Olympic Games - Athletics Women's Distance Races

The women's distance races comprise the disciplines which take place on the track above 800 metres, plus the marathon and walks.
The 800m is the longer established of these. It made its debut in 1928 but was then dispensed with, organisers believing that the experiment had failed and women were barred from competiting beyond 200m until the 800 returned in 1960. It has been a part of the schedule ever since.
The 1,500m was introduced in 1972, a 3,000m event appeared from 1984-1992 before being replaced by the 5,000m and the 10,000m was first held in 1988; the initial Olympic women's Marathon was staged four year earlier.
In 1992 Barcelona saw the first women's walking event (over the 10km distance) and since 2000 this has been doiubled in length.
The most recent addition to the Olympic athletics roster has been the women's 3,000m Steeplechase, first run in 2008.

The venues for these events since 1972 have been as follows - the road events started and finished in the stadium listed unless otherwise stated:
1972: Olympic Stadium, Munich, West Germany
1976: Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Canada
1980: Lenin Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union
1984: Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States
1988: Olympic Stadium, Seoul, South Korea
1992: Montjuic Olympic Stadium, Barcelona, Spain
1996: Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, United States
2000: Olympic Stadium, Sydney, Australia
2004: Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece (Marathon raced from Marathonas to the Kallimarmaro Stadium)
2008: National Stadium, Beijing, China (Marathon started in Tiananmen Square, Beijing)


Medallists: Since 1972

1972
GOLD SILVER BRONZE 
800m
HILDEGARD FALCK (Frg)
Nijole Sabaite (Urs) G Hoffmeister (Gdr)
 1500m LUDMILA BRAGINA (Urs)
G Hoffmeister (Gdr) Paola Pigni (Ita)

1976

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE
800m
TATYANA KAZANKINA (Urs)
N'na Shtereva (Bul) Elfi Zinn (Gdr)
1500m
TATYANA KAZANKINA (Urs) G Hoffmeister (Gdr) U Klapezynski (Gdr)

1980

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE
800m
NADEZHDA OLIZARENKO (Urs)
Olga Mineeva (Urs)
T Providokhina (Urs)
 1500m
TATYANA KAZANKINA (Urs) C Wartenburg (Gdr) N'a Olizarenko (Urs)

1984

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE
800m
DOINA MELINTE (Rom)
Kim Gallagher (Usa)
Fita Lovin (Rom)
1500m
GABRIELLA DORIO (Ita)
Doina Melinte (Rom)
M'cica Puica (Rom)
3000m
MARICICA PUICA (Rom)
Wendy Sly (Gbr)
Lynn Williams (Can)
Marathon JOAN BENOIT (Usa)
Grete Waitz (Nor)
Rosa Mota (Prt)

1988

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE
800m
SIGRUN WODARS (Gdr)
C'tine Wachtel (Gdr)
Kim Gallagher (Usa)
1500m
PAULA IVAN (Rom)
L Baikauskaite (Urs)
T'na Samolenko (Urs)
3000m
TETYANA SAMOLENKO (Urs)
Paula Ivan (Rom)
Yvonne Murray (Gbr)
10,000m OLGA BONDARENKO (Urs)
Liz McColgan (Gbr)
Yelena Vyazova (Urs)
Marathon ROSA MOTA (Prt)
Lisa Ondieki (Aus)
Katrin Dorre (Gdr)

1992

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE
800m
ELLEN VAN LANGEN (Nld)
L Nurutdinova (Unf)
Ana Quirot (Cub)
1500m
HASSIBA BOULMERKA (Mor)
L Rogachova (Unf)
Qu Yunxia (Chn)
3000m
YELENA ROMANOVA (Unf)
T Dorovskikh (Unf)
A'gela Chalmers (Can)
10000m DERARTU TULU (Eth)
Elana Meyer (Rsa)
Lynn Jennings (Usa)
Marathon  VALENTINA YEGOROVA (Unf)
Yuko Arimori (Jap) Lorraine Moller (Nzl)
10km Wk CHEN YUELING (Chn)
Y Nikolayeva (Unf)
Li Chunxiu (Chn)

1996

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE
800m
SVETLANA MASTERKOVA (Rus)
Ana Quirot (Cub) Maria Mutola (Moz)
1500m SVETLANA MASTERKOVA (Rus) G'riela Szabo (Rom) Theresia Kiesl (Aut)
5000m
WANG JUNXIA (Chn)
Pauline Konga (Ken) Roberta Brunet (Ita)
10000m FERNANDA RIBEIRO (Prt)
Wang Junxia (Chn)
Gete Wami (Eth)
Marathon FATUMA ROBA (Eth)
V'na Yegorova (Rus)
Yuko Arimori (Jap)
10km Wk YELENA NIKOLAYEVA (Rus) El'betta Perrone (Ita)
Wang Yan (Chn)

2000

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE
800m
MARIA MUTOLA (Moz)
Stephanie Graf (Aut)
Kelly Holmes (Gbr)
1500m
NOURIA MERAH-BENIDA (Alg)
V'leta Beclea (Rom)
G'riela Szabo (Rom)
5000m GABRIELA SZABO (Rom)
Sonia O'Sullivan (Irl)
Gete Wami (Eth)
10000m DERARTU TULU (Eth) Gete Wami (Eth) F'anda Ribeiro (Prt)
Marathon NAOKO TAKAHASHI (Jap)
Lidia Simon (Rom)
J Chepchumba (Ken)
20km Wk LIPING WANG (Chn)
Kjersti Platzer (Nor)
Maria Vasco (Esp)

2004

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE
800m KELLY HOLMES (Gbr)
H'na Benhassi (Mor)
Jolanda Ceplak (Svn)
1500m
KELLY HOLMES (Gbr)
T Tomashova (Rus)
Maria Cioncan (Rom)
5000m
 MESERET DEFAR (Eth)
I'bella Ochichi (Ken)
Tirunesh Dibaba (Eth)
10000m XING HUINA (Chn)
E'yehu Dibaba (Eth) Derartu Tula (Eth)
Marathon MIZUKI NOGUCHI (Jap)
C'ine Ndereba (Ken)
 Deena Kastor (Usa)
20km Wk ATHANASIA TSOUMELEKA (Grc)
Ol'da Ivanova (Rus)
Jane Saville (Aus)

2008

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE
800m PAMELA JELIMO (Ken) J Jepkosgei (Ken)
H'na Benhassi (Mor)
1500m NANCY LAGAT (Ken) I Lishchynska (Ukr)
Nataliya Tobias (Ukr)
3000m S GULNARA GALKINA (Rus)
E'ice Jepkorir (Ken)
Y'rina Volkova (Rus)
5000m
TIRUNESH DIBABA (Eth) E Abeylegesse (Tur)
Meseret Defar (Eth)
10000m TIRUNESH DIBABA (Eth)
E Abeylegesse (Tur) S'ne Flanagan (Usa)
Marathon CONSTANTINA DITA (Rom)
C'ine Ndereba (Ken) Zhou Chunxia (Chn)
20km Wk OLGA KANISKINA (Rus) Kjersti Platzer (Nor) Elisa Rigaudo (Ita)

 


S = Steeplechase
Wk = Walk


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