| | Event type

Javelin Throw, Women

Date	25 – 26 September 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Ol-lim-pik Ju-gyeong-gi-jang, Seoul Sports Complex, Seoul
Participants	29 from 18 countries

Fatima Whitbread (GBR) had won the two biggest meets since the 1984 Olympics – the 1986 Europeans and the 1987 Worlds, and set a world record in winning the 1986 European title. But the best thrower in the world for the past four years had been Petra Felke (GDR) who had won 69 of 76 meets in that time, although with three losses coming to Whitbread. Felke had set four world records, culminating with a precise 80 metres (262-5¾) a few weeks before the Seoul Olympics. The competition was expected to be close between the two, and Whitbread led the qualifiers with 68.04 (223-2¾) with Felke second with 67.06 (220-0¼). But Felke settled the gold medal in round one by throwing 72.62 (238-3¼). She bettered that with 74.68 (245-0¼) in the second round but Whitbread could not approach those marks, finishing with 70.32 (230-8½) in the final round to secure second place.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Qualifying	Final
1	263	Petra Felke	GDR	67.06 (2)	74.68 (1)	Gold	OR
2	253	Fatima Whitbread	GBR	68.44 (1)	70.32 (2)	Silver
3	272	Beate Koch	GDR	66.86 (3)	67.30 (3)	Bronze
4	529	Irina Kostyuchenkova	URS	63.24 (9)	67.00 (4)
5	284	Silke Renk	GDR	63.64 (7)	66.38 (5)
6	519	Nataliya Yermolovich	URS	64.44 (5)	64.84 (6)
7	587	Donna Mayhew	USA	61.56 (12)	61.78 (7)
8	202	Ingrid Thyssen	FRG	63.32 (8)	60.76 (8)
9	484	Denise Thiémard	SUI	61.74 (11)	58.54 (9)
10	143	Päivi Alafrantti	FIN	62.82 (10)	58.20 (10)
11	52	Antoaneta Selenska	BUL	64.60 (4)	56.78 (11)
12	328	Zsuzsa Malovecz	HUN	64.30 (6)	54.58 (12)
13 QR	149	Tuula Laaksalo	FIN	60.64 (13)	–
14 QR	192	Beate Peters	FRG	60.20 (14)	–
15 QR	150	Tiina Lillak	FIN	60.06 (15)	–
16 QR	24	Laverne Eve	BAH	60.02 (16)	–
17 QR	93	Li Baolian	CHN	58.92 (17)	–
18 QR	437	Trine Solberg	NOR	58.82 (18)	–
19 QR	303	Anna Verouli	GRE	58.52 (19)	–
20 QR	597	Karin Smith	USA	57.94 (20)	–
21 QR	241	Tessa Sanderson	GBR	56.70 (21)	–
22 QR	113	Zhou Yuanxiang	CHN	56.36 (22)	–
23 QR	377	Emi Matsui	JPN	56.26 (23)	–
24 QR	599	Lynda Hughes Sutfin	USA	56.12 (24)	–
25 QR	218	Sharon Gibson	GBR	56.00 (25)	–
26 QR	344	Íris Grönfeldt	ISL	54.28 (26)	–
27 QR	66	Céline Chartrand	CAN	54.10 (27)	–
28 QR	404	Yu Chun-Ok	KOR	48.26 (28)	–
AC QR	158	Nadine Auzeil-Schoellkopf	FRA	– (NM)	–

Qualifying Round

Date	25 September 1988
Format	Top 12 and ties and all those reaching 63.00 metres advanced to the final round.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Distance
1	253	Fatima Whitbread	GBR	68.44	Q
2	263	Petra Felke	GDR	67.06	Q
3	272	Beate Koch	GDR	66.86	Q
4	52	Antoaneta Selenska	BUL	64.60	Q
5	519	Nataliya Yermolovich	URS	64.44	Q
6	328	Zsuzsa Malovecz	HUN	64.30	Q
7	284	Silke Renk	GDR	63.64	Q
8	202	Ingrid Thyssen	FRG	63.32	Q
9	529	Irina Kostyuchenkova	URS	63.24	Q
10	143	Päivi Alafrantti	FIN	62.82	q
11	484	Denise Thiémard	SUI	61.74	q
12	587	Donna Mayhew	USA	61.56	q
13	149	Tuula Laaksalo	FIN	60.64
14	192	Beate Peters	FRG	60.20
15	150	Tiina Lillak	FIN	60.06
16	24	Laverne Eve	BAH	60.02
17	93	Li Baolian	CHN	58.92
18	437	Trine Solberg	NOR	58.82
19	303	Anna Verouli	GRE	58.52
20	597	Karin Smith	USA	57.94
21	241	Tessa Sanderson	GBR	56.70
22	113	Zhou Yuanxiang	CHN	56.36
23	377	Emi Matsui	JPN	56.26
24	599	Lynda Hughes Sutfin	USA	56.12
25	218	Sharon Gibson	GBR	56.00
26	344	Íris Grönfeldt	ISL	54.28
27	66	Céline Chartrand	CAN	54.10
28	404	Yu Chun-Ok	KOR	48.26
NM	158	Nadine Auzeil-Schoellkopf	FRA	–

Group A

Date	25 September 1988 — 14:15

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance
1	7	Petra Felke	GDR	67.06	67.06	p	p
2	8	Beate Koch	GDR	66.86	66.86	p	p
3	2	Nataliya Yermolovich	URS	64.44	x	64.44	p
4	13	Zsuzsa Malovecz	HUN	64.30	64.30	p	p
5	1	Denise Thiémard	SUI	61.74	55.18	61.74	55.60
6	5	Tuula Laaksalo	FIN	60.64	57.34	60.64	54.66
7	12	Beate Peters	FRG	60.20	x	x	60.20
8	11	Laverne Eve	BAH	60.02	x	57.48	60.02
9	15	Trine Solberg	NOR	58.82	57.76	56.90	58.82
10	3	Anna Verouli	GRE	58.52	57.60	58.52	x
11	9	Tessa Sanderson	GBR	56.70	54.18	56.70	56.26
12	6	Zhou Yuanxiang	CHN	56.36	53.66	52.80	56.36
13	14	Lynda Hughes Sutfin	USA	56.12	56.08	56.12	x
14	4	Céline Chartrand	CAN	54.10	47.64	46.18	54.10
NM	10	Nadine Auzeil-Schoellkopf	FRA	–	x	x	x

Group B

Date	25 September 1988 — 15:45

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance
1	8	Fatima Whitbread	GBR	68.44	54.90	x	68.44
2	3	Antoaneta Selenska	BUL	64.60	50.84	61.62	64.60
3	14	Silke Renk	GDR	63.64	63.64	p	p
4	11	Ingrid Thyssen	FRG	63.32	63.32	p	p
5	9	Irina Kostyuchenkova	URS	63.24	58.56	x	63.24
6	7	Päivi Alafrantti	FIN	62.82	62.82	58.54	59.82
7	6	Donna Mayhew	USA	61.56	61.56	60.62	59.08
8	10	Tiina Lillak	FIN	60.06	60.06	x	55.52
9	1	Li Baolian	CHN	58.92	56.64	58.92	56.62
10	2	Karin Smith	USA	57.94	56.42	53.86	57.94
11	12	Emi Matsui	JPN	56.26	50.70	x	56.26
12	4	Sharon Gibson	GBR	56.00	56.00	50.74	53.20
13	13	Íris Grönfeldt	ISL	54.28	x	54.28	50.84
14	5	Yu Chun-Ok	KOR	48.26	x	44.92	48.26

Final Round

Date	26 September 1988 — 15:00

Pos	Start Order	Competitor	NOC	Distance	Round #1 Distance	Round #2 Distance	Round #3 Distance	Round #4 Distance	Round #5 Distance	Round #6 Distance
1	11	Petra Felke	GDR	74.68	72.62	74.68	66.12	66.76	71.12	68.38	OR
2	7	Fatima Whitbread	GBR	70.32	61.98	67.46	66.58	64.86	67.82	70.32
3	3	Beate Koch	GDR	67.30	67.30	65.66	66.48	62.04	65.64	66.02
4	10	Irina Kostyuchenkova	URS	67.00	64.34	67.00	63.12	63.42	63.10	x
5	4	Silke Renk	GDR	66.38	60.86	58.74	63.98	64.60	64.74	66.38
6	1	Nataliya Yermolovich	URS	64.84	64.84	x	x	x	x	p
7	8	Donna Mayhew	USA	61.78	57.52	x	61.78	59.72	x	56.74
8	12	Ingrid Thyssen	FRG	60.76	60.76	60.12	56.66	x	59.64	58.28
9	2	Denise Thiémard	SUI	58.54	57.58	57.20	58.54	–	–	–
10	6	Päivi Alafrantti	FIN	58.20	58.20	55.86	56.46	–	–	–
11	9	Antoaneta Selenska	BUL	56.78	56.78	x	x	–	–	–
12	5	Zsuzsa Malovecz	HUN	54.58	x	54.58	x	–	–	–