Athletics at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games:

Based on her form of 1986-87, Norway's [Ingrid Kristiansen] should have been an easy winner. She had won the 1986 Europeans and the 1987 World Championships. At the Bislett Games in 1985, she broke the 10K world record with 30:59.42 and then at the same meet in 1986, she ran a Beamonesque 30:13.74 to destroy that world record. In that race, run against a field of world-class competitors, she lapped every runner. But in 1988 she was battling a foot injury and she eventually dropped out of the final, after leading the first seven laps. That left a stunned field to battle for the medals. After her withdrawal, the lead was taken by [Liz McColgan] (GBR), [Kathrin Ullrich] (GDR), [Yelena Zhupiyeva] (URS), and [Olga Bondarenko] (URS). Ullrich led at 5K, but McColgan then pushed the pace and Ullrich could not maintain it after 8,000 metres. Zhupiyeva hung on until 9K, but the race then came down to McColgan and Bondarenko. With 200 left, Bondarenko pushed past McColgan and pulled away from her for the gold medal.