# Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metres

The Women's 100m at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 64 competitors, with eight qualifying heats (64), four second-round races (32) and two semifinals (16), before the final (8) took off on Sunday September 25, 1988.

## Records

These were the standing World and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 10.49 | Florence Griffith-Joyner | Indianapolis (USA) | July 16, 1988 |
| Olympic Record | 10.97 | Evelyn Ashford | Los Angeles (USA) | August 5, 1984 |
The following Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Athlete | Time | OR |
| September 24, 1988 | Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) | 10.88 | OR |
| September 24, 1988 | Evelyn Ashford (USA) | 10.88 | =OR |
| September 24, 1988 | Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) | 10.62 | OR |

## Results
### Heats
#### Heat 1

Wind +1.1
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Anelia Nuneva | Bulgaria | 11.09 | Q |
| 2 | Grace Jackson | Jamaica | 11.18 | Q |
| 3 | Paula Dunn | Great Britain | 11.39 | Q |
| 4 | Tian Yumei | China | 11.56 | q |
| 5 | Voula Patoulidou | Greece | 11.85 | |
| 6 | Melvina Vulah | Liberia | 12.16 | |
| 7 | Félicite Bada | Benin | 12.27 | |
| 8 | Farida Kyakutewa | Uganda | 12.32 | |

#### Heat 2

Wind +0.4
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Pauline Davis | Bahamas | 11.20 | Q |
| 2 | Nelli Cooman | Netherlands | 11.22 | Q |
| 3 | Marlies Göhr | East Germany | 11.22 | Q |
| 4 | Jolanta Janota | Poland | 11.71 | |
| 5 | Sandy Myers | Spain | 11.86 | |
| 6 | Méryem Oumezdi | Morocco | 11.90 | |
| 7 | Yvette Bonapart | Suriname | 12.27 | |
| 8 | Aminata Diarra | Mali | 12.27 | |

#### Heat 3

Wind +0.0
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Gwen Torrence | United States | 11.12 | Q |
| 2 | Lyudmila Kondratyeva | Soviet Union | 11.19 | Q |
| 3 | Laurence Bily | France | 11.34 | Q |
| 4 | Amparo Caicedo | Colombia | 11.59 | q |
| 5 | Marisa Masullo | Italy | 11.71 | |
| 6 | Ewa Pisiewicz | Poland | 11.84 | |
| 7 | Ng Ka Yee | Hong Kong | 12.18 | |
| 8 | Jabou Jawo | The Gambia | 12.27 | |

#### Heat 4

Wind +1.1
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Juliet Cuthbert | Jamaica | 11.14 | Q |
| 2 | Silke Möller | East Germany | 11.27 | Q |
| 3 | Els Vader | Netherlands | 11.38 | Q |
| 4 | Sabine Richter | West Germany | 11.49 | q |
| 5 | Françoise Leroux | France | 11.58 | q |
| 6 | Lydia de Vega | Philippines | 11.67 | |
| 7 | Guilhermina da Cruz | Angola | 12.47 | |
| 8 | Erin Tierney | Cook Islands | 12.52 | |

#### Heat 5

Wind +0.1
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Evelyn Ashford | United States | 11.10 | Q |
| 2 | Marina Zhirova | Soviet Union | 11.22 | Q |
| 3 | Joanna Smolarek | Poland | 11.43 | Q |
| 4 | Andrea Thomas | West Germany | 11.46 | q |
| 5 | Julie Rocheleau | Canada | 11.60 | q |
| 6 | Gaily Dube | Zimbabwe | 12.07 | |
| 7 | Claudia Acerenza | Uruguay | 12.11 | |
| 8 | Judith Diankoléla-Missengué | Republic of the Congo | 12.14 | |

#### Heat 6

Wind +0.2
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Natalia Pomoshchnikova | Soviet Union | 11.11 | Q |
| 2 | Heike Drechsler | East Germany | 11.15 | Q |
| 3 | Simmone Jacobs | Great Britain | 11.56 | Q |
| 4 | Angela Williams | Trinidad and Tobago | 11.62 | q |
| 5 | Liu Shaomei | China | 11.66 | |
| 6 | Lee Young-sook | South Korea | 11.74 | |
| 7 | Joyce Odhiambo | Kenya | 11.90 | |
| 8 | Mariama Ouiminga | Burkina Faso | 12.62 | |

#### Heat 7

Wind +1.0
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Florence Griffith-Joyner | United States | 10.88 | Q, OR |
| 2 | Kerry Johnson | Australia | 11.44 | Q |
| 3 | Angela Bailey | Canada | 11.61 | Q |
| 4 | Patricia Girard | France | 11.65 | |
| 5 | Zhang Caihua | China | 11.84 | |
| 6 | Gisèle Ongollo | Gabon | 11.85 | |
| 7 | Chen Ya-li | Chinese Taipei | 12.16 | |
| 8 | Evelyn Farrell | Aruba | 12.48 | |

#### Heat 8

Wind +0.1
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Merlene Ottey | Jamaica | 11.03 | Q |
| 2 | Ulrike Sarvari | West Germany | 11.26 | Q |
| 3 | Angella Issajenko | Canada | 11.42 | Q |
| 4 | Dinah Yankey | Ghana | 11.64 | q |
| 5 | Rossella Tarolo | Italy | 11.86 | |
| 6 | Helen Miles | Great Britain | 11.88 | |
| 7 | Olivette Daruhi | Vanuatu | 13.00 | |
| 8 | Mala Sakonhninhom | Laos | 15.12 | |

### Quarterfinals
#### Quarterfinal 1

Wind +0.5
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Heike Drechsler | East Germany | 10.96 | Q |
| 2 | Merlene Ottey | Jamaica | 11.03 | Q |
| 3 | Ulrike Sarvari | West Germany | 11.16 | Q |
| 4 | Pauline Davis | Bahamas | 11.21 | Q |
| 5 | Angela Bailey | Canada | 11.29 | |
| 6 | Els Vader | Netherlands | 11.51 | |
| 7 | Tian Yumei | China | 11.55 | |
| 8 | Françoise Leroux | France | 11.75 | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

Wind +1.6
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Evelyn Ashford | United States | 10.88 | Q, =OR |
| 2 | Natalia Pomoishchnikova | Soviet Union | 10.98 | Q |
| 3 | Marlies Göhr | East Germany | 10.99 | Q |
| 4 | Nelli Cooman | Netherlands | 11.08 | Q |
| 5 | Angella Issajenko | Canada | 11.27 | |
| 6 | Joanna Smolarek | Poland | 11.35 | |
| 7 | Angela Williams | Trinidad and Tobago | 11.45 | |
| 8 | Amparo Caicedo | Colombia | 11.65 | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

Wind +1.0
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Florence Griffith-Joyner | United States | 10.62 | Q, OR |
| 2 | Juliet Cuthbert | Jamaica | 11.03 | Q |
| 3 | Lyudmila Kondratyeva | Soviet Union | 11.05 | Q |
| 4 | Silke Möller | East Germany | 11.10 | Q |
| 5 | Simmone Jacobs | Great Britain | 11.31 | |
| 6 | Laurence Bily | France | 11.35 | |
| 7 | Andrea Thomas | West Germany | 11.37 | |
| 8 | Dinah Yankey | Ghana | 11.63 | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

Wind +0.0
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Anelia Nuneva | Bulgaria | 10.96 | Q |
| 2 | Gwen Torrence | United States | 10.99 | Q |
| 3 | Grace Jackson | Jamaica | 11.13 | Q |
| 4 | Marina Zhirova | Soviet Union | 11.14 | Q |
| 5 | Paula Dunn | Great Britain | 11.37 | |
| 6 | Kerry Johnson | Australia | 11.42 | |
| 7 | Sabine Richter | West Germany | 11.59 | |
| 8 | Julie Rocheleau | Canada | 11.75 | |

### Semifinals
#### Semifinal 1

Wind +0.5
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Evelyn Ashford | United States | 10.99 | Q |
| 2 | Anelia Nuneva | Bulgaria | 11.00 | Q |
| 3 | Gwen Torrence | United States | 11.02 | Q |
| 4 | Juliet Cuthbert | Jamaica | 11.10 | Q |
| 5 | Silke Möller | East Germany | 11.12 | |
| 6 | Marlies Göhr | East Germany | 11.13 | |
| 7 | Lyudmila Kondratyeva | Soviet Union | 11.21 | |
| 8 | Marina Zhirova | Soviet Union | 11.24 | |

#### Semifinal 2

Wind +2.6
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Florence Griffith-Joyner | United States | 10.70 | Q |
| 2 | Heike Drechsler | East Germany | 10.91 | Q |
| 3 | Natalia Pomoshchnikova | Soviet Union | 11.03 | Q |
| 4 | Grace Jackson | Jamaica | 11.06 | Q |
| 5 | Ulrike Sarvari | West Germany | 11.12 | |
| 6 | Pauline Davis | Bahamas | 11.12 | |
| 7 | Nelli Cooman | Netherlands | 11.13 | |
| — | Merlene Ottey | Jamaica | DNS | |

### Final

Wind +3.0
| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| | 3 | Florence Griffith-Joyner | United States | 10.54 |
| | 6 | Evelyn Ashford | United States | 10.83 |
| | 5 | Heike Drechsler | East Germany | 10.85 |
| 4 | 8 | Grace Jackson | Jamaica | 10.97 |
| 5 | 1 | Gwen Torrence | United States | 10.97 |
| 6 | 2 | Natalia Pomoshchnikova | Soviet Union | 11.00 |
| 7 | 7 | Juliet Cuthbert | Jamaica | 11.26 |
| 8 | 4 | Anelia Nuneva | Bulgaria | 11.49 |