.49	Slobodanka Colovic	Yugoslavia	YUG	10 Jan 65
4	1.58.85	Mayte Zúñiga	Spain	ESP	28 Dec 64
5	2.00.86	Kirsty McDermott	Great Britain	GBR	6 Aug 62
6	2.01.86	Soraya Telles	Brazil	BRA	6 Sep 58
7	2.03.32	Joetta Clark-Diggs	United States	USA	1 Aug 62
8	2.05.27	Nadezhda Olizarenko	Soviet Union	URS	28 Nov 53
*800 m*	Women	Semifinal 2	25 September

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	1.58.44	Christine Wachtel	East Germany	GDR	6 Jan 65
2	1.58.82	Delisa Floyd	United States	USA	28 Jul 61
3	1.59.10	Inna Yevseyeva	Soviet Union	URS	14 Aug 64
4	1.59.66	Diane Modahl	Great Britain	GBR	17 Jun 66
5	1.59.85	Gabi Lesch	West Germany	FRG	17 Aug 64
6	1.59.94	Shireen Bailey	Great Britain	GBR	27 Sep 59
7	2.00.15	Dalia Matuseviciene	Soviet Union	URS	12 Nov 62
8	2.02.34	Letitia Vriesde	Suriname	SUR	5 Oct 64
*800 m*	Women	Heat 1	24 September

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	2.01.59	Inna Yevseyeva	Soviet Union	URS	14 Aug 64
2	2.01.80	Slobodanka Colovic	Yugoslavia	YUG	10 Jan 65
3	2.02.36	Shireen Bailey	Great Britain	GBR	27 Sep 59
4	2.03.49	Sharon Powell	Jamaica	JAM	16 Jul 65
5	2.03.73	Montserrat Pujol	Spain	ESP	27 Apr 61
6	2.06.65	Choi Se-Beom	South Korea	KOR	4 Mar 72
7	2.07.10	Assumpta Achuo	Cameroon	CMR	27 Apr 68
8	2.11.00	Kungu Bakombo	DR Congo	COD	7 Aug 62
*800 m*	Women	Heat 2	24 September

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	2.00.62	Christine Wachtel	East Germany	GDR	6 Jan 65
2	2.00.83	Joetta Clark-Diggs	United States	USA	1 Aug 62
3	2.00.95	Gabi Lesch	West Germany	FRG	17 Aug 64
4	2.00.98	Mayte Zúñiga	Spain	ESP	28 Dec 64
5	2.02.85	Mary Burzminski	Canada	CAN	12 Nov 60
6	2.03.26	Shiny Wilson	India	IND	8 May 65
7	2.04.36	Maria Mutola	Mozambique	MOZ	27 Oct 72
8	2.08.93	Sheila Seebaluck	Mauritius	MRI	13 Dec 64
*800 m*	Women	Heat 3	24 September

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	2.02.24	Sigrun Wodars	East Germany	GDR	7 Nov 65
2	2.02.37	Delisa Floyd	United States	USA	28 Jul 61
3	2.02.48	Soraya Telles	Brazil	BRA	6 Sep 58
4	2.02.57	Dalia Matuseviciene	Soviet Union	URS	12 Nov 62
5	2.02.75	Kirsty McDermott	Great Britain	GBR	6 Aug 62
6	2.08.17	Maureen Stewart	Costa Rica	CRC	30 Mar 65
7	2.12.18	Laverne Bryan	Antigua and Barbuda	ANT	17 May 65
*800 m*	Women	Heat 4	24 September

Rank	Mark	Athlete	Country	NOC	Birth Date	Records
1	2.01.70	Kim Gallagher	United States	USA	11 Jun 64
2	2.01.79	Diane Modahl	Great Britain	GBR	17 Jun 66
3	2.01.81	Nadezhda Olizarenko	Soviet Union	URS	28 Nov 53
4	2.01.83	Letitia Vriesde	Suriname	SUR	5 Oct 64
5	2.03.33	Hassiba Boulmerka	Algeria	ALG	10 Jul 68
6	2.04.74	Renée Belanger	Canada	CAN	12 Sep 62