# Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metres

The Women's 200 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 60 competitors, with eight qualifying heats (60), four second-round races (32) and two semi-finals (16), before the final (8) took off on Thursday September 29, 1988.
The winning margin was 0.38 seconds which as of 2023 remains the only time the women's Olympic 200 metres has been won by more than 0.3 seconds since the introduction of fully automatic timing.
At the 1988 Olympic Trials, her 21.77 American record already showed Florence Griffith-Joyner was going to be a contender against the East Germans who had dominated the sprints for the previous decade. Marita Koch had retired but her equal Heike Drechsler was here. In the quarter-final round, Griffith-Joyner improved to 21.76, but then she had set the world record in the 100 metres. The semi-finals the following day showed she had more, her 21.56 was a .15 improvement on the world record. More than a quarter century later, the time still stands as the second fastest 200 metres ever run by a woman. The final was more impressive, Griffith-Joyner gradually making up the stagger on Grace Jackson to her outside and Merlene Ottey running about equal through the turn. From there she simply pulled away from the best in the world. The tall Jackson was able to separate from her Jamaican teammate but was still three long steps behind Griffith-Joyner. Inhibited by the tight turn of lane 1, Drechsler made a late rush on the inside to catch Ottey for bronze.
21.34 knocked another .22 off her world record from earlier in the day (.37 taken from the world record on one day). The time has never been approached since. Jackson, in second place in this race missed the previous world record by .01 and did not look in contention. Five women have since surpassed Koch and Drechsler's world record, including fourth place Ottey twice.

## Medalists

| Gold | Florence Griffith-Joyner United States |
| Silver | Grace Jackson Jamaica |
| Bronze | Heike Drechsler East Germany |

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 21.71 | Marita Koch | Karl-Marx-Stadt (GDR) | June 10, 1979 |
| Olympic Record | 21.81 | Valerie Brisco-Hooks | Los Angeles (USA) | August 9, 1984 |
The following World and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Athlete | Time | OR | WR |
| September 28, 1988 | Quarterfinal | Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) | 21.76 s | OR | |
| September 29, 1988 | Semifinal | Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) | 21.56 s | OR | WR |
| September 29, 1988 | Final | Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) | 21.34 s | OR | WR |

## Results
### Heats

First 3 from each heat (Q) and the next 8 fastest (q) qualified for the quarterfinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Florence Griffith-Joyner | United States | 22.51 | Q |
| 2 | 6 | Grace Jackson | Jamaica | 22.66 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Nadezhda Georgieva | Bulgaria | 22.80 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Mary Onyali | Nigeria | 22.82 | Q |
| 5 | 3 | Galina Malchugina | Soviet Union | 22.85 | Q |
| 6 | 7 | Gwen Torrence | United States | 22.87 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | Andrea Thomas | West Germany | 22.92 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | Heike Drechsler | East Germany | 22.93 | Q |
| 9 | 6 | Maya Azarachvili | Soviet Union | 22.98 | Q |
| 10 | 4 | Merlene Ottey | Jamaica | 23.06 | Q |
| 11 | 3 | Silke Möller | East Germany | 23.07 | Q |
| 12 | 7 | Pauline Davis | Bahamas | 23.08 | Q |
| 13 | 1 | Agnieszka Siwek | Poland | 23.10 | Q |
| 14 | 1 | Falilat Ogunkoya | Nigeria | 23.12 | Q |
| 15 | 5 | Katrin Krabbe | East Germany | 23.14 | Q |
| 16 | 5 | Muriel Leroy | France | 23.19 | Q |
| 17 | 7 | Kerry Johnson | Australia | 23.20 | Q |
| 18 | 5 | Regula Aebi | Switzerland | 23.22 | q |
| 19 | 8 | Paula Dunn | Great Britain | 23.32 | Q |
| 20 | 3 | Jolanta Janota | Poland | 23.40 | Q |
| 21 | 7 | Simmone Jacobs | Great Britain | 23.47 | q |
| 22 | 4 | Marie-José Pérec | France | 23.49 | Q |
| 23 | 7 | Marie-Christine Cazier-Ballo | France | 23.50 | q |
| 24 | 4 | Silke Knoll | West Germany | 23.51 | Q |
| 25 | 3 | Jocelyn Joseph | Antigua and Barbuda | 23.57 | q |
| 26 | 3 | Marisa Masullo | Italy | 23.58 | q |
| 27 | 2 | Rita Angotzi | Italy | 23.59 | q |
| 28 | 4 | Louise Stuart | Great Britain | 23.61 | q |
| 29 | 8 | Maria Magnólia Figueiredo | Brazil | 23.71 | Q |
| 30 | 1 | Angela Williams | Trinidad and Tobago | 23.76 | q |
| 31 | 6 | Norfalia Carabalí | Colombia | 23.78 | Q |
| 32 | 6 | Yolande Straughn | Barbados | 23.81 | |
| 33 | 8 | Karin Janke | West Germany | 23.83 | Q |
| 34 | 1 | Ximena Restrepo | Colombia | 24.00 | |
| 35 | 8 | Xie Zhiling | China | 24.01 | |
| 36 | 2 | Marina Skordi | Greece | 24.06 | |
| 37 | 5 | Zhang Xiaoqiong | China | 24.08 | |
| 38 | 4 | Joyce Odhiambo | Kenya | 24.26 | |
| 39 | 4 | Oliver Acii | Uganda | 24.39 | |
| 40 | 6 | Gaily Dube | Zimbabwe | 24.42 | |
| 41 | 7 | Claudia Acerenza | Uruguay | 24.46 | |
| 42 | 2 | Ruth Morris | Virgin Islands | 24.51 | |
| 43 | 2 | Agnes Griffith | Grenada | 24.79 | |
| 44 | 6 | Yvonne Hasler | Liechtenstein | 24.91 | |
| 45 | 3 | U Yang-ja | South Korea | 24.94 | |
| 46 | 5 | Ivette Bonapart | Suriname | 24.95 | |
| 47 | 7 | Chen Ya-Li | Chinese Taipei | 25.03 | |
| 48 | 4 | Judith Diankolela-Missengui | Republic of the Congo | 25.20 | |
| 49 | 2 | Ng Ka Yi | Hong Kong | 25.35 | |
| 50 | 1 | Felicite Bada | Benin | 25.42 | |
| 51 | 3 | Melvina Wulah | Liberia | 25.46 | |
| 52 | 5 | Guilhermina da Cruz | Angola | 25.62 | |
| 53 | 4 | Evelyn Farrell | Aruba | 25.74 | |
| 54 | 6 | Aminata Diarra | Mali | 25.81 | |
| 55 | 1 | Mariama Ouiminga | Burkina Faso | 26.08 | |
| 56 | 3 | Erin Tierney | Cook Islands | 26.16 | |
| 57 | 8 | Olivette Daruhi | Vanuatu | 26.88 | |
| 58 | 8 | Rosa Mbuamangongo | Equatorial Guinea | 31.12 | |
| | 8 | Pamela Marshall | United States | DNF | |
| | 6 | Maree Holland | Australia | DNS | |

### Quarterfinals

First 4 from each heat qualified directly (Q) for the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Florence Griffith-Joyner | United States | 21.76 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Grace Jackson | Jamaica | 22.24 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Gwen Torrence | United States | 22.25 | Q |
| 4 | 2 | Merlene Ottey | Jamaica | 22.30 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Maya Azarachvili | Soviet Union | 22.37 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Heike Drechsler | East Germany | 22.38 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | Nadezhda Georgieva | Bulgaria | 22.60 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Katrin Krabbe | East Germany | 22.67 | Q |
| 9 | 4 | Galina Malchugina | Soviet Union | 22.77 | Q |
| 10 | 3 | Andrea Thomas | West Germany | 22.84 | Q |
| 11 | 3 | Silke Möller | East Germany | 22.86 | Q |
| 12 | 1 | Regula Aebi | Switzerland | 22.88 | Q |
| 12 | 2 | Falilat Ogunkoya | Nigeria | 22.88 | |
| 14 | 4 | Mary Onyali | Nigeria | 22.89 | Q |
| 15 | 4 | Pauline Davis | Bahamas | 22.92 | Q |
| 16 | 4 | Agnieszka Siwek | Poland | 22.96 | Q |
| 17 | 1 | Kerry Johnson | Australia | 23.01 | |
| 18 | 3 | Paula Dunn | Great Britain | 23.04 | Q |
| 19 | 1 | Silke Knoll | West Germany | 23.15 | |
| 20 | 3 | Muriel Leroy | France | 23.22 | |
| 21 | 2 | Rita Angotzi | Italy | 23.33 | |
| 22 | 2 | Jolanta Janota | Poland | 23.34 | |
| 23 | 4 | Simmone Jacobs | Great Britain | 23.38 | |
| 24 | 1 | Angela Williams | Trinidad and Tobago | 23.48 | |
| 25 | 3 | Marisa Masullo | Italy | 23.52 | |
| 26 | 2 | Louise Stuart | Great Britain | 23.59 | |
| 26 | 3 | Jocelyn Joseph | Antigua and Barbuda | 23.59 | |
| 28 | 1 | Marie-Christine Cazier-Ballo | France | 23.63 | |
| 29 | 4 | Maria Magnólia Figueiredo | Brazil | 23.67 | |
| 30 | 4 | Karin Janke | West Germany | 23.87 | |
| 31 | 3 | Norfalia Carabalí | Colombia | 23.96 | |
| 32 | 4 | Marie-José Pérec | France | 24.22 | |

### Semi finals

| RANK | HEAT 1 | TIME |
| 1. | Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) | 21.56(WR) |
| 2. | Merlene Ottey (JAM) | 22.07 |
| 3. | Silke Möller (GDR) | 22.15 |
| 4. | Maya Azarachvili (URS) | 22.33 |
| 5. | Mary Onyali (NGR) | 22.43 |
| 6. | Katrin Krabbe (GDR) | 22.59 |
| 7. | Pauline Davis (BAH) | 22.67 |
| 8. | Andrea Thomas (FRG) | 22.91 |
| RANK | HEAT 2 | TIME |
| 1. | Grace Jackson (JAM) | 22.13 |
| 2. | Heike Drechsler (GDR) | 22.27 |
| 3. | Gwen Torrence (USA) | 22.53 |
| 4. | Galina Malchugina (URS) | 22.55 |
| 5. | Nadezhda Georgieva (BUL) | 22.67 |
| 6. | Paula Dunn (GBR) | 23.14 |
| 7. | Agnieszka Siwek (POL) | 23.20 |
| 8. | Regula Aebi (SUI) | 23.33 |

### Final

| RANK | FINAL | TIME |
| | Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) | 21.34 (WR) |
| | Grace Jackson (JAM) | 21.72 |
| | Heike Drechsler (GDR) | 21.95 |
| 4. | Merlene Ottey (JAM) | 21.99 |
| 5. | Silke Möller (GDR) | 22.09 |
| 6. | Gwen Torrence (USA) | 22.17 |
| 7. | Maya Azarachvili (URS) | 22.33 |
| 8. | Galina Malchugina (URS) | 22.42 |