| | Event type

3,000 metres, Women

Date	23 – 25 September 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Ol-lim-pik Ju-gyeong-gi-jang, Seoul Sports Complex, Seoul
Participants	35 from 24 countries

The race was expected to be between 1987 World Champion Tatyana Samolenko (URS), American Mary Decker-Slaney, who had disastrously fallen in the 1984 final, and the defending champion, Maricica Puică (ROU). Puică went out in the heats with an injured lower leg. In the final, Decker-Slaney led for the first 1,800 metres, but the pack was together. The lead was then taken by unheralded American Vicki Huber, as Decker-Slaney faded, eventually finishing 10th. At 2,500 metres, Yvonne Murray of Scotland took the lead, pushing the pace to offset her lack of a sprint. Samolenko bided her time and on the final straight, powered past the field to win over Romania’s Paula Ivan, Murray getting the bronze medal.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	Final
1	548	Tetiana Samolenko	URS	8:44.18 (5 h2)	8:26.53 (1)	Gold	OR
2	466	Paula Ivan	ROU	8:43.10 (1 h2)	8:27.15 (2)	Silver
3	236	Yvonne Murray	GBR	8:43.73 (2 h2)	8:29.02 (3)	Bronze
4	546	Yelena Romanova	URS	8:48.47 (1 h1)	8:30.45 (4)
5	509	Nataliya Artyomova	URS	8:44.30 (6 h2)	8:31.67 (5)
6	573	Vicki Huber	USA	8:48.93 (5 h1)	8:37.25 (6)
7	246	Wendy Sly	GBR	8:49.71 (6 h1)	8:37.70 (7)
8	83	Lynn Williams	CAN	8:48.70 (4 h1)	8:38.43 (8)
9	323	Elly van Hulst	NED	8:48.54 (2 h1)	8:43.92 (9)
10	596	Mary Decker-Slaney	USA	8:44.15 (4 h2)	8:47.13 (10)
11	477	Cornelia Bürki	SUI	8:48.37 (9 h2)	8:48.32 (11)
12	179	Annette Sergent	FRA	8:45.94 (8 h2)	8:49.14 (12)
13	592	PattiSue Plumer	USA	8:45.21 (7 h2)	8:59.17 (13)
14	65	Angela Chalmers	CAN	8:48.60 (3 h1)	9:04.75 (14)
15	62	Debbie Bowker	CAN	8:43.81 (3 h2)	9:11.95 (15)
7 h1 r1/2	103	Wang Xiuting	CHN	8:54.19 (7 h1)	–
8 h1 r1/2	223	Jill Hunter	GBR	8:57.28 (8 h1)	–
9 h1 r1/2	442	Christine Pfitzinger	NZL	9:01.30 (9 h1)	–
10 h1 r1/2	18	Jackie Perkins	AUS	9:01.82 (10 h1)	–
10 h2 r1/2	191	Vera Michallek	FRG	8:51.34 (10 h2)	–
11 h1 r1/2	127	Andri Avraam	CYP	9:02.18 (11 h1)	–
11 h2 r1/2	86	Chen Qingmei	CHN	8:51.53 (11 h2)	–
12 h1 r1/2	140	Angelines Rodríguez	ESP	9:03.39 (12 h1)	–
12 h2 r1/2	350	Roberta Brunet	ITA	8:53.04 (12 h2)	–
13 h1 r1/2	461	Fernanda Ribeiro	POR	9:05.92 (13 h1)	–
13 h2 r1/2	340	Ann Keenan-Buckley	IRL	9:03.10 (13 h2)	–
14 h1 r1/2	383	Susan Sirma	KEN	9:06.90 (14 h1)	–
14 h2 r1/2	35	Khin Khin Htwe	MYA	9:26.57 (14 h2)	–
15 h1 r1/2	397	Im Chun-Ae	KOR	9:21.18 (15 h1)	–
15 h2 r1/2	471	Daphrose Nyiramutuzo	RWA	9:47.98 (15 h2)	–
16 h2 r1/2	607	Dikanda Diba	COD	10:32.88 (16 h2)	–
AC h1 r1/2	166	Marie-Pierre Duros	FRA	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h1 r1/2	468	Maricica Puică	ROU	– (DNF h1)	–
AC h2 r1/2	413	Fatima Aouam	MAR	– (DNF h2)	–
AC h2 r1/2	432	Poloni Avek	PNG	– (DNF h2)	–

Round One (23 September 1988)

Top six in each heat and next three fastest advanced to the final.

Heat One (14:55)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	9	Yelena Romanova	URS	8:48.47	Q
2	2	Elly van Hulst	NED	8:48.54	Q
3	14	Angela Chalmers	CAN	8:48.60	Q
4	4	Lynn Williams	CAN	8:48.70	Q
5	16	Vicki Huber	USA	8:48.93	Q
6	17	Wendy Sly	GBR	8:49.71	Q
7	3	Wang Xiuting	CHN	8:54.19
8	13	Jill Hunter	GBR	8:57.28
9	1	Christine Pfitzinger	NZL	9:01.30
10	11	Jackie Perkins	AUS	9:01.82
11	6	Andri Avraam	CYP	9:02.18
12	15	Angelines Rodríguez	ESP	9:03.39
13	5	Fernanda Ribeiro	POR	9:05.92
14	10	Susan Sirma	KEN	9:06.90
15	8	Im Chun-Ae	KOR	9:21.18
DNF	7	Maricica Puică	ROU	–
DNF	12	Marie-Pierre Duros	FRA	–

Splits

1000 m	3:01	–
2000 m	6:00	–

Heat Two (15:40)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	4	Paula Ivan	ROU	8:43.10	Q
2	10	Yvonne Murray	GBR	8:43.73	Q
3	13	Debbie Bowker	CAN	8:43.81	Q
4	11	Mary Decker-Slaney	USA	8:44.15	Q
5	15	Tetiana Samolenko	URS	8:44.18	Q
6	6	Nataliya Artyomova	URS	8:44.30	Q
7	5	PattiSue Plumer	USA	8:45.21	q
8	18	Annette Sergent	FRA	8:45.94	q
9	8	Cornelia Bürki	SUI	8:48.37	q
10	14	Vera Michallek	FRG	8:51.34
11	7	Chen Qingmei	CHN	8:51.53
12	2	Roberta Brunet	ITA	8:53.04
13	17	Ann Keenan-Buckley	IRL	9:03.10
14	16	Khin Khin Htwe	MYA	9:26.57
15	1	Daphrose Nyiramutuzo	RWA	9:47.98
16	3	Dikanda Diba	COD	10:32.88
DNF	9	Fatima Aouam	MAR	–
DNF	12	Poloni Avek	PNG	–

Splits

1000 m	2:55	–
2000 m	5:57	–

Final (25 September 1988 — 15:20)

Pos	Ord	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)
1	12	Tetiana Samolenko	URS	8:26.53	OR
2	3	Paula Ivan	ROU	8:27.15
3	11	Yvonne Murray	GBR	8:29.02
4	2	Yelena Romanova	URS	8:30.45
5	1	Nataliya Artyomova	URS	8:31.67
6	7	Vicki Huber	USA	8:37.25
7	4	Wendy Sly	GBR	8:37.70
8	13	Lynn Williams	CAN	8:38.43
9	10	Elly van Hulst	NED	8:43.92
10	6	Mary Decker-Slaney	USA	8:47.13
11	15	Cornelia Bürki	SUI	8:48.32
12	9	Annette Sergent	FRA	8:49.14
13	5	PattiSue Plumer	USA	8:59.17
14	14	Angela Chalmers	CAN	9:04.75
15	8	Debbie Bowker	CAN	9:11.95

Splits

1000 m	2:46.66	Mary Decker-Slaney
2000 m	5:44.08	Vicki Huber