1988 in the sport of athletics

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

1988 in athletics
Major world eventsOlympic Games
1987
1989

International events edit

World records edit

Men edit

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
  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

Women edit

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
  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
  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 edit

100 metres edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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

Marathon edit

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

Race Walking edit

110m hurdles edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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) edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

Main race this year: Women's Olympic 100 metres

100 metres edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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

3,000 metres edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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

Marathon edit

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

Race Walking edit

100m hurdles edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 edit

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) edit

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 edit

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 edit

Deaths edit

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

References edit