| | Event type
800 metres, Women
| Date | 24 – 26 September 1988 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Ol-lim-pik Ju-gyeong-gi-jang, Seoul Sports Complex, Seoul |
| Participants | 29 from 20 countries |
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.
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 290 | Sigrun Wodars |  GDR | 2:02.24 (1 h3) | 1:57.21 (1 h1) | 1:56.10 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 289 | Christine Wachtel | GDR | 2:00.62 (1 h2) | 1:58.44 (1 h2) | 1:56.64 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 567 | Kim Gallagher |  USA | 2:01.70 (1 h4) | 1:57.39 (2 h1) | 1:56.91 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 605 | Slobodanka Čolović |  YUG | 2:01.80 (2 h1) | 1:58.49 (3 h1) | 1:57.50 (4) | |||
| 5 | 566 | Delisa Walton-Floyd | USA | 2:02.37 (2 h3) | 1:58.82 (2 h2) | 1:58.70 (5) | |||
| 6 | 520 | Inna Yevseyeva |  URS | 2:01.59 (1 h1) | 1:59.10 (3 h2) | 1:59.37 (6) | |||
| 7 | 141 | Maite Zúñiga |  ESP | 2:00.98 (4 h2) | 1:58.85 (4 h1) | 1:59.82 (7) | |||
| 8 | 217 | Diane Edwards |  GBR | 2:01.79 (2 h4) | 1:59.66 (4 h2) | 2:00.77 (8) | |||
| 5 h1 r2/3 | 252 | Kirsty Wade | GBR | 2:02.75 (5 h3) | 2:00.86 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r2/3 | 189 | Gaby Lesch |  FRG | 2:00.95 (3 h2) | 1:59.85 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 6 h1 r2/3 | 42 | Soraya Telles |  BRA | 2:02.48 (3 h3) | 2:01.86 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 6 h2 r2/3 | 209 | Shireen Bailey | GBR | 2:02.36 (3 h1) | 1:59.94 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 7 h1 r2/3 | 559 | Joetta Clark | USA | 2:00.83 (2 h2) | 2:03.32 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 7 h2 r2/3 | 535 | Dalia Matusevičienė | URS | 2:02.57 (4 h3) | 2:00.15 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 8 h1 r2/3 | 542 | Nadezhda Olizarenko | URS | 2:01.81 (3 h4) | 2:05.27 (8 h1) | – | |||
| 8 h2 r2/3 | 486 | Letitia Vriesde |  SUR | 2:01.83 (4 h4) | 2:02.34 (8 h2) | – | |||
| 4 h1 r1/3 | 368 | Sharon Powell |  JAM | 2:03.49 (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 5 h1 r1/3 | 139 | Montserrat Pujol | ESP | 2:03.73 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 5 h2 r1/3 | 63 | Mary Burzminski |  CAN | 2:02.85 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 5 h4 r1/3 | 2 | Hassiba Boulmerka |  ALG | 2:03.33 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 6 h1 r1/3 | 388 | Choi Se-Beom |  KOR | 2:06.65 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 6 h2 r1/3 | 333 | Shiny Abraham |  IND | 2:03.26 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 6 h3 r1/3 | 126 | Maureen Stewart |  CRC | 2:08.17 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 6 h4 r1/3 | 61 | Renée Bélanger | CAN | 2:04.74 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 7 h1 r1/3 | 117 | Assumpta Achuo-Bei |  CMR | 2:07.10 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 7 h2 r1/3 | 420 | Maria Mutola |  MOZ | 2:04.36 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 7 h3 r1/3 | 4 | Laverne Bryan |  ANT | 2:12.18 (7 h3) | – | – | |||
| 8 h1 r1/3 | 608 | Christine Bakombo |  COD | 2:11.00 (8 h1) | – | – | |||
| 8 h2 r1/3 | 422 | Sheila Seebaluck |  MRI | 2:08.93 (8 h2) | – | – | |||
| 134 | Rosa Colorado | ESP | – (DNS h4) | – | – | ||||
| 100 | Sun Sumei |  CHN | – (DNS h3) | – | – |
Round One (24 September 1988)
Top three in each heat and next four fastest advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One (14:10)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Inna Yevseyeva | URS | 2:01.59 | |||
| 2 | 1 | Slobodanka Čolović | YUG | 2:01.80 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Shireen Bailey | GBR | 2:02.36 | |||
| 4 | 6 | Sharon Powell | JAM | 2:03.49 | |||
| 5 | 3 | Montserrat Pujol | ESP | 2:03.73 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Choi Se-Beom | KOR | 2:06.65 | |||
| 7 | 5 | Assumpta Achuo-Bei | CMR | 2:07.10 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Christine Bakombo | COD | 2:11.00 |
Heat Two (14:15)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Christine Wachtel | GDR | 2:00.62 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Joetta Clark | USA | 2:00.83 | |||
| 3 | 1 | Gaby Lesch | FRG | 2:00.95 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Maite Zúñiga | ESP | 2:00.98 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Mary Burzminski | CAN | 2:02.85 | |||
| 6 | 5 | Shiny Abraham | IND | 2:03.26 | |||
| 7 | 7 | Maria Mutola | MOZ | 2:04.36 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Sheila Seebaluck | MRI | 2:08.93 |
Heat Three (14:20)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Sigrun Wodars | GDR | 2:02.24 | |||
| 2 | 7 | Delisa Walton-Floyd | USA | 2:02.37 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Soraya Telles | BRA | 2:02.48 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Dalia Matusevičienė | URS | 2:02.57 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Kirsty Wade | GBR | 2:02.75 | |||
| 6 | 8 | Maureen Stewart | CRC | 2:08.17 | |||
| 7 | 4 | Laverne Bryan | ANT | 2:12.18 | |||
| 6 | Sun Sumei | CHN | – |
Heat Four (14:25)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Kim Gallagher | USA | 2:01.70 | |||
| 2 | 3 | Diane Edwards | GBR | 2:01.79 | |||
| 3 | 7 | Nadezhda Olizarenko | URS | 2:01.81 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Letitia Vriesde | SUR | 2:01.83 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Hassiba Boulmerka | ALG | 2:03.33 | |||
| 6 | 5 | Renée Bélanger | CAN | 2:04.74 | |||
| 4 | Rosa Colorado | ESP | – |
Semi-Finals (24 September 1988)
Top four in each heat advanced to the final.
Heat One (14:20)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Sigrun Wodars | GDR | 1:57.21 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Kim Gallagher | USA | 1:57.39 | |||
| 3 | 2 | Slobodanka Čolović | YUG | 1:58.49 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Maite Zúñiga | ESP | 1:58.85 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Kirsty Wade | GBR | 2:00.86 | |||
| 6 | 6 | Soraya Telles | BRA | 2:01.86 | |||
| 7 | 1 | Joetta Clark | USA | 2:03.32 | |||
| 8 | 8 | Nadezhda Olizarenko | URS | 2:05.27 |
Heat Two (14:25)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Christine Wachtel | GDR | 1:58.44 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Delisa Walton-Floyd | USA | 1:58.82 | |||
| 3 | 6 | Inna Yevseyeva | URS | 1:59.10 | |||
| 4 | 7 | Diane Edwards | GBR | 1:59.66 | |||
| 5 | 3 | Gaby Lesch | FRG | 1:59.85 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Shireen Bailey | GBR | 1:59.94 | |||
| 7 | 8 | Dalia Matusevičienė | URS | 2:00.15 | |||
| 8 | 5 | Letitia Vriesde | SUR | 2:02.34 |
Final (26 September 1988 — 13:25)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Sigrun Wodars | GDR | 1:56.10 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Christine Wachtel | GDR | 1:56.64 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Kim Gallagher | USA | 1:56.91 | |||
| 4 | 5 | Slobodanka Čolović | YUG | 1:57.50 | |||
| 5 | 2 | Delisa Walton-Floyd | USA | 1:58.70 | 1 | ||
| 6 | 8 | Inna Yevseyeva | URS | 1:59.37 | |||
| 7 | 7 | Maite Zúñiga | ESP | 1:59.82 | |||
| 8 | 1 | Diane Edwards | GBR | 2:00.77 |
Splits
| 400 m | 56.4 | Sigrun Wodars-Grau | |