# 1988 in the sport of athletics

This article contains an overview of the year 1988 in athletics.

## International events

* African Championships
* Balkan Games
* European Indoor Championships
* Olympic Games
* World Cross Country Championships
* World Junior Championships

## World records
### Men

| EVENT | ATHLETE | MARK | DATE | VENUE |
| 100 metres | Carl Lewis (USA) | 9.92 | 24 September | Seoul, South Korea |
| 400 metres | Butch Reynolds (USA) | 43.29 | 17 August | Zürich, Switzerland |
| 4 × 400 metres relay | United States (USA) • Danny Everett • Steve Lewis • Kevin Robinzine • Butch Reynolds | 2:56.16 | 1 October | Seoul, South Korea |
| High Jump | Javier Sotomayor (CUB) | 2.43m | 8 September | Salamanca, Spain |
| Pole vault | Sergey Bubka (URS) | 6.05m | 9 June | Bratislava, Czechoslovakia |
| Pole vault | Sergey Bubka (URS) | 6.06m | 10 July | Nice, France |
| Shot put | Ulf Timmermann (GDR) | 23.06m | 22 May | Chania, Greece |
| Marathon | Belayneh Dinsamo (ETH) | 2:06:50 | 17 April | Rotterdam, Netherlands |
* Carl Lewis finished behind Ben Johnson (9.79) who was disqualified for a failed drugs test
* 4 × 400 team equalled the record by the United States on October 20, 1968, by Vincent Matthews, Ron Freeman, Larry James and Lee Evans.

### Women

| EVENT | ATHLETE | MARK | DATE | VENUE |
| 100 metres | Florence Griffith Joyner (USA) | 10.49 | 16 July | Indianapolis, United States |
| 200 metres | Florence Griffith Joyner (USA) | 21.56 | 29 September | Seoul, South Korea |
| 200 metres | Florence Griffith Joyner (USA) | 21.34 | 29 September | Seoul, South Korea |
| 25,000 metres | Karolina Szabó (HUN) | 1:29:29.2 | 22 April | Budapest, Hungary |
| 30,000 metres | Karolina Szabó (HUN) | 1:47:05.6 | 22 April | Budapest, Hungary |
| 100 metres hurdles | Yordanka Donkova (BUL) | 12.21 | 20 August | Stara Zagora, Bulgaria |
| 4 × 400 m Relay | Soviet Union (URS) • Tatyana Ledovskaya • Olga Nazarova • Mariya Pinigina • Olga Bryzgina | 3:15.17 | 1 October | Seoul, South Korea |
| Long jump | Galina Chistyakova (URS) | 7.52 m | 11 June | Leningrad, Soviet Union |
| Discus throw | Gabriele Reinsch (GDR) | 76.80 m | 9 July | Neubrandenburg, East Germany |
| Javelin throw | Petra Felke (GDR) | 80.00 m | 9 September | Potsdam, East Germany |
| Heptathlon | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | 7215 | 16 July | Indianapolis, United States |
| Heptathlon | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | 7291 | 24 September | Seoul, South Korea |
* Many observers believe Griffith-Joyner's time of 10.49 should not have been accepted as a record due to excessive following wind
* Christyakova equalled the previous record of 7.45m with a prior jump

## Men's Best Year Performers
### 100 metres

    Main race this year: Men's Olympic 100 metres
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Carl Lewis (USA) | 9.92 |
| 2. | Linford Christie (GBR) | 9.97 |
| — | Calvin Smith (USA) | 9.97 |
| 4. | Joe DeLoach (USA) | 10.03 |
| — | Dennis Mitchell (USA) | 10.03 |

### 200 metres

    Main race this year: Men's Olympic 200 metres
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Joe DeLoach (USA) | 19.75 |
| 2. | Carl Lewis (USA) | 19.79 |
| 3. | Lorenzo Daniel (USA) | 19.87 |
| 4. | Robson da Silva (BRA) | 20.04 |
| 5. | Roy Martin (USA) | 20.05 |
| — | Albert Robinson (USA) | 20.05 |

### 400 metres

    Main race this year: Men's Olympic 400 metres
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Butch Reynolds (USA) | 43.29 |
| 2. | Steve Lewis (USA) | 43.87 |
| 3. | Danny Everett (USA) | 43.98 |
| 4. | Roberto Hernández (CUB) | 44.22 |
| 5. | Darren Clark (AUS) | 44.38 |

### 800 metres

    Main race this year: Men's Olympic 800 metres
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Johnny Gray (USA) | 1:42.65 |
| 2. | José Luíz Barbosa (BRA) | 1:43.20 |
| 3. | Steve Cram (GBR) | 1:43.42 |
| 4. | Paul Ereng (KEN) | 1:43.45 |
| 5. | Saïd Aouita (MAR) | 1:43.86 |

### 1,500 metres

    Main race this year: Men's Olympic 1,500 metres
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Steve Cram (GBR) | 3:30.95 |
| 2. | Jim Spivey (USA) | 3:31.01 |
| 3. | Saïd Aouita (MAR) | 3:32.69 |
| 4. | Peter Elliott (GBR) | 3:32.94 |
| 5. | Jens-Peter Herold (GDR) | 3:33.33 |

### Mile

| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Steve Cram (GBR) | 3:48.85 |
| 2. | Peter Elliott (GBR) | 3:49.20 |
| 3. | Jens-Peter Herold (GDR) | 3:49.22 |
| 4. | Abdi Bile (SOM) | 3:49.40 |
| 5. | Steve Scott (USA) | 3:50.09 |

### 3,000 metres

| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Sydney Maree (USA) | 7:38.79 |
| 2. | Brahim Boutayeb (MAR) | 7:43.22 |
| 3. | Pierre Délèze (SUI) | 7:43.46 |
| 4. | Paul Arpin (FRA) | 7:43.58 |
| 5. | Saïd Aouita (MAR) | 7:43.65 |

### 5,000 metres

    Main race this year: Men's Olympic 5,000 metres
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | John Ngugi (KEN) | 13:11.70 |
| 2. | Dieter Baumann (FRG) | 13:15.52 |
| 3. | José Regalo (POR) | 13:15.62 |
| 4. | Hansjörg Kunze (GDR) | 13:15.73 |
| 5. | Sydney Maree (USA) | 13:15.85 |

### 10,000 metres

    Main race this year: Men's Olympic 10,000 metres
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Brahim Boutayeb (MAR) | 27:21.46 |
| 2. | Eamonn Martin (GBR) | 27:23.06 |
| 3. | Salvatore Antibo (ITA) | 27:23.55 |
| 4. | Arturo Barrios (MEX) | 27:25.07 |
| 5. | Kipkemboi Kimeli (KEN) | 27:25.16 |

### Half marathon

| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | John Treacy (IRL) | 1:01:00 |

### Marathon

    Main race this year: Men's Olympic Marathon
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Belayneh Dinsamo (ETH) | 2:06:50 |
| 2. | Hussein Ahmed Salah (DJI) | 2:07:07 |
| 3. | Abebe Mekonnen (ETH) | 2:07:35 |
| 4. | Hiromi Taniguchi (JPN) | 2:07:40 |
| 5. | Stephen Jones (WAL) | 2:08:20 |

### 110m hurdles

    Main race this year: Men's Olympic 110m hurdles
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Roger Kingdom (USA) | 12.97 |
| 2. | Colin Jackson (GBR) | 13.11 |
| 3. | Mark McKoy (CAN) | 13.17 |
| — | Tonie Campbell (USA) | 13.17 |
| 5. | Aleksandr Markin (URS) | 13.20 |

### 400m hurdles

    Main race this year: Men's Olympic 400m hurdles
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Andre Phillips (USA) | 47.19 |
| 2. | Amadou Dia Bâ (SEN) | 47.23 |
| 3. | Edwin Moses (USA) | 47.37 |
| 4. | Kevin Young (USA) | 47.72 |
| 5. | Danny Harris (USA) | 47.74 |

### 3,000m steeplechase

    Main race this year: Men's Olympic 3,000m steeplechase
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Julius Kariuki (KEN) | 8:05.51 |
| 2. | Peter Koech (KEN) | 8:06.79 |
| 3. | Mark Rowland (GBR) | 8:07.96 |
| 4. | Patrick Sang (KEN) | 8:12.00 |
| 5. | Alessandro Lambruschini (ITA) | 8:12.17 |

### High jump

    Main competition this year: Men's Olympic High Jump
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | HEIGHT |
| 1. | Javier Sotomayor (CUB) | 2.43 |
| 2. | Sergey Malchenko (URS) | 2.38 |
| — | Hennadiy Avdyeyenko (URS) | 2.38 |
| 4. | Tom McCants (USA) | 2.37 |
| — | Jerome Carter (USA) | 2.37 |
| — | Sorin Matei (ROU) | 2.37 |
| — | Patrik Sjöberg (SWE) | 2.37 |

### Long jump

    Main competition this year: Men's Olympic Long Jump
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Carl Lewis (USA) | 8.76 |
| 2. | Larry Myricks (USA) | 8.74 |
| 3. | Mike Powell (USA) | 8.49 |
| 4. | Leonid Voloshin (URS) | 8.46 |
| 5. | Eric Metcalf (USA) | 8.44 |

### Triple jump

    Main competition this year: Men's Olympic Triple Jump
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Khristo Markov (BUL) | 17.77 |
| 2. | Igor Lapshin (URS) | 17.69 |
| 3. | Oleg Protsenko (URS) | 17.68 |
| 4. | Mike Conley (USA) | 17.59 |
| 5. | Māris Bružiks (URS) | 17.56 |

### Discus

    Main competition this year: Men's Olympic Discus Throw
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Jürgen Schult (GDR) | 70.46 |
| 2. | Yuriy Dumchev (URS) | 70.30 |
| 3. | Romas Ubartas (URS) | 70.06 |
| 4. | Mike Buncic (USA) | 68.92 |
| 5. | Vladimir Zinchenko (URS) | 68.88 |

### Shot put

    Main competition this year: Men's Olympic Shot Put
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Ulf Timmermann (GDR) | 23.06 |
| 2. | Werner Günthör (SUI) | 22.75 |
| 3. | Randy Barnes (USA) | 22.42 |
| 4. | Udo Beyer (GDR) | 22.10 |
| 5. | Sergey Smirnov (URS) | 21.88 |

### Hammer

| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Yuriy Sedykh (URS) | 85.14 |
| 2. | Sergey Litvinov (URS) | 84.80 |
| 3. | Jüri Tamm (URS) | 84.16 |
| 4. | Igor Nikulin (URS) | 83.78 |
| 5. | Igor Astapkovich (URS) | 83.44 |

### Javelin (new design)

    Main competition this year: Men's Olympic Javelin Throw
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Jan Železný (TCH) | 86.88 |
| 2. | Tapio Korjus (FIN) | 86.50 |
| 3. | Klaus Tafelmeier (FRG) | 85.96 |
| 4. | Einar Vilhjálmsson (ISL) | 84.66 |
| 5. | Silvio Warsönke (GDR) | 84.14 |

### Pole vault

    Main competition this year: Men's Olympic Pole Vault
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | HEIGHT |
| 1. | Sergey Bubka (URS) | 6.06 |
| 2. | Radion Gataullin (URS) | 5.95 |
| 3. | Miroslaw Chmara (POL) | 5.90 |
| 4. | Kory Tarpenning (USA) | 5.89 |
| 5. | Earl Bell (USA) | 5.87 |

### Decathlon

    Main competition this year: Men's Olympic Decathlon
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | POINTS |
| 1. | Christian Plaziat (FRA) | 8512 |
| 2. | Valter Külvet (EST) | 8506 |
| 3. | Christian Schenk (GDR) | 8488 |
| 4. | Robert de Wit (NED) | 8447 |
| 5. | Alexander Apaychev (UKR) | 8424 |

## Women's Best Year Performers

    Main race this year: Women's Olympic 100 metres

### 100 metres

| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Florence Griffith Joyner (USA) | 10.49 |
| 2. | Evelyn Ashford (USA) | 10.81 |
| 3. | Sheila Echols (USA) | 10.83 |
| 4. | Anelia Nuneva (BUL) | 10.85 |
| 5. | Diane Williams (USA) | 10.86 |

### 200 metres

    Main race this year: Women's Olympic 200 metres
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Florence Griffith Joyner (USA) | 21.34 |
| 2. | Grace Jackson (JAM) | 21.72 |
| 3. | Heike Drechsler (GDR) | 21.84 |
| 4. | Pam Marshall (USA) | 21.93 |
| 5. | Merlene Ottey (JAM) | 21.99 |

### 400 metres

    Main race this year: Women's Olympic 400 metres
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Olga Bryzgina (URS) | 48.65 |
| 2. | Olga Nazarova (URS) | 49.11 |
| 3. | Petra Müller (GDR) | 49.30 |
| 4. | Aelita Yurchenko (URS) | 49.47 |
| 5. | Grace Jackson (JAM) | 49.57 |

### 800 metres

    Main race this year: Women's Olympic 800 metres
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Inna Yevseyeva (URS) | 1:56.0 |
| — | Nadiya Olizarenko (URS) | 1:56.0 |
| 3. | Sigrun Wodars (GDR) | 1:56.10 |
| 4. | Ana Fidelia Quirot (CUB) | 1:56.36 |
| 5. | Paula Ivan (ROU) | 1:56.42 |

### 1,500 metres

    Main race this year: Women's Olympic 1,500 metres
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Paula Ivan (ROU) | 3:53.96 |
| 2. | Mary Slaney (USA) | 3:58.92 |
| 3. | Laimutė Baikauskaitė (URS) | 4:00.24 |
| 4. | Tatyana Samolenko (URS) | 4:00.30 |
| 5. | Regina Jacobs (USA) | 4:00.46 |

### Mile

| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Mary Slaney (USA) | 4:21.25 |
| 2. | Paula Ivan (ROU) | 4:25.80 |

### 3,000 metres

    Main race this year: Women's Olympic 3,000 metres
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Tatyana Samolenko (URS) | 8:26.53 |
| 2. | Paula Ivan (ROU) | 8:27.15 |
| 3. | Yvonne Murray (GBR) | 8:29.02 |
| 4. | Yelena Romanova (URS) | 8:30.45 |
| 5. | Natalya Artyomova (URS) | 8:31.67 |

### 5,000 metres

| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Liz McColgan (GBR) | 15:03.29 |
| 2. | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 15:10.89 |
| 3. | Olga Bondarenko (URS) | 15:11.16 |
| 4. | Lynn Jennings (USA) | 15:11.83 |
| 5. | Lynn Nelson (USA) | 15:12.7 |

### 10,000 metres

    Main race this year: Women's Olympic 10,000 metres
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Olga Bondarenko (URS) | 31:05.21 |
| 2. | Liz McColgan (GBR) | 31:06.99 |
| 3. | Yelena Zhupiyeva (URS) | 31:19.82 |
| 4. | Kathrin Ullrich (GDR) | 31:26.79 |
| 5. | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 31:31.37 |

### Half marathon

| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Grete Waitz (NOR) | 1:08:49 |

### Marathon

    Main race this year: Women's Olympic Marathon
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Lisa Martin (AUS) | 2:23:51 |
| 2. | Rosa Mota (POR) | 2:24:30 |
| 3. | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 2:25:41 |
| 4. | Katrin Dörre (GDR) | 2:26:21 |
| 5. | Tatyana Polovinskaya (URS) | 2:27:05 |

### 100m hurdles

    Main race this year: Women's Olympic 100m hurdles
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Yordanka Donkova (BUL) | 12.21 |
| 2. | Ginka Zagorcheva (BUL) | 12.48 |
| — | Gloria Siebert (GDR) | 12.48 |
| — | Nataliya Grygoryeva (URS) | 12.48 |
| 5. | Cornelia Oschkenat (GDR) | 12.52 |

### 400m hurdles

    Main race this year: Women's Olympic 400m hurdles
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Debbie Flintoff-King (AUS) | 53.17 |
| 2. | Tatyana Ledovskaya (URS) | 53.18 |
| 3. | Ellen Fiedler (GDR) | 53.63 |
| 4. | Sabine Busch (GDR) | 53.69 |
| 5. | Sally Gunnell (GBR) | 54.03 |

### High Jump

    Main competition this year: Women's Olympic High Jump
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | HEIGHT |
| 1. | Stefka Kostadinova (BUL) | 2.07 m |
| 2. | Louise Ritter (USA) | 2.03 m |
| 3. | Silvia Costa (CUB) | 2.02 m |
| 4. | Olga Turchak (URS) | 2.00 m |
| — | Larisa Kositsyna (URS) | 2.00 m |
| — | Alina Astafei (ROU) | 2.00 m |

### Long Jump

    Main competition this year: Women's Olympic Long Jump
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Galina Chistyakova (URS) | 7.52 m |
| 2. | Heike Drechsler (GDR) | 7.48 m |
| 3. | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | 7.40 m |
| 4. | Yelena Belevskaya (URS) | 7.36 m |
| 5. | Yelena Khlopotnova (URS) | 7.29 m |

### Shot put

    Main competition this year: Women's Olympic Shot Put
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Natalya Lisovskaya (URS) | 22.55 m |
| 2. | Li Meisu (CHN) | 21.76 m |
| 3. | Natalya Akhrimenko (URS) | 21.73 m |
| 4. | Huang Zhihong (CHN) | 21.28 m |
| 5. | Heike Hartwig (GDR) | 21.27 m |

### Discus throw

    Main competition this year: Women's Olympic Discus Throw
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Gabriele Reinsch (GDR) | 76.80 m |
| 2. | Ilke Wyludda (GDR) | 74.40 m |
| 3. | Daniela Costian (ROM) | 73.84 m |
| 4. | Diana Gansky (GDR) | 72.94 m |
| 5. | Martina Hellmann (GDR) | 72.30 m |

### Javelin (old design)

    Main competition this year: Women's Olympic Javelin Throw
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Petra Felke (GDR) | 80.00 m |
| 2. | Tiina Lillak (FIN) | 73.30 m |
| 3. | Tessa Sanderson (GBR) | 71.70 m |
| 4. | Silke Renk (GDR) | 71.00 m |
| 5. | Ivonne Leal (CUB) | 70.48 m |

### Heptathlon

    Main competition this year: Women's Olympic Heptathlon
| RANK | 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | POINTS |
| 1. | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | 7291 |
| 2. | Sabine John (GDR) | 6897 |
| 3. | Anke Behmer (GDR) | 6858 |
| 4. | Chantal Beaugeant (FRA) | 6702 |
| 5. | Ines Schulz (GDR) | 6660 |

## Births

* January 17 — Anna Bulgakova, Russian hammer thrower
* January 21 — Ashton Eaton, American decathlete
* January 26 — Gilbert Yegon, Kenyan long-distance runner
* April 29 — Jan Kudlička, Czech pole vaulter
* May 20 — Yomara Hinestroza, Colombian sprinter
* May 26 — Dani Samuels, Australian discus thrower
* June 22 — Yekaterina Yevseyeva, Kazakh high jumper
* July 5 — Vincent Chepkok, Kenyan long-distance runner
* August 4 — Liam Zamel-Paez, Australian high jumper
* August 10 — Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot, Kenyan marathon runner
* August 24 — Matteo Galvan, Italian sprinter
* August 29 — Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, English sprinter
* September 5 — Chu Yafei, Chinese race walker
* October 31 — Eglė Balčiūnaitė, Lithuanian middle-distance runner
* December 17 — David Rudisha, Kenyan middle-distance runner

## Deaths

* July 8 — Ray Barbuti (83), American athlete (b. 1905)