Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres hurdles

These are the official results of the Women's 400 metres hurdles at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There were 27 participating athletes plus one non-starter.[1]

Women's 400 metres hurdles
at the Games of the XXV Olympiad
VenueEstadi Olímpic de Montjuïc
Dates2 August 1992 (heats)
3 August 1992 (semi-finals)
5 August 1992 (final)
Competitors27 from 18 nations
Winning time53.23
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sally Gunnell
 Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Sandra Farmer-Patrick
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Janeene Vickers
 United States
← 1988
1996 →
Official Video

The main contenders for the gold medal in Barcelona were the American Sandra Farmer-Patrick, the Soviet World champion Tatyana Ledovskaya and Great Britain's Sally Gunnell. Ledovskaya, who had so narrowly lost the gold to Debbie Flintoff-King at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, won the gold medal at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo in 53.11 seconds, with Gunnell winning silver in 53.16. Those performances moved Ledovskaya and Gunnell to second and third on the world all-time list behind Marina Stepanova's 1986 world record of 52.94. Farmer-Patrick, who was fourth in the Tokyo final and whose personal best of 53.37 dated back to 1989, ran the fastest pre-Olympic time of the 1992 season, when winning the US Olympic trials in June in 53.62 secs. Other medal contenders included the American Janeene Vickers, who had won the bronze medal in Tokyo in 53.47, and the former world record holder Margarita Ponomaryova.

In Barcelona, all the main contenders reached the final, with the fastest qualifiers being Gunnell, who won the first semifinal in 53.78, Farmer-Patrick, who won the second semifinal in 53.90, and Ponomaryova, who was second in the second semifinal in 53.98, which was the Russian's fastest time since her 1984 world record run of 53.58 secs.

In the final, Farmer-Patrick in lane 4 held a slight lead over the fifth hurdle. Over the seventh and eighth hurdles, Vickers (lane 1), Gunnell (lane 3) and Farmer-Patrick were virtually level, with Ponomaryova (lane 6) fourth and Ledovskaya (lane 8) fifth. Gunnell's superior technique and better stride pattern saw her move clear in the home straight and she went on to win by three metres in 53.23 secs, the fastest time in the world for 1992. Farmer-Patrick was clear in second, winning silver in 53.69 secs, while Vickers narrowly held on for the bronze medal from a fast-finishing Ledovskaya, both being timed at 54.31 secs.

The following year at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Gunnell and Farmer-Patrick would both run inside Marina Stepanova's world record. Gunnell won gold in the world record time of 52.74 secs, with Farmer-Patrick again having to settle for silver running 52.79 secs.

Medalists

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Gold Silver Bronze
Sally Gunnell
  Great Britain
Sandra Farmer-Patrick
  United States
Janeene Vickers
  United States

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1992 Summer Olympics.

World Record 52.94   Marina Stepanova Tashkent (URS) September 17, 1986
Olympic Record 53.17   Debbie Flintoff-King Seoul (KOR) September 28, 1988

Final

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RANK FINAL TIME
    Sally Gunnell (GBR) 53.23
    Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA) 53.69
    Janeene Vickers (USA) 54.31
4.   Tatyana Ledovskaya (EUN) 54.31
5.   Vera Ordina (EUN) 54.83
6.   Margarita Ponomaryova (EUN) 54.83
7.   Deon Hemmings (JAM) 55.58
  Myrtle Bothma (RSA) DNF

Semi finals

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RANK HEAT 1 TIME
1.   Sally Gunnell (GBR) 53.78
2.   Vera Ordina (EUN) 54.37
3.   Janeene Vickers (USA) 54.67
4.   Deon Hemmings (JAM) 54.70
5.   Nezha Bidouane (MAR) 55.08
6.   Heike Meißner (GER) 55.35
7.   Frida Johansson (SWE) 55.85
8.   Donalda Duprey (CAN) 56.30


RANK HEAT 2 TIME
1.   Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA) 53.90
2.   Margarita Ponomaryova (EUN) 53.98
3.   Tatyana Ledovskaya (EUN) 54.53
4.   Myrtle Bothma (RSA) 54.53
5.   Gowry Retchakan (GBR) 54.63
6.   Tonja Buford (USA) 55.04
7.   Rosey Edeh (CAN) 55.76
8.   Irmgard Trojer (ITA) 56.34

Heats

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RANK HEAT 1 TIME
1.   Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA) 55.12
2.   Margarita Ponomaryova (EUN) 55.36
3.   Myrtle Bothma (RSA) 55.60
4.   Rosey Edeh (CAN) 55.66
5.   Louise Fraser (GBR) 57.49
  Addo Ndala (CGO) DNF
  Linda Kisabaka (GER) DNS


RANK HEAT 2 TIME
1.   Tatyana Ledovskaya (EUN) 55.03
2.   Heike Meißner (GER) 55.62
3.   Gowry Retchakan (GBR) 55.62
4.   Monica Westén (SWE) 56.68
5.   Nicoleta Vornicu (ROU) 57.18
6.   Marta Moreira (POR) 58.24
7.   Liliana Chalá (ECU) 58.55


RANK HEAT 3 TIME
1.   Janeene Vickers (USA) 55.24
2.   Vera Ordina (EUN) 55.25
3.   Deon Hemmings (JAM) 55.48
4.   Nezha Bidouane (MAR) 55.95
5.   Frida Johansson (SWE) 56.13
6.   Donalda Duprey (CAN) 56.37
7.   Mary-Estelle Kapalu (VAN) 1:00.97


RANK HEAT 4 TIME
1.   Sally Gunnell (GBR) 54.98
2.   Irmgard Trojer (ITA) 55.49
3.   Tonja Buford (USA) 56.35
4.   Silvia Rieger (GER) 56.61
5.   Miriam Alonso Manteca (ESP) 57.66
6.   Gail Luke (AUS) 58.32
7.   Reawadee Srithoa (THA) 58.80

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games: Women's 400 metres Hurdles". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
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