# Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's shot put

The women's shot put event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 26 competitors, with two qualifying groups before the final (12) took place on Saturday October 1, 1988.
The winning margin was 1.17 metres which as of June 2024 remains the only time the women's shot put has been won by more than 1.1 metres at the Olympics.

## Medalists

| Gold | Natalya Lisovskaya Soviet Union |
| Silver | Kathrin Neimke East Germany |
| Bronze | Li Meisu China |

## Abbreviations

* All results shown are in metres
| Q | automatic qualification |
| q | qualification by rank |
| 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 | Natalya Lisovskaya (URS) | 22.63 m | July 7, 1987 | Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Olympic Record | Ilona Slupianek (GDR) | 22.41 m | July 24, 1980 | Moscow, Soviet Union |

## Qualification
### Group A

| Rank | Overall | Athlete | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Distance | Note |
| Rank | Overall | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | Distance | Note |
| 1 | 1 | Claudia Losch (FRG) | 18.82 | 20.39 | — | 20.39 m | |
| 2 | 2 | Li Meisu (CHN) | 20.30 | — | — | 20.30 m | |
| 3 | 3 | Kathrin Neimke (GDR) | 20.18 | — | — | 20.18 m | |
| 4 | 4 | Heike Hartwig (GDR) | 19.22 | 20.06 | — | 20.06 m | |
| 5 | 7 | Zdeňka Šilhavá (TCH) | 19.74 | — | — | 19.74 m | |
| 6 | 9 | Cong Yuzhen (CHN) | 19.55 | — | — | 19.56 m | |
| 7 | 10 | Svetla Mitkova (BUL) | 18.80 | 19.53 | — | 19.53 m | |
| 8 | 11 | Bonnie Dasse (USA) | 19.29 | 19.45 | 18.94 | 19.45 m | |
| 9 | 13 | Valentina Fedjuschina (URS) | 16.93 | 19.05 | 19.06 | 19.06 m | |
| 10 | 18 | Connie Price (USA) | 15.61 | X | 17.09 | 17.09 m | |
| 11 | 20 | Yvonne Hanson-Nortey (GBR) | 15.13 | 14.86 | X | 15.13 m | |
| 12 | 21 | Maria Isabel Urrutia (COL) | 15.13 | 14.85 | 14.42 | 15.13 m | |
| 13 | 25 | Siololovau Ikavuka (TGA) | 12.31 | X | 11.18 | 12.31 m | |

### Group B

| Rank | Overall | Athlete | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Distance | Note |
| Rank | Overall | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | Distance | Note |
| 1 | 5 | Ines Müller (GDR) | 19.79 | — | — | 19.79 m | |
| 2 | 6 | Natalya Lisovskaya (URS) | 19.78 | — | — | 19.78 m | |
| 3 | 8 | Huang Zhihong (CHN) | 19.71 | — | — | 19.71 m | |
| 4 | 12 | Natalya Akhrimenko (URS) | 19.26 | 19.40 | X | 19.40 m | |
| 5 | 14 | Iris Plotzitzka (FRG) | 18.79 | 19.06 | X | 19.06 m | |
| 6 | 15 | Ramona Pagel (USA) | 18.55 | 18.45 | 18.36 | 18.55 m | |
| 7 | 16 | Judy Oakes (GBR) | 17.76 | 18.34 | 18.02 | 18.34 m | |
| 8 | 17 | Myrtle Augee (GBR) | 16.85 | 16.44 | 17.31 | 17.31 m | |
| 9 | 19 | Deborah Saint-Phard (HAI) | 14.87 | 15.35 | 16.02 | 16.02 m | |
| 10 | 22 | Grace Apiafi (NGR) | 15.06 | 15.05 | 14.58 | 15.06 m | |
| 11 | 23 | Choi Mi-seon (KOR) | 13.90 | 13.44 | 13.97 | 13.97 m | |
| 12 | 24 | Jeanne-Nicole Ngo Minyemeck (CMR) | 11.84 | 12.73 | 12.61 | 12.73 m | |
| — | — | Sona Vasickova (TCH) | — | — | — | DNS | |

## Final

| Rank | Athlete | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Attempts | Distance | Note |
| Rank | Athlete | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Distance | Note |
| | Natalya Lisovskaya (URS) | 21.69 | 21.49 | 21.24 | 21.74 | 21.11 | 22.24 | 22.24 m | |
| | Kathrin Neimke (GDR) | 19.64 | 20.07 | 19.82 | 20.37 | 20.72 | 21.07 | 21.07 m | |
| | Li Meisu (CHN) | 19.99 | 20.03 | 20.72 | 20.49 | 21.06 | 20.84 | 21.06 m | |
| 4 | Ines Müller (GDR) | 20.37 | 19.34 | X | X | 19.55 | 20.34 | 20.37 m | |
| 5 | Claudia Losch (FRG) | 20.08 | X | 19.40 | 20.27 | X | X | 20.27 m | |
| 6 | Heike Hartwig (GDR) | 19.94 | 20.20 | 19.71 | 20.16 | X | 19.75 | 20.20 m | |
| 7 | Natalya Akhrimenko (URS) | 19.37 | 19.86 | 19.18 | X | 19.60 | 20.13 | 20.13 m | |
| 8 | Huang Zhihong (CHN) | 18.26 | 19.15 | 19.82 | 19.79 | 19.73 | 19.56 | 19.82 m | |
| 9 | Cong Yuzhen (CHN) | 19.69 | X | 19.65 | | | | 19.69 m | |
| 10 | Svetla Mitkova (BUL) | 18.29 | 18.79 | 19.09 | | | | 19.09 m | |
| 11 | Zdeňka Šilhavá (TCH) | 16.85 | 18.86 | X | | | | 18.86 m | |
| 12 | Bonnie Dasse (USA) | 17.60 | 17.59 | 17.51 | | | | 17.60 m | |