These are the official results of the women's 4 × 100 m relay event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. There were a total number of 19 nations competing.

This was a race between three strong teams with many athletes at their peak. From the gun, Alice Brown was out fastest for the US in lane 6, almost making up the stagger on Zvetanka Ilieva leading off for Bulgaria on her outside. Meanwhile, East German star, 1987 World Champion Silke Möller was losing ground in lane 5 as Soviet Lyudmila Kondratyeva was gaining in lane 4. All the handoffs were efficient before both Kerstin Behrendt and Galina Malchugina closed the gap on the American Sheila Echols on the second leg. The American handoff to the year's phenom, world record holder Florence Griffith Joyner was safe but not particularly efficient, the East German underhanded pass to Ingrid Auerswald is a textbook demonstration of an efficient handoff, and gave East Germany the lead. It would still be expected that the way FloJo dominated the sprint events, she would be able to pull away from Auerswald, but running the longer distance around the turn she only made a marginal gain and Marina Zhirova also put the Soviet team in close contention. Both the Soviet team and East German teams executed efficient handoffs, leaving Natalya Pomoshchnikova just slightly behind 1983 World Champion Marlies Göhr. The American handoff was not as efficient as Griffith-Joyner ran up on veteran anchor Evelyn Ashford leaving USA two metres behind. Pomoshchnikova accelerated and was able to pull even with Göhr while Ashford was in full stride and gaining. 50 metres from the finish it was three abreast across the center of the track. Ashford continued right past Göhr to a meter and a half victory. The three teams were so far ahead of the rest of the world that Pomoshchnikova, despite pulling a muscle 30 m from the finish, was able to limp across the finish line ahead of the West German team for the bronze medal.

Records These were the standing World and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.

World record 41.37 Silke Gladisch Sabine Rieger Ingrid Auerswald Marlies Göhr Canberra (AUS) October 6, 1985 Olympic record 41.60 Romy Müller Bärbel Wöckel Ingrid Auerswald Marlies Göhr Moscow (URS) August 1, 1980

Final Held on Saturday 1988-10-01 RANKNATIONATHLETESTIME• Alice Brown• Sheila Echols• Florence Griffith Joyner• Evelyn Ashford 41.98• Silke Möller• Kerstin Behrendt• Ingrid Lange• Marlies Göhr 42.09• Lyudmila Kondratyeva• Galina Malchugina• Marina Zhirova• Natalya Pomoshchnikova 42.754.• Sabine Richter• Ulrike Sarvari• Andrea Thomas• Ute Thimm 42.765.• Zvetanka Ilieva• Valia Demireva• Nadeyda Gueorguieva• Yordanka Donkova 43.026.• Joanna Smolarek• Jolanta Janota• Ewa Pisiewicz• Agnieszka Siwek 43.937.• Françoise Leroux• Muriel Leroy• Laurence Bily• Patricia Girard 44.02—• Ethlyn Tate• Grace Jackson• Juliet Cuthbert• Merlene Ottey DNS

Semifinals

Heat 1 RANKNATIONATHLETESTIME1.• Lyudmila Kondratyeva• Galina Malchugina• Marina Zhirova• Natalya Pomoshchnikova42.012.• Silke Möller• Kerstin Behrendt• Ingrid Lange• Marlies Göhr42.233.• Ethlyn Tate• Grace Jackson• Juliet Cuthbert• Merlene Ottey 43.304.• Joanna Smolarek• Jolanta Janota• Ewa Pisiewicz• Agnieszka Siwek 43.445.• Nelli Fiere-Cooman• Marjan Olyslager• Gretha Tromp• Els Vader 43.486.• Sallyanne Short• Bev Kinch• Simmone Jacobs• Paula Dunn 43.507.• Anna Rita Angotzi• Rosella Tarolo• Daniela Ferrian• Marisa Masullo 43.978.• Maria Tsoni• Maria Tsoni• Katerina Koffa• Marina Skordi 45.74

Heat 2 RANKNATIONATHLETESTIME1.• Alice Brown• Sheila Echols• Florence Griffith Joyner• Evelyn Ashford 42.122.• Sabine Richter• Ulrike Sarvari• Andrea Thomas• Ute Thimm 42.693.• Zvetanka Ilieva• Valia Demireva• Nadeyda Gueorguieva• Yordanka Donkova 43.074.• Françoise Leroux• Muriel Leroy• Laurence Bily• Patricia Girard 43.665.• Angela Bailey• Angela Phipps• Angella Taylor-Issajenko• Katie Anderson 43.826.• Veronica Bawuah• Diana Yankey• Mercy Addy• Martha Appiah 44.307.• Zhang Xiaoqiong• Liu Shaomei• Xie Zhiling• Zhang Caihua 44.36—• Amparo Caicedo• Norfalia Carabalí• Olga Escalante• Ximena Restrepo DNS

Heats

Heat 1 RANKNATIONATHLETESTIME1.• Maia Azarashvili• Galina Malchugina• Marina Zhirova• Natalya Pomoshchnikova42.882.• Sabine Richter• Ulrike Sarvari• Andrea Thomas• Ute Thimm 42.993.• Françoise Leroux• Muriel Leroy• Laurence Bily• Marie-Christine Cazier-Ballo43.434.• Tsvetanka Ilieva• Valya Valova-Demireva• Nadezhda Georgieva• Yordanka Donkova 43.925.• Amparo Caicedo• Norfalia Carabalí• Olga Escalante• Ximena Restrepo 45.466.• Chang Feng-hua• Chen Wen-xing• Chen Ya-li• Wang Shu-hua 46.21

Heat 2 RANKNATIONATHLETESTIME1.• Silke Möller• Kerstin Behrendt• Ingrid Lange• Marlies Göhr42.922.• Ethlyn Tate• Grace Jackson• Laurel Johnson• Vivienne Spence 43.503.• Angela Bailey• Angela Phipps• Angella Taylor-Issajenko• Katie Anderson 43.924.• Zhang Xiaoqiong• Liu Shaomei• Xie Zhiling• Zhang Caihua 44.295.• Anna Rita Angotzi• Rosella Tarolo• Daniela Ferrian• Marisa Masullo 44.336.• Maria Tsoni• Voula Patoulidou• Georgia Zouganeli• Marina Skordi 45.447.• Yun Mi-gyeong• U Yang-ja• Park Mi-seon• Lee Young-sook 45.83

Heat 3 RANKNATIONATHLETESTIME1.• Alice Brown• Sheila Echols• Dannette Young• Evelyn Ashford 42.392.• Sallyanne Short• Bev Kinch• Simmone Jacobs• Paula Dunn 43.913.• Nelli Fiere-Cooman• Marjan Olyslager• Gretha Tromp• Els Vader 43.964.• Joanna Smolarek• Jolanta Janota• Ewa Pisiewicz• Agnieszka Siwek 43.985.• Veronica Bawuah• Diana Yankey• Mercy Addy• Martha Appiah 44.126.• Oliver Acii• Grace Buzu• Farida Kyakutewa• Ruth Kyalisima 46.55

See also 1986 Women's European Championships 4 × 100 m Relay (Stuttgart) 1987 Women's World Championships 4 × 100 m Relay (Rome) 1990 Women's European Championships 4 × 100 m Relay (Split) 1991 Women's World Championships 4 × 100 m Relay (Tokyo)

References

External links Official Report Results