Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay


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 USA 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 Goehr. 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 Goehr 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 Goehr 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 prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.
World Record41.37 Silke Gladisch
Sabine Rieger
Ingrid Auerswald
Marlies Göhr
Canberra October 6, 1985
Olympic Record41.60 Romy Müller
Bärbel Wöckel
Ingrid Auerswald
Marlies Göhr
Moscow August 1, 1980

Final

RANKNATIONATHLETESTIME
• Alice Brown
• Sheila Echols
• Florence Griffith-Joyner
• Evelyn Ashford
41.98
• Silke Möller
• Kerstin Behrendt
Ingrid Lange
• Marlies Goehr
42.09
• Lyudmila Kondratyeva
• Galina Malchugina
• Marina Zhirova
• Natalya Pomoshchnikova
42.75
4.Sabine Richter
Ulrike Sarvari
Andrea Thomas
Ute Thimm
42.76
5.• Zvetanka Ilieva
Valia Demireva
Nadeyda Gueorguieva
Yordanka Donkova
43.02
6.Joanna Smolarek
Jolanta Janota
Ewa Pisiewicz
Agnieszka Siwek
43.93
7.Françoise Leroux
Muriel Leroy
Laurence Bily
Patricia Girard
44.02
Ethlyn Tate
Grace Jackson
Juliet Cuthbert
Merlene Ottey
DNS

Semifinals

RANKNATIONATHLETESTIME
1.• Lyudmila Kondratyeva
• Galina Malchugina
• Marina Zhirova
• Natalya Pomoshchnikova
42.01
2.• Silke Möller
• Kerstin Behrendt
• Ingrid Lange
• Marlies Goehr
42.23
3.• Ethlyn Tate
• Grace Jackson
• Juliet Cuthbert
• Merlene Ottey
43.30
4.• Joanna Smolarek
• Jolanta Janota
• Ewa Pisiewicz
• Agnieszka Siwek
43.44
5.Nelli Fiere-Cooman
Marjan Olyslager
Gretha Tromp
Els Vader
43.48
6.Sallyanne Short
Bev Kinch
Simmone Jacobs
Paula Dunn
43.50
7.Anna Rita Angotzi
Rosella Tarolo
Daniela Ferrian
Marisa Masullo
43.97
8.Maria Tsoni
• Maria Tsoni
Katerina Koffa
Marina Skordi
45.74

RANKNATIONATHLETESTIME
1.• Alice Brown
• Sheila Echols
• Florence Griffith-Joyner
• Evelyn Ashford
42.12
2.• Sabine Richter
• Ulrike Sarvari
• Andrea Thomas
• Ute Thimm
42.69
3.• Zvetanka Ilieva
• Valia Demireva
• Nadeyda Gueorguieva
• Yordanka Donkova
43.07
4.• Françoise Leroux
• Muriel Leroy
• Laurence Bily
• Patricia Girard
43.66
5.Angela Bailey
Angela Phipps
Angella Taylor-Issajenko
Katie Anderson
43.82
6.Veronica Bawuah
Diana Yankey
Mercy Addy
Martha Appiah
44.30
7.Zhang Xiaoqiong
Liu Shaomei
Xie Zhiling
Zhang Caihua
44.36
Amparo Caicedo
Norfalia Carabali
Olga Escalante
Ximena Restrepo
DNS

Heats

RANKNATIONATHLETESTIME
1.Maia Azarashvili
• Galina Malchugina
• Marina Zhirova
• Natalya Pomoshchnikova
42.88
2.• Sabine Richter
• Ulrike Sarvari
• Andrea Thomas
• Ute Thimm
42.99
3.• Françoise Leroux
• Muriel Leroy
• Laurence Bily
Marie-Christine Cazier-Ballo
43.43
4.Tsvetanka Ilieva
Valya Valova-Demireva
Nadezhda Georgieva
• Yordanka Donkova
43.92
5.• Amparo Caicedo
• Norfalia Carabali
• Olga Escalante
• Ximena Restrepo
45.46
6.Chang Feng-hua
Chen Wen-xing
Chen Ya-li
Wang Shu-hua
46.21

RANKNATIONATHLETESTIME
1.• Silke Möller
• Kerstin Behrendt
• Ingrid Lange
• Marlies Goehr
42.92
2.• Ethlyn Tate
• Grace Jackson
Laurel Johnson
Vivienne Spence
43.50
3.• Angela Bailey
• Angela Phipps
• Angella Taylor-Issajenko
• Katie Anderson
43.92
4.• Zhang Xiaoqiong
• Liu Shaomei
• Xie Zhiling
• Zhang Caihua
44.29
5.• Anna Rita Angotzi
• Rosella Tarolo
• Daniela Ferrian
• Marisa Masullo
44.33
6.• Maria Tsoni
Voula Patoulidou
Georgia Zouganeli
• Marina Skordi
45.44
7.Yun Mi-gyeong
U Yang-ja
Park Mi-seon
Lee Young-sook
45.83

RANKNATIONATHLETESTIME
1.• Alice Brown
• Sheila Echols
Dannette Young
• Evelyn Ashford
42.39
2.• Sallyanne Short
• Bev Kinch
• Simmone Jacobs
• Paula Dunn
43.91
3.• Nelli Fiere-Cooman
• Marjan Olyslager
• Gretha Tromp
• Els Vader
43.96
4.• Joanna Smolarek
• Jolanta Janota
• Ewa Pisiewicz
• Agnieszka Siwek
43.98
5.• Veronica Bawuah
• Diana Yankey
• Mercy Addy
• Martha Appiah
44.12
6.Oliver Acii
Grace Buzu
Farida Kyakutewa
Ruth Kyalisima
46.55