World Record: 76.80m Gabriele Reinsch, East Germany, Neubrandenburg, East Germany, July 9, 1988
Olympic Record: 72.30m Martina Hellmann, Seoul, South Korea, September 29, 1988
The biggest surprise of the qualifying was the failure of reigning cham-
pion Hellmann, who reached 60.52 and missed the final by 36cm. Four
of the finalists had reached 70m during the season, with Martén the
most recent at that level with two such efforts in Spain just before the
Games. The Cuban led after the first round with 65.66, but was over-
taken in the next round by Bulgarian veteran Khristova, World
Champion in 1991 and European champion nine years earlier, who
reached 67.78.
The Bulgarian would have only one more valid throw, but held the
lead for three more rounds. In the interim Germany’s Wyludda, one of
the 70m throwers, could reach only 62.16 for ninth place. Costian, the
former Romanian, moved past Korotkevich (65.52) in the fifth round
with 66.24, and two throws later Martén stepped up and the stocky
(1.72/92kg) yet athletic Cuban spun quickly and sent the discus out to
70.06 for the gold.
Qualification> - Saturday, 1st August
Mark 62.00m. Virtual 60.88m. 10 Athletes passed the mark and next Best 2 were added yo Dinal.
Cuba
Bulgaria
Australia
United Team
Germany
Italy
China
Romania
Czechoslovakia
Latvia
United States
Norway
Great Britain
Spain
Austria
Portugal
