800 metres Wheelchair, Women

This was the third time wheelchair racing was held as a demonstration event on the athletics program at the Olympics, after 1984 and 1988. The women raced 800 metres on the track with eight competitors. The event was won by Denmark’s Connie Hansen, who had finished second in this event in 1988, in a world record 1:55.62. Hansen competed at the Paralympics from 1984-92, winning nine gold medals and 14 medals in all. The runner-up was American Jean Driscoll, who would eventually win five golds in the Paralympics, but was better known as a marathon racer, winning the Boston Marathon eight times, with seven consecutive from 1990-96.