| | Event type

400 metres, Women

Date	23 – 26 September 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Ol-lim-pik Ju-gyeong-gi-jang, Seoul Sports Complex, Seoul
Participants	46 from 33 countries

The greatest 400 runner ever, Marita Koch, had retired and the favorites role fell to Soviet Olga Bryzgina, who had won the 1987 World Championship. The defending champion was back, now as Valerie Brisco. Also present was the runner-up at the 1987 Worlds, Petra Müller of the GDR. Brisco led the final for the first 200 metres, but by 300 Bryzgina had nearly closed the gap. Bryzgina pulled ahead on the final turn and won going away, by 8/10ths of a second. Müller had the strongest finish of the other runners and got up for second, with Brisco nipped for the bronze medal by Soviet Olga Nazarova.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	QF	SF	Final
1	516	Olga Bryzgina	URS	51.94 (1 h6)	51.90 (1 h2)	49.33 (1 h2)	48.65 (1)	Gold	OR
2	279	Petra Müller	GDR	51.93 (2 h3)	51.45 (1 h3)	49.50 (2 h1)	49.45 (2)	Silver
3	541	Olga Nazarova	URS	52.18 (1 h1)	50.26 (1 h4)	49.11 (1 h1)	49.90 (3)	Bronze
4	555	Valerie Brisco	USA	51.96 (1 h5)	51.24 (2 h4)	49.90 (2 h2)	50.16 (4)
5	564	Diane Dixon	USA	52.45 (1 h4)	51.98 (2 h2)	49.84 (3 h1)	50.72 (5)
6	571	Denean Howard	USA	52.26 (1 h7)	51.02 (3 h1)	49.87 (4 h1)	51.12 (6)
7	183	Helga Arendt	FRG	52.69 (2 h7)	52.08 (3 h2)	50.36 (4 h2)	51.17 (7)
8	14	Maree Holland	AUS	52.29 (2 h5)	50.90 (1 h1)	50.24 (3 h2)	51.25 (8)
5 h1 r3/4	77	Jill Richardson	CAN	53.06 (4 h7)	52.33 (4 h2)	49.91 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r3/4	262	Kirsten Emmelmann	GDR	54.02 (4 h5)	51.02 (2 h1)	50.39 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r3/4	200	Ute Thimm	FRG	52.79 (2 h4)	51.18 (4 h1)	50.28 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r3/4	369	Cathy Rattray-Williams	JAM	52.39 (3 h6)	51.81 (4 h3)	50.82 (6 h2)	–
7 h1 r3/4	75	Marita Payne Wiggins	CAN	52.70 (2 h2)	51.73 (2 h3)	50.29 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r3/4	68	Charmaine Crooks	CAN	53.58 (3 h1)	51.64 (4 h4)	51.63 (7 h2)	–
8 h1 r3/4	281	Dagmar Neubauer	GDR	52.51 (1 h2)	51.48 (3 h4)	50.92 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r3/4	121	Norfalia Carabalí	COL	53.27 (3 h5)	51.76 (3 h3)	52.65 (8 h2)	–
5 h1 r2/4	38	Magnólia Figueiredo	BRA	51.74 (1 h3)	51.32 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r2/4	370	Sandie Richards	JAM	52.19 (3 h3)	52.90 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r2/4	227	Linda Keough	GBR	52.26 (2 h6)	51.91 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r2/4	115	Céléstine N'Drin	CIV	52.48 (4 h6)	52.04 (5 h4)	–	–
6 h1 r2/4	426	Airat Bakare	NGR	52.83 (3 h2)	52.86 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r2/4	167	Évelyne Élien	FRA	52.90 (4 h4)	53.36 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r2/4	322	Yvonne van Dorp	NED	52.84 (3 h4)	53.50 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r2/4	472	Aïssatou N'Diaye	SEN	52.95 (3 h7)	52.33 (6 h4)	–	–
7 h1 r2/4	221	Loreen Hall	GBR	53.13 (4 h3)	53.42 (7 h1)	–	–
7 h2 r2/4	100	Sun Sumei	CHN	53.46 (5 h3)	53.58 (7 h2)	–	–
7 h3 r2/4	131	Liliana Chalá	ECU	53.74 (4 h1)	53.83 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r2/4	171	Fabienne Ficher	FRA	53.42 (4 h2)	52.95 (7 h4)	–	–
8 h2 r2/4	26	Yolande Straughn	BAR	53.62 (6 h3)	54.22 (8 h2)	–	–
8 h3 r2/4	332	Mercy Kuttan-Mathews	IND	53.41 (5 h6)	53.93 (8 h3)	–	–
8 h4 r2/4	135	Blanca Lacambra	ESP	53.04 (2 h1)	53.76 (8 h4)	–	–
5 h1 r1/4	210	Pat Beckford	GBR	54.39 (5 h1)	–	–	–
5 h2 r1/4	506	Farida Kyakutema	UGA	56.00 (5 h2)	–	–	–
5 h4 r1/4	312	Marilyn Dewarder	GUY	54.76 (5 h4)	–	–	–
5 h5 r1/4	117	Assumpta Achuo-Bei	CMR	55.22 (5 h5)	–	–	–
5 h7 r1/4	180	Nathalie Simon	FRA	53.30 (5 h7)	– (DNS h1)	–	–
6 h1 r1/4	403	Yang Gyeong-Hui	KOR	58.18 (6 h1)	–	–	–
6 h2 r1/4	608	Christine Bakombo	COD	57.85 (6 h2)	–	–	–
6 h4 r1/4	408	May Sardouk	LBN	1:00.01 (6 h4)	–	–	–
6 h5 r1/4	412	Josephine Mary Singarayar	MAS	56.06 (6 h5)	–	–	–
6 h6 r1/4	347	Ruth Morris	ISV	55.60 (6 h6)	–	–	–
6 h7 r1/4	495	Chang Feng-Hua	TPE	56.10 (6 h7)	–	–	–
7 h1 r1/4	292	Juliana Obiong	GEQ	1:07.58 (7 h1)	–	–	–
7 h5 r1/4	615	Lasnet Nkouka	CGO	57.19 (7 h5)	–	–	–
7 h6 r1/4	6	Barbara Selkridge	ANT	55.96 (7 h6)	–	–	–
7 h7 r1/4	306	Agnes Griffith	GRN	57.09 (7 h7)	–	–	–
DNS	21	Gerda Haas	AUT	– (DNS h3)	–	–	–
DNS	422	Sheila Seebaluck	MRI	– (DNS h4)	–	–	–

Round One (23 September 1988)

Top four in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the quarter-finals.

Heat One (12:30)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	2	Olga Nazarova	URS	52.18	Q
2	1	Blanca Lacambra	ESP	53.04	Q
3	3	Charmaine Crooks	CAN	53.58	Q
4	6	Liliana Chalá	ECU	53.74	Q
5	4	Pat Beckford	GBR	54.39
6	7	Yang Gyeong-Hui	KOR	58.18
7	5	Juliana Obiong	GEQ	1:07.58

Heat Two (12:35)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	6	Dagmar Neubauer	GDR	52.51	Q
2	3	Marita Payne Wiggins	CAN	52.70	Q
3	4	Airat Bakare	NGR	52.83	Q
4	2	Fabienne Ficher	FRA	53.42	Q
5	1	Farida Kyakutema	UGA	56.00
6	5	Christine Bakombo	COD	57.85

Heat Three (12:40)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	2	Magnólia Figueiredo	BRA	51.74	Q
2	1	Petra Müller	GDR	51.93	Q
3	7	Sandie Richards	JAM	52.19	Q
4	3	Loreen Hall	GBR	53.13	Q
5	5	Sun Sumei	CHN	53.46	q
6	4	Yolande Straughn	BAR	53.62	q
DNS	6	Gerda Haas	AUT	–

Heat Four (12:45)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	7	Diane Dixon	USA	52.45	Q
2	2	Ute Thimm	FRG	52.79	Q
3	5	Yvonne van Dorp	NED	52.84	Q
4	3	Évelyne Élien	FRA	52.90	Q
5	4	Marilyn Dewarder	GUY	54.76
6	1	May Sardouk	LBN	1:00.01
DNS	6	Sheila Seebaluck	MRI	–

Heat Five (12:50)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	5	Valerie Brisco	USA	51.96	Q
2	3	Maree Holland	AUS	52.29	Q
3	1	Norfalia Carabalí	COL	53.27	Q
4	7	Kirsten Emmelmann	GDR	54.02	Q
5	4	Assumpta Achuo-Bei	CMR	55.22
6	2	Josephine Mary Singarayar	MAS	56.06
7	6	Lasnet Nkouka	CGO	57.19

Heat Six (12:55)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	4	Olga Bryzgina	URS	51.94	Q
2	6	Linda Keough	GBR	52.26	Q
3	2	Cathy Rattray-Williams	JAM	52.39	Q
4	3	Céléstine N'Drin	CIV	52.48	Q
5	1	Mercy Kuttan-Mathews	IND	53.41	q
6	5	Ruth Morris	ISV	55.60
7	7	Barbara Selkridge	ANT	55.96

Heat Seven (13:00)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	5	Denean Howard	USA	52.26	Q
2	2	Helga Arendt	FRG	52.69	Q
3	7	Aïssatou N'Diaye	SEN	52.95	Q
4	3	Jill Richardson	CAN	53.06	Q
5	1	Nathalie Simon	FRA	53.30	q
6	6	Chang Feng-Hua	TPE	56.10
7	4	Agnes Griffith	GRN	57.09

Quarter-Finals (24 September 1988)

Top four in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One (10:30)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	6	Maree Holland	AUS	50.90	Q
2	7	Kirsten Emmelmann	GDR	51.02	Q
3	5	Denean Howard	USA	51.02	Q
4	4	Ute Thimm	FRG	51.18	Q
5	3	Magnólia Figueiredo	BRA	51.32
6	1	Airat Bakare	NGR	52.86
7	2	Loreen Hall	GBR	53.42
DNS	8	Nathalie Simon	FRA	–

Heat Two (10:35)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	5	Olga Bryzgina	URS	51.90	Q
2	4	Diane Dixon	USA	51.98	Q
3	3	Helga Arendt	FRG	52.08	Q
4	1	Jill Richardson	CAN	52.33	Q
5	6	Sandie Richards	JAM	52.90
6	8	Évelyne Élien	FRA	53.36
7	2	Sun Sumei	CHN	53.58
8	7	Yolande Straughn	BAR	54.22

Heat Three (10:40)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	4	Petra Müller	GDR	51.45	Q
2	5	Marita Payne Wiggins	CAN	51.73	Q
3	1	Norfalia Carabalí	COL	51.76	Q
4	6	Cathy Rattray-Williams	JAM	51.81	Q
5	3	Linda Keough	GBR	51.91
6	8	Yvonne van Dorp	NED	53.50
7	7	Liliana Chalá	ECU	53.83
8	2	Mercy Kuttan-Mathews	IND	53.93

Heat Four (10:45)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	6	Olga Nazarova	URS	50.26	Q
2	4	Valerie Brisco	USA	51.24	Q
3	3	Dagmar Neubauer	GDR	51.48	Q
4	1	Charmaine Crooks	CAN	51.64	Q
5	5	Céléstine N'Drin	CIV	52.04
6	7	Aïssatou N'Diaye	SEN	52.33
7	8	Fabienne Ficher	FRA	52.95
8	2	Blanca Lacambra	ESP	53.76

Semi-Finals (25 September 1988)

Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One (12:45)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	5	Olga Nazarova	URS	49.11	Q
2	4	Petra Müller	GDR	49.50	Q
3	8	Diane Dixon	USA	49.84	Q
4	3	Denean Howard	USA	49.87	Q
5	7	Jill Richardson	CAN	49.91
6	6	Ute Thimm	FRG	50.28
7	1	Marita Payne Wiggins	CAN	50.29
8	2	Dagmar Neubauer	GDR	50.92

Heat Two (12:50)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	8	Olga Bryzgina	URS	49.33	Q
2	4	Valerie Brisco	USA	49.90	Q
3	6	Maree Holland	AUS	50.24	Q
4	1	Helga Arendt	FRG	50.36	Q
5	3	Kirsten Emmelmann	GDR	50.39
6	7	Cathy Rattray-Williams	JAM	50.82
7	5	Charmaine Crooks	CAN	51.63
8	2	Norfalia Carabalí	COL	52.65

Final (26 September 1988 — 16:05)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	3	Olga Bryzgina	URS	48.65	OR
2	6	Petra Müller	GDR	49.45
3	4	Olga Nazarova	URS	49.90
4	1	Valerie Brisco	USA	50.16
5	5	Diane Dixon	USA	50.72
6	8	Denean Howard	USA	51.12
7	7	Helga Arendt	FRG	51.17
8	2	Maree Holland	AUS	51.25