Kostadinova had 20 of the 25 jumps ever at 2.05, and two world golds,
but had never won the Olympic title. She was favourite to win, though
had a losing record against Babakova since the beginning of 1995. As
the bar rose to 2.03, only Babakova and Kostadinova had perfect
records. Antonella Bevilacqua (ITA) had not missed a height up to and
including 1.99, Her failure at 2.01 left her in fourth place, but she was
then disqualified when the result of an earlier doping control test was
confirmed.
At 2.03 Kostadinova, cleared cleanly first time to win the gold
medal. Babakova failed, but the shortest of the three contenders –
Bakoyianni – got over on her final attempt, to achieve the highest dif-
ferential of any two-metre jumper (33cm above her own height). Just
to make sure Kostadinova then cleared 2.05, her fourth such jump in
World Championships or Olympics.