Dupureur and Willis were the favourites in the absence of Shim Kim
Dan (PRK), whose 1:58.0 was over three seconds faster than the rest of
the world, but who could not compete due to the suspension of her
country by the IAAF. Willis was injured and failed to start in the heats.
Dupureur was fastest in both rounds, with an Olympic record 2:04.1 in
the semi-finals. She led four others under 2:05.0, as Vera Mukhanova
(URS) was the odd one out, clocking 2:04.8 in fifth.
Dupureur went out fast from the gun in the final, and reached the bell
in 58.6 with Nagy and Gleichfeld right behind her, and Packer buried
in the middle of the field. Dupureur opened up a gap in the third quarter
of the race, reaching 600m with a 6-7m lead. Only Packer was able to
respond, passing Chamberlain with 150m to go, and closing smoothly
on Dupureur, eventually gliding past her with 30m to go, winning by
5m from the Frenchwoman, who suffered agonies in the last 50m after
her brave attempt to win.
GBR
FRA
NZL
HUN
FRG
URS
NED
GER
YUG
IRL
DEN
CAN
USA
MGL
AUS
JPN
KOR