# 1988 United States Olympic trials (track and field)

The 1988 United States Olympic trials for track and field were held at IU Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. This is the only time this venue has been used for the Olympic trials. With the 2013 installation of Field Turf, it is unlikely to host the event again. Organised by The Athletics Congress (TAC), the nine-day competition lasted from July 15 to 23. The national championships in track and field for the United States was a separate event that year, held a week earlier in Tampa, Florida, the last time the Olympic trials were not also the National Championships. The women's Marathon Olympic trials were held on May 1 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The men's Marathon trials were in Jersey City, New Jersey on April 24. That same day, the 50K Racewalk trials were held adjacent to the stadium.
The results of the event determined qualification for the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics held two and a half months later in Seoul, South Korea.
This meet is memorable as the site of Florence Griffith Joyner's world record 10.49 in the 100 metres. The record race, in the quarterfinal round, has been questioned because of the wind reading of 0.0 even though video of the race shows flags extended in the background. About the same time on a parallel runway, the final round of the men's triple jump was being conducted. Willie Banks jumped 18.20 m (59 ft 8+1⁄2 in) on his last attempt with a +5.2 wind reading, That jump has only been surpassed three times by two individuals. Over the four rounds, Griffith Joyner ran three separate races that are faster than any woman has ever run, except for her own, wind aided 10.54 +3.0 to win the 1988 Olympics.
This meet also had the only race where five men have run under 48 seconds for 400 metres hurdles.

## 1988 U.S. Olympic track and field trials results

1988 U.S. Olympic track and field trials results

### Men

Key: ≠ Athlete without "A" standard, not selected.

#### Men track events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 meters Wind +5.2 | Carl Lewis | 9.78w | Dennis Mitchell | 9.86w | Calvin Smith | 9.87w |
| 200 meters Wind +1.8 | Joe DeLoach | 19.96 | Carl Lewis | 20.01 | Roy Martin | 20.05 |
| 400 meters | Butch Reynolds | 43.93 | Danny Everett | 43.98 | Steve Lewis | 44.37 |
| 800 meters | Johnny Gray | 1:43.96 | Mark Everett | 1:44.46 | Tracy Baskin | 1:44.91 |
| 1500 meters | Jeff Atkinson | 3.40.94 | Steve Scott | 3.41.12 | Mark Deady | 3.41.31 |
| 5000 meters | Doug Padilla | 13.37.86 | Terry Brahm | 13.40.08 | Sydney Maree | 13.44.71 |
| 10,000 meters | Bruce Bickford | 29:07.25 | Steve Plasencia | 29:08.58 | Pat Porter | 29:09.02 |
| 110 m hurdles Wind +2.5 | Roger Kingdom | 13.21w | Tonie Campbell | 13.25w | Arthur Blake | 13.28w |
| 400 m hurdles | Edwin Moses | 47.37 | Andre Phillips | 47.58 | Kevin Young | 47.72 |
| 3000 m s'chase | Brian Abshire | 8.23.64 | Henry Marsh | 8.24.21 | Brian Diemer | 8.24.40 |
| 20K racewalk | Gary Morgan | 1:34:12 | Tim Lewis | 1:36:31 | Carl Schueler | 1:36:36 |
| 50K racewalk | Carl Schueler | 3:57:48 | Marco Evoniuk | 4:03:03 | Andy Kaestner | 4:05:07 |
| Marathon | Mark Conover | 2:12:26 | Ed Eyestone | 2:12:49 | Pete Pfitzinger | 2:13:09 |

#### Men field events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| High jump | Jim Howard | 2.34 m (7 ft 8 in) | Hollis Conway | 2.32 m (7 ft 7+1⁄4 in) | Brian Stanton | 2.32 m (7 ft 7+1⁄4 in) |
| Pole vault | Kory Tarpenning | 5.89 m (19 ft 3+3⁄4 in) | Earl Bell | 5.79 m (18 ft 11+3⁄4 in) | Billy Olson | 5.69 m (18 ft 8 in) |
| Long jump | Carl Lewis | 8.76 m (28 ft 8+3⁄4 in) +0.8 | Larry Myricks | 8.74 m (28 ft 8 in)w +1.4 | Mike Powell | 8.36 m (27 ft 5 in)w +2.8 |
| Triple jump | Willie Banks | 18.20 m (59 ft 8+1⁄2 in)w +5.2 | Charlie Simpkins | 17.93 m (58 ft 9+3⁄4 in)w +5.2 | Robert Cannon | 17.63 m (57 ft 10 in)w +4.3 |
| Shot put | Randy Barnes | 21.88 m (71 ft 9+1⁄4 in) | Gregg Tafralis | 20.88 m (68 ft 6 in) | Jim Doehring | 20.63 m (67 ft 8 in) |
| Discus throw | Mac Wilkins | 66.00 m (216 ft 6 in) | Mike Buncic | 65.30 m (214 ft 2 in) | Randy Heisler | 64.94 m (213 ft 0 in) |
| Hammer throw | Ken Flax | 77.28 m (253 ft 6 in) | Lance Deal | 75.64 m (248 ft 1 in) | Jud Logan | 75.10 m (246 ft 4 in) |
| Javelin throw | Dave Stephens | 79.66 m (261 ft 4 in) | Brian Crouser | 79.46 m (260 ft 8 in) | Tom Petranoff | 79.46 m (260 ft 8 in) |
| Decathlon | Gary Kinder | 8293 (10.82/7.20/16.34/2.02/49.74/14.95/47.72/5.00/66.32/4:55.39) | Tim Bright | 8287 (10.95/7.38/13.59/2.05/49.44/14.40/41.62/5.60/60.54/4:45.12) | Dave Johnson | 8245 (11.14/7.36/14.63/2.05/49.27/14.84/45.64/4.70/68.22/4:33.92) |

### Women
#### Women track events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 meters Wind +1.2 | Florence Griffith Joyner | 10.61 | Evelyn Ashford | 10.81 | Gwen Torrence | 10.91 |
Semi Final 1 (Wind +1.6 mps)
| Rank | Name | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Florence Griffith Joyner | 10.70 | |
| 2 | Evelyn Ashford | 10.85 | |
Semi Final 2 (Wind +1.3 mps)
| Rank | Name | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Sheila Echols | 10.99 | |
| 2 | Gwen Torrence | 11.00 | |
Quarter Final 1 (Wind +0.0 mps)
| Rank | Name | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Florence Griffith Joyner | 10.49 | WR |
| 2 | Diane Williams | 10.88 | |
| 3 | Gail Devers | 10.98 | |
Quarter Final 2 (Wind +0.0 mps)
| Rank | Name | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Sheila Echols | 10.83 | |
| 2 | Alice Brown | 10.92 | |
Quarter Final 3 (Wind +5.0 mps)
| Rank | Name | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Gwen Torrence | 10.78w | |
| 2 | Evelyn Ashford | 10.91w | |
Heat 1 (Wind +3.2 mps)
| Rank | Name | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Florence Griffith Joyner | 10.60w | |
| 2 | Danette Young | 11.16w | |
Heat 2 (Wind +3.9 mps)
| Rank | Name | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Sheila Echols | 10.83w | |
| 2 | Alice Brown | 10.88w | |
| 3 | Jeanette Bolden | 11.10w | |
| 4 | Angela Burnham | 11.26w | (Rio Mesa High School) |
Heat 3 (Wind +2.7 mps)
| Rank | Name | Time |
| 1 | Gwen Torrence | 10.93w |
| 2 | Diane Williams | 11.07w |
| 3 | Jennifer Inniss | 11.08w |
| 4 | Carlette Guidry | 11.24w |
Heat 4 (Wind +3.5 mps)
| Rank | Name | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Evelyn Ashford | 11.01 | |
| 2 | Gail Devers | 11.16 | |
| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 200 meters Wind +1.3 | Florence Griffith Joyner | 21.85 | Pam Marshall | 21.93 | Gwen Torrence | 22.02 |
Quarter Final 1 (Wind -0.1 mps)
| Rank | Name | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Florence Griffith Joyner | 21.77 | AR |
| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 400 meters | Diane Dixon | 50.38 | Denean Howard | 50.40 | Valerie Brisco | 50.53 |
| 800 meters | Kim Gallagher | 1:58.01 | Delisa Walton-Floyd | 1:59.20 | Joetta Clark | 1:59.93 |
| 1500 meters | Mary Slaney | 3:58.92 | Regina Jacobs | 4:00.46 | Kim Gallagher | 4:05.41 |
| 3000 meters | Mary Slaney | 8:42.53 | Vicki Huber | 8:46.48 | PattiSue Plumer | 8:49.21 |
| 10,000 meters | Lynn Nelson | 31:51.27 | Francie Larrieu-Smith | 32:03.63 | Lynn Jennings | 32:07.74 |
| 100 m hurdles Wind +0.1 | Jackie Humphrey | 12.88 | Gail Devers | 12.90 | LaVonna Martin | 12.93 |
| 400 m hurdles | Schowonda Williams | 54.93 | Leslie Maxie | 55.29 | LaTanya Sheffield | 55.70 |
| Marathon | Margaret Groos | 2:29:50 | Nancy Ditz | 2:30:14 | Cathy O'Brien | 2:30:16 |

#### Women field events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| High jump | Louise Ritter | 1.99 m (6 ft 6+1⁄4 in) | Trish King | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | Coleen Sommer | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) |
| Long jump | Jackie Joyner Kersee | 7.45 m (24 ft 5+1⁄4 in)w +2.6 | Sheila Echols | 6.88 m (22 ft 6+3⁄4 in) (2nd best 6.88w) +2.0 | Carol Lewis | 6.88 m (22 ft 6+3⁄4 in) (2nd best 6.85w) +1.6 |
| Triple jump | Niambi Dennis | 13.63 m (44 ft 8+1⁄2 in) | Shonda Swift | 13.61 m (44 ft 7+3⁄4 in) | Cynthea Rhodes | 13.54 m (44 ft 5 in) |
| Shot put | Ramona Pagel | 19.33 m (63 ft 5 in) | Bonnie Dasse | 18.83 m (61 ft 9+1⁄4 in) | Connie Price | 18.14 m (59 ft 6 in) |
| Discus throw | Connie Price | 61.28 m (201 ft 0 in) (2nd best 59.21) | Ramona Pagel | 61.28 m (201 ft 0 in) (2nd best 57.18) | Carol Cady | 60.66 m (199 ft 0 in) |
| Javelin throw | Donna Mayhew | 63.66 m (208 ft 10 in) | Karin Smith | 56.46 m (185 ft 2 in) | Lynda Sutfin | 56.08 m (183 ft 11 in) |
| Heptathlon | Jackie Joyner | 7215 WR (12.71/1.93/15.65/22.30/7.00/50.08/2:20.70) | Cindy Greiner | 6266 (13.63/1.87/13.51/24.69/6.36/40.40/2:20.63) | Wendy Brown | 6079 (13.77/1.81/12.86/24.76/6.36/45.88/2:28.80) |