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 (60), four second-round races (32) and two semi-finals (16), before the final (8) took off on Thursday September 29, 1988.

The winning margin was 0.38 seconds which as of 2023 remains the only time the women's Olympic 200 metres has been won by more than 0.3 seconds since the introduction of fully automatic timing.

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 (.37 taken from the world record on one 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 fourth place Ottey twice.

Medalists

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

World record 21.71 Marita Koch Karl-Marx-Stadt (GDR) June 10, 1979 Olympic record 21.81 Valerie Brisco-Hooks Los Angeles (USA) August 9, 1984

The following World and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Date Event Athlete Time OR WR September 28, 1988 Quarterfinal 21.76 s OR September 29, 1988Semifinal 21.56 s OR WRSeptember 29, 1988Final 21.34 s OR WR

Results Heats First 3 from each heat (Q) and the next 8 fastest (q) qualified for the quarterfinals.

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes 1 5 Florence Griffith-Joyner 22.51 Q 2 6 Grace Jackson 22.66 Q 3 2 Nadezhda Georgieva 22.80 Q 4 2 Mary Onyali 22.82 Q 5 3 Galina Malchugina 22.85 Q 6 7 Gwen Torrence 22.87 Q 7 2 Andrea Thomas 22.92 Q 8 1 Heike Drechsler 22.93 Q 9 6 Maya Azarachvili 22.98 Q 10 4 Merlene Ottey 23.06 Q 11 3 Silke Möller 23.07 Q 12 7 Pauline Davis 23.08 Q 13 1 Agnieszka Siwek 23.10 Q 14 1 Falilat Ogunkoya 23.12 Q 15 5 Katrin Krabbe 23.14 Q 16 5 Muriel Leroy 23.19 Q 17 7 Kerry Johnson 23.20 Q 18 5 Regula Aebi 23.22 q 19 8 Paula Dunn 23.32 Q 20 3 Jolanta Janota 23.40 Q 21 7 Simmone Jacobs 23.47 q 22 4 Marie-José Pérec 23.49 Q 23 7 Marie-Christine Cazier-Ballo 23.50 q 24 4 Silke Knoll 23.51 Q 25 3 Jocelyn Joseph 23.57 q 26 3 Marisa Masullo 23.58 q 27 2 Rita Angotzi 23.59 q 28 4 Louise Stuart 23.61 q 29 8 Maria Magnólia Figueiredo 23.71 Q 30 1 Angela Williams 23.76 q 31 6 Norfalia Carabalí 23.78 Q 32 6 Yolande Straughn 23.81 33 8 Karin Janke 23.83 Q 34 1 Ximena Restrepo 24.00 35 8 Xie Zhiling 24.01 36 2 Marina Skordi 24.06 37 5 Zhang Xiaoqiong 24.08 38 4 Joyce Odhiambo 24.26 39 4 Oliver Acii 24.39 40 6 Gaily Dube 24.42 41 7 Claudia Acerenza 24.46 42 2 Ruth Morris 24.51 43 2 Agnes Griffith 24.79 44 6 Yvonne Hasler 24.91 45 3 U Yang-ja 24.94 46 5 Ivette Bonapart 24.95 47 7 Chen Ya-Li 25.03 48 4 Judith Diankolela-Missengui 25.20 49 2 Ng Ka Yi 25.35 50 1 Felicite Bada 25.42 51 3 Melvina Wulah 25.46 52 5 Guilhermina da Cruz 25.62 53 4 Evelyn Farrell 25.74 54 6 Aminata Diarra 25.81 55 1 Mariama Ouiminga 26.08 56 3 Erin Tierney 26.16 57 8 Olivette Daruhi 26.88 58 8 Rosa Mbuamangongo 31.12 8 Pamela Marshall 6 Maree Holland

Quarterfinals First 4 from each heat qualified directly (Q) for the semifinals.

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes 1 1 Florence Griffith-Joyner 21.76 Q 2 3 Grace Jackson 22.24 Q 3 2 Gwen Torrence 22.25 Q 4 2 Merlene Ottey 22.30 Q 5 1 Maya Azarachvili 22.37 Q 6 1 Heike Drechsler 22.38 Q 7 2 Nadezhda Georgieva 22.60 Q 8 2 Katrin Krabbe 22.67 Q 9 4 Galina Malchugina 22.77 Q 10 3 Andrea Thomas 22.84 Q 11 3 Silke Möller 22.86 Q 12 1 Regula Aebi 22.88 Q 12 2 Falilat Ogunkoya 22.88 14 4 Mary Onyali 22.89 Q 15 4 Pauline Davis 22.92 Q 16 4 Agnieszka Siwek 22.96 Q 17 1 Kerry Johnson 23.01 18 3 Paula Dunn 23.04 Q 19 1 Silke Knoll 23.15 20 3 Muriel Leroy 23.22 21 2 Rita Angotzi 23.33 22 2 Jolanta Janota 23.34 23 4 Simmone Jacobs 23.38 24 1 Angela Williams 23.48 25 3 Marisa Masullo 23.52 26 2 Louise Stuart 23.59 26 3 Jocelyn Joseph 23.59 28 1 Marie-Christine Cazier-Ballo 23.63 29 4 Maria Magnólia Figueiredo 23.67 30 4 Karin Janke 23.87 31 3 Norfalia Carabalí 23.96 32 4 Marie-José Pérec 24.22

Semi finals RANKHEAT 1TIME1.21.56(WR)2.22.073.22.154.22.335.22.436.22.597.22.678.22.91

RANKHEAT 2TIME1.22.132.22.273.22.534.22.555.22.676.23.147.23.208.23.33

Final RANKFINALTIME21.34 (WR)21.7221.954.21.995.22.096.22.177.22.338.22.42

See also 1984 Women's Olympic 200 metres (Los Angeles) 1986 Women's European Championships 200 metres (Stuttgart) 1987 Women's World Championships 200 metres (Rome) 1990 Women's European Championships 200 metres (Split) 1991 Women's World Championships 200 metres (Tokyo) 1992 Women's Olympic 200 metres (Barcelona)

References

External links Official Report