100 / 80 metres Hurdles (100 m), Women

At the 1991 World Championships, Lyudmila Narozhilenko (EUN/RUS) defeated Gail Devers (USA) in a very close finish. In Barcelona, Devers won the 100 metres and looked formidable for the hurdles, especially when Narozhilenko had to withdraw from the semis after pulling a hamstring in the quarter-finals. In the final, Devers had her way for the first nine hurdles. But she hit the 10th barrier and stumbled all the way to the finish line, finally falling and half crawling across the finish line. Behind Devers, Greece’s Paraskevi )Voula) Patoulidou outlasted the USA’s LaVonna Martin and defending champion Yordanka Donkova, who won the silver and bronze medals. Devers’ crawling/falling got her fifth place. Patoulidou was a most unlikely winner. Prior to the Olympics her best time had been only 12.96, which she bettered with 12.88 in the semis, and shattered in the final with 12.64. Her best previous finish at an international meet had been fifth at the 1992 Balkan Games.