It took 14.22m to get into the final. The key players from the previous year's world championships which had rewritten the record books were all in attendance. World record holder Inessa Kravets put out a long first jump, but it wasn't measured as it was ruled a foul. The first round leader was Ren Ruiping with a 14.30m. The only other jumper over 14 meters in the first round was Sheila Hudson at 14.02m. The second round advanced the distances significantly. Inna Lasovskaya jumped 14.98m to take a commanding lead. Ashia Hansen jumped her best of the day 14.49m to pull into second, but in total, five women jumped over 14.40m in the second round. In the third round Šárka Kašpárková equalled Lasovskaya with a 14.98m and with a 14.45m in the second round, Kašpárková held the tiebreaker. Iva Prandzheva and Kravets both produced 14.84m's in the round to play in bronze medal territory, with Kravets holding the tiebreaker 14.40m from the second round. In the fourth round Lasovskaya and Kašpárková continued to spar, first Lasovskaya jumping 14.66m to take the tiebreaker edge, answered by Kašpárková's 14.69m. Prandzheva jumped 14.39m but still never got into third place. The fifth round settled the medals as Lasovskaya jumped 14.70m to edge ahead on the tiebreaker. Then Kravets bounded down the runway, almost making the pit on her step phase, landing at 15.33 m (50 ft 3+1⁄2 in), to date the second longest jump in history only to her world record.
Iva Prandzheva from Bulgaria, ranking 4th with 14.92, was disqualified because of doping.
Results
Qualifying round
Rule: Qualifying standard 14.20 (Q) or at least 12 best qualified (q).
