1988 in the sport of athletics

1988 in athletics
Major world eventsOlympic Games
1987
1989

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

International events

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World records

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Men

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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

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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

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

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Main race this year: Women's Olympic 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
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
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
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
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
RANK 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS TIME
1.  Mary Slaney (USA) 4:21.25
2.  Paula Ivan (ROU) 4:25.80
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
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
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
RANK 1988 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS TIME
1.  Grete Waitz (NOR) 1:08:49
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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

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Deaths

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

References

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