| Final | time | L | 400m | 800m | | 1. Svetlana Masterkova |  RUS | 1:57.73 | 3 | 58.43s | 59.30s | | 2. Ana Fidelia Quirot |  CUB | 1:58.11 | 6 | 58.69s | 59.42s | | 3. Maria Lurdes Mutola |  MOZ | 1:58.71 | 5 | 58.63s | 60.08s | | 4. Kelly Holmes |  GBR | 1:58.81 | 2 | 58.92s | 59.89s | | 5. Yelena Afanasyeva | RUS | 1:59.57 | 4 | 58.45s | 61.12s | | 6. Patricia Djate-Taillard |  FRA | 1:59.61 | 8 | 58.88s | 60.73s | | 7. Natasha Dukhnova |  BLR | 2:00.32 | 7 | 59.01s | 61.31s | | 8. Toni Hodgkinson |  NZL | 2:00.54 | 1 | 58.70s | 61.84s |
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| | | Venue: Centennial Olympic Stadium. | | 32 competitors from 21 nations. |
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| | | First 4 from each Semi advanced to Final. |
| Semi 1 | time | L | | 1. Svetlana Masterkova | RUS | 1:57.95 | 6 | | 2. Ana Fidelia Quirot | CUB | 1:57.99 | 4 | | 3. Kelly Holmes | GBR | 1:58.49 | 3 | | 4. Natasha Dukhnova | BLR | 1:58.67 | 5 | | 5. Dawn Williams |  DMA | 1:59.06 | 7 | | 6. Linda Kisabaka |  GER | 1:59.23 | 1 | | 7. Viviane Dorsile | FRA | 2:00.68 | 2 | | -. Stella Jongmans |  NED | DNF | 8 |
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| Semi 2 | time | L | | 1. Maria Lurdes Mutola | MOZ | 1:57.62 | 6 | | 2. Yelena Afanasyeva | RUS | 1:57.77 | 2 | | 3. Patricia Djate-Taillard | FRA | 1:57.93 | 3 | | 4. Toni Hodgkinson | NZL | 1:58.25 | 1 | | 5. Laetitia Vriesde |  SUR | 1:58.29 | 5 | | 6. Ludmila Formanova |  CZE | 1:59.28 | 8 | | 7. Meredith Rainey |  USA | 1:59.36 | 4 | | 8. Lyubov Tsyoma | RUS | 2:02.50 | 7 |
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Mutola and Quirot, the 1995 World Champion who had returned after
terrible burns from a domestic accident in 1993, were favourites. All
five heats were won in less than two minutes, with Holmes (1:58.80)
the fastest. Masterkova came into the reckoning in the semi-finals, following
Quirot through 400m in 56.62 and easing over the line in
1:57.95, just 0.04 seconds ahead of the Cuban. Mutola won the other
semi in 1:57.62, with Letitia Vriesde (SUR) the fastest non-qualifier
with 1:58.29.
Masterkova went to the front after the first bend of the final and held
the lead, passing 400m in 58.43 and then slowing the pace so as to control
the race. Quirot stayed with the Russian, running at her shoulder as
if impatient to surge past. As the runners came into the home straight it
was Masterkova who surged, and she went away to win by 3m without
being threatened. Mutola gave Holmes 2m start in the straight, and
caught the Briton with 20m to go, to win the bronze medal after running
below her capabilities.
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| Splits | 200m | 400m | 600m | | Masterkova | 27.0s | 58.43s | 1:29.7 | | Quirot | 27.2s | 58.69s | 1:29.9 | | Mutola | 27.2s | 58.63s | 1:30.1 | | Holmes | 27.3s | 58.92s | 1:29.9 | | Afanasyeva | 27.2s | 58.45s | 1:30.5 |
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| | | First 2 from each Heat and Best 6 times advanced to 1Semi-Finals. |
| Heat 1 | time | L | | 1. Svetlana Masterkova | RUS | 1:59.67 | 3 | | 2. Laetitia Vriesde | SUR | 1:59.71 | 5 | | 3. Luciana Mendes |  BRA | 2:00.25 | 4 | | 4. Noria Benida |  ALG | 2:02.44 | 1 | | 5. Jian Zhang |  CHN | 2:04.17 | 2 | | 6. Leontine Tsiba |  CGO | 2:08.58 | 6 | | 7. Sharette Garcia |  BIZ | 2:13.52 | 8 | | -. Tina Paulino | MOZ | DNS | 7 |
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| Heat 2 | time | L | | 1. Maria Lurdes Mutola | MOZ | 1:58.98 | 5 | | 2. Yelena Afanasyeva | RUS | 1:59.18 | 6 | | 3. Linda Kisabaka | GER | 1:59.56 | 3 | | 4. Viviane Dorsile | FRA | 2:00.02 | 1 | | 5. Eduarda Coelho |  POR | 2:03.22 | 7 | | 6. Marta Orellana |  ARG | 2:04.99 | 8 | | -. Diane Modahl | GBR | DNF | 2 |
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| Heat 3 | time | L | | 1. Natasha Dukhnova | BLR | 1:59.23 | 6 | | 2. Toni Hodgkinson | NZL | 1:59.35 | 2 | | 3. Dawn Williams | DMA | 1:59.65 | 7 | | 4. Meredith Rainey | USA | 1:59.96 | 5 | | 5. Lyubov Tsyoma | RUS | 2:00.18 | 4 | | 6. Charmaine Crooks |  CAN | 2:00.27 | 8 | | 7. Yaznee Nasheeda |  MDV | 2:36.85 | 1 | | -. Ana Menendez |  ESP | DNF | 3 |
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| Heat 4 | time | L | | 1. Ana Fidelia Quirot | CUB | 1:59.98 | 2 | | 2. Stella Jongmans | NED | 2:00.26 | 4 | | 3. Joetta Clark | USA | 2:00.38 | 3 | | 4. Malin Ewerlof |  SWE | 2:01.61 | 7 | | 5. Petya Strashilova |  BUL | 2:02.13 | 5 | | 6. Lisa Lightfoot |  AUS | 2:02.88 | 8 | | 7. Restituta Joseph |  TAN | 2:08.31 | 6 |
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| Heat 5 | time | L | | 1. Kelly Holmes | GBR | 1:58.80 | 8 | | 2. Patricia Djate-Taillard | FRA | 1:58.98 | 7 | | 3. Ludmila Formanova | CZE | 1:59.37 | 2 | | 4. Suzy Hamilton | USA | 2:00.47 | 3 | | 5. Inez Turner |  JAM | 2:01.48 | 5 | | 6. Kutre Dulecha |  ETH | 2:04.80 | 4 | | -. Adama N'jie |  GAM | DNF | 1 |
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