# Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's marathon

The Women's Marathon at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea was held on Friday September 23, 1988. The race started at 09.30h local time and was won by 13 seconds by Rosa Mota of Portugal. There were 70 competitors from 39 countries, with 64 finishers.

## Medalists

| Gold | Rosa Mota Portugal |
| Silver | Lisa Martin Australia |
| Bronze | Katrin Dörre East Germany |

## Abbreviations

* All times shown are in hours:minutes:seconds
| DNS | did not start |
| NM | no mark |
| OR | olympic record |
| WR | world record |
| AR | area record |
| NR | national record |
| PB | personal best |
| SB | season best |

## Records

Standing records prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics :
| World Record | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 2:21:06 | April 21, 1985 | London, United Kingdom |
| Olympic Record | Joan Benoit (USA) | 2:24:52 | August 5, 1984 | Los Angeles, United States |
| Season Best | Lisa Ondieki (AUS) | 2:23:51 | January 31, 1988 | Osaka, Japan |

## Final rankings

| Place | Athlete | Country | Time |
| | Rosa Mota | Portugal | 2:25:40 |
| | Lisa Martin | Australia | 2:25:53 |
| | Katrin Dörre | East Germany | 2:26:21 |
| 4 | Tatyana Polovinskaya | Soviet Union | 2:27:05 |
| 5 | Zhao Youfeng | China | 2:27:06 |
| 6 | Laura Fogli | Italy | 2:27:49 |
| 7 | Danièle Kaber | Luxembourg | 2:29:23 |
| 8 | Maria Curatolo | Italy | 2:30:14 |
| 9 | Zoya Ivanova | Soviet Union | 2:30:25 |
| 10 | Angie Pain | Great Britain | 2:30:51 |
| 11 | Odette Lapierre | Canada | 2:30:56 |
| 12 | Susan Tooby | Great Britain | 2:31:33 |
| 13 | Karolina Szabo | Hungary | 2:32:26 |
| 14 | Françoise Bonnet | France | 2:32:36 |
| 15 | Lee Mi-Ok | South Korea | 2:32:51 |
| 16 | Raisa Smekhnova | Soviet Union | 2:33:19 |
| 17 | Nancy Ditz | United States | 2:33:42 |
| 18 | Maria Rebelo-Lelut | France | 2:33:47 |
| 19 | Jocelyne Villeton | France | 2:34:02 |
| 20 | Conceição Ferreira | Portugal | 2:34:23 |
| 21 | Kerstin Preßler | West Germany | 2:34:26 |
| 22 | Wanda Panfil | Poland | 2:34:35 |
| 23 | Antonella Bizioli | Italy | 2:34:38 |
| 24 | Evy Palm | Sweden | 2:34:41 |
| 25 | Eriko Asai | Japan | 2:34:41 |
| 26 | Lizanne Bussieres | Canada | 2:35:03 |
| 27 | Gabriela Wolf | West Germany | 2:35:11 |
| 28 | Kumi Araki | Japan | 2:35:15 |
| 29 | Misako Miyahara | Japan | 2:35:26 |
| 30 | Zhong Huandi | China | 2:36:02 |
| 31 | Ellen Rochefort | Canada | 2:36:44 |
| 32 | Susan Crehan | Great Britain | 2:36:57 |
| 33 | Lorraine Moller | New Zealand | 2:37:52 |
| 34 | Carla Beurskens | Netherlands | 2:37:52 |
| 35 | Magda Ilands | Belgium | 2:38:02 |
| 36 | Sissel Grottenberg | Norway | 2:38:17 |
| 37 | Im Eun-ju | South Korea | 2:38:21 |
| 38 | Marcianne Mukamurenzi | Rwanda | 2:40:12 |
| 39 | Margaret Groos | United States | 2:40:59 |
| 40 | Cathy O'Brien | United States | 2:41:04 |
| 41 | Tuija Jousimaa | Finland | 2:43:00 |
| 42 | Sinikka Keskitalo | Finland | 2:43:00 |
| 43 | Blanca Jaime | Mexico | 2:43:00 |
| 44 | Angélica de Almeida | Brazil | 2:43:40 |
| 45 | Ludmila Melicherová | Czechoslovakia | 2:43:56 |
| 46 | Ailish Smyth | Ireland | 2:44:17 |
| 47 | Genoveva Eichenmann | Switzerland | 2:44:37 |
| 48 | Rosmarie Müller | Switzerland | 2:47:31 |
| 49 | Pascaline Wangui | Kenya | 2:47:42 |
| 50 | Apollinarie Nyinawabéra | Rwanda | 2:49:18 |
| 51 | Maryse Justin | Mauritius | 2:50:00 |
| 52 | Michelle Bush | Cayman Islands | 2:51:30 |
| 53 | María del Pilar | Guatemala | 2:51:33 |
| 54 | Li Juan | China | 2:53:08 |
| 55 | Linda Hunter | Zimbabwe | 2:53:17 |
| 56 | Cornelia Melis | Aruba | 2:53:24 |
| 57 | Marie Murphy-Rollins | Ireland | 2:54:37 |
| 58 | Kriscia García | El Salvador | 3:04:21 |
| 59 | Julie Ogborn | Guam | 3:06:05 |
| 60 | Raj Kumari Pandey | Nepal | 3:10:31 |
| 61 | Menuka Rawat | Nepal | 3:11:17 |
| 62 | Arlene Vincent Mark | Grenada | 3:23:56 |
| 63 | Lourdes Klitzkie | Guam | 3:25:32 |
| 64 | Mariana Ysrael | Guam | 3:42:23 |
| – | Grete Waitz | Norway | DNF |
| – | Agnes Pardaens | Belgium | DNF |
| – | Kim Mi-gyeong | South Korea | DNF |
| – | Aurora Cunha | Portugal | DNF |
| – | Bente Moe | Norway | DNF |
| – | Mar Mar Min | Burma | DNF |
| – | Birgit Stephan | East Germany | DNS |
| – | Katerina Pratsi | Cyprus | DNS |