The Women's Long Jump at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul, South Korea Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

had an entry list of 32 competitors, with two qualifying groups (32 jumpers) before the final (12) took place on Thursday September 29, 1988.

Records

These were the standing World and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics. The following Olympic records were set during this competition.

Summary

This was a showdown of the top three female long jumpers of all time, then and remaining now. All three had held the world record.

Galina Chistyakova Galina Valentinovna Chistyakova (, ; born 26 July 1962) is a retired athlete who represented the Soviet Union and later Slovakia. She is the current world record holder in the long jump, jumping 7.52 metres on 11 June 1988. She is the 1988 Olym ...

had set the still standing

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

just a few months earlier, breaking up a log jam.

Heike Drechsler Heike Gabriela Drechsler (; ; born 16 December 1964) is a German former track and field athlete who represented East Germany and later Germany. One of the most successful long jumpers of all-time, she is a former world record holder and ranks ...

had set the world record, improved it to 7.45m two years earlier and subsequently equalled her record two weeks later.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee (born March 3, 1962) is an American former track and field athlete who competed in both the heptathlon and long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals at four different Olympic Games. Joyne ...

equalled the record the following year, the Chistyakova equalled it again earlier in the same competition where she set the new record at . Chistyakova's Soviet teammates Yelena Belevskaya and

Inessa Kravets Inessa Mykolayivna Kravets (née Shulyak, ; born 5 October 1966) is a Ukrainian former triple jumper and long jumper. She was among the most prominent female triple jumpers during the period that the event was added to competition programmes at ...

were the #5 and #7 jumpers of all time. Joyner-Kersee was the reigning

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

and had set the Olympic record at 7.27m the day before en route to her still standing world record in the

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

. She had to qualify for this final in the midst of that heptathlon. Battling swirling winds, Drechsler opened with a 6.92m, followed by Joyner-Kersee upping the ante to 7.00m, then as the final jumper of the sequence, Chistyakova opened with 7.11m to take the first round lead. In the second round, Drechsler improved to 7.06m. After a JJK foul, Belevskaya took the third position with a 7.04m. Chistyakova showed up for her second round jump with her jumping knee wrapped. Her second round jump was tentative and almost 4 feet inferior of her world record. Drechsler took over the lead with her third round 7.18m, a distance only 9 women in history had ever achieved, but five of them were in the competition. Joyner-Kersee answered with a 7.16m to take over silver position and push Belevskaya out of the medals. Drechsler extended her lead to 7.22m in the fourth round. On advice from her coach and husband

Bob Kersee Bob Kersee is an American athletics coach. Initially intending to become an NFL coach, Kersee instead became a track and field coach at the suggestion of his sisters. His training group is known as Formula Kersee. Early life Kersee was born ...

, Joyner-Kersee moved her marks back and went for broke in the fifth round, the result was the winner and new Olympic record. While Drechsler was able to answer with two commendable efforts, she was unable to improve. Later that same afternoon, she raced to a bronze medal in the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

, behind Joyner-Kersee's sister in law,

Florence Griffith Joyner Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner (born Florence Delorez Griffith; December 21, 1959 – September 21, 1998), also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete and the fastest woman ever recorded. She was married to Al Joyner, a 198 ...

's still standing world record.

Final

Non-qualifiers

References

External links

*
Official Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics - Women's long jump T Long jump at the Olympics 1988 in women's athletics Women's events at the 1988 Summer Olympics