| Host City: Atlanta, United States |
Format: Top four in each advanced to the final. |
| Date Started: July 26, 1996 |
Format: Top two in each heat and next six fastest advanced to the semi-finals. |
| Date Finished: July 29, 1996 |
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| (Competitors: 32; Countries: 21; Finalists: 8) |
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Venue(s): Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
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| Overview by IAAF |
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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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| Summary by Sports-reference.com |
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| In January 1993, Ana Fidelia Quirot was cooking with a kerosene cooker at her home when it exploded, leaving her with 3rd-degree burns over 40% of her body. She endured a long hospitalization, and 21 surgeries with multiple skin grafts to cover the burned skin. Incredibly she returned to competition in November, and recovered enough to win the 1995 World Championships. Co-favorite with her in Atlanta was Mozambique's Maria Mutola, who had first run in the Olympics in 1988 as a 15-year-old, and placed fifth in 1992 800. Mutola had lost only one race since 1993, that the 1995 Worlds to Quirot when she was disqualified for running out of her lane before the break. Nobody was considering Russia's Svetlana Masterkova, who had not competed in 1994 or 1995. But in the final she moved into the lead at the gun, but then slowed the pace. She continued to lead into the straight when she was challenged by Quirot. But Masterkova took off with 80 metres left and dropped her easily. Mutola never really challenged for the gold but moved up in the run-in to get a bronze medal. |
Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records (in minutes) prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics.
| World Record |
1:53.28 |
 Jarmila Kratochvílová |
Munich (FRG) |
July 26, 1983 |
| Olympic Record |
1:53.43 |
 Nadezhda Olizarenko |
Moscow (URS) |
July 27, 1980 |
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Results |
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| 800 m |
Women |
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Final |
29 July |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Birth Date |
Records |
| 1 |
1.57.73 |
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Svetlana Masterkova |
Russia |
RUS |
17 Jan 68 |
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| 2 |
1.58.11 |
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Ana Fidelia Quirot |
Cuba |
CUB |
23 Mar 63 |
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| 3 |
1.58.71 |
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Maria Mutola |
Mozambique |
MOZ |
27 Oct 72 |
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| 4 |
1.58.81 |
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Kelly Holmes |
Great Britain |
GBR |
19 Apr 70 |
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| 5 |
1.59.57 |
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Yelena Afanasyeva |
Russia |
RUS |
1 Mar 67 |
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| 6 |
1.59.61 |
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Patricia Djaté-Taillard |
France |
FRA |
3 Jan 71 |
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| 7 |
2.00.32 |
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Natallia Dukhnova |
Belarus |
BLR |
16 Jul 66 |
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| 8 |
2.00.54 |
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Toni Hodgkinson |
New Zealand |
NZL |
12 Dec 71 |
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| 800 m |
Women |
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Semifinal 1 |
27 July |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Birth Date |
Records |
| 1 |
1.57.95 |
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Svetlana Masterkova |
Russia |
RUS |
17 Jan 68 |
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| 2 |
1.57.99 |
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Ana Fidelia Quirot |
Cuba |
CUB |
23 Mar 63 |
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| 3 |
1.58.49 |
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Kelly Holmes |
Great Britain |
GBR |
19 Apr 70 |
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| 4 |
1.58.67 |
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Natallia Dukhnova |
Belarus |
BLR |
16 Jul 66 |
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| 5 |
1.59.06 |
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Dawn Williams-Sewer |
Dominica |
DMA |
23 Dec 73 |
NR |
| 6 |
1.59.23 |
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Linda Kisabaka |
Germany |
GER |
9 Apr 69 |
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| 7 |
2.00.68 |
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Viviane Dorsile |
France |
FRA |
1 Jun 67 |
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DNF |
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Stella Jongmans |
Netherlands |
NED |
17 May 71 |
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| 800 m |
Women |
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Semifinal 2 |
27 July |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Birth Date |
Records |
| 1 |
1.57.62 |
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Maria Mutola |
Mozambique |
MOZ |
27 Oct 72 |
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| 2 |
1.57.77 |
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Yelena Afanasyeva |
Russia |
RUS |
1 Mar 67 |
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| 3 |
1.57.93 |
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Patricia Djaté-Taillard |
France |
FRA |
3 Jan 71 |
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| 4 |
1.58.25 |
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Toni Hodgkinson |
New Zealand |
NZL |
12 Dec 71 |
AR |
| 5 |
1.58.29 |
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Letitia Vriesde |
Suriname |
SUR |
5 Oct 64 |
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| 6 |
1.59.28 |
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Ludmila Formanová |
Czech Republic |
CZE |
2 Jan 74 |
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| 7 |
1.59.36 |
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Meredith Valmon |
United States |
USA |
15 Oct 68 |
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| 8 |
2.02.50 |
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Lyubov Tsyoma |
Russia |
RUS |
19 May 63 |
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| 800 m |
Women |
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Heat 1 |
26 July |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Birth Date |
Records |
| 1 |
1.59.67 |
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Svetlana Masterkova |
Russia |
RUS |
17 Jan 68 |
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| 2 |
1.59.71 |
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Letitia Vriesde |
Suriname |
SUR |
5 Oct 64 |
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| 3 |
2.00.25 |
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Luciana Mendes |
Brazil |
BRA |
26 Jul 71 |
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| 4 |
2.02.44 |
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Nouriah Mérah-Benida |
Algeria |
ALG |
19 Oct 70 |
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| 5 |
2.04.17 |
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Zhang Jian |
China |
CHN |
5 Apr 76 |
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| 6 |
2.08.58 |
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Leontine Tsiba |
Congo |
CGO |
20 Nov 73 |
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| 7 |
2.13.52 |
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Sharette Garcia |
Belize |
BIZ |
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| 800 m |
Women |
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Heat 2 |
26 July |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Birth Date |
Records |
| 1 |
1.58.98 |
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Maria Mutola |
Mozambique |
MOZ |
27 Oct 72 |
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| 2 |
1.59.18 |
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Yelena Afanasyeva |
Russia |
RUS |
1 Mar 67 |
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| 3 |
1.59.56 |
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Linda Kisabaka |
Germany |
GER |
9 Apr 69 |
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| 4 |
2.00.02 |
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Viviane Dorsile |
France |
FRA |
1 Jun 67 |
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| 5 |
2.03.22 |
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Eduarda Coelho |
Portugal |
POR |
2 Mar 68 |
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| 6 |
2.04.99 |
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Marta Orellana |
Argentina |
ARG |
29 Dec 73 |
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DNF |
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Diane Modahl |
Great Britain |
GBR |
17 Jun 66 |
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| 800 m |
Women |
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Heat 3 |
26 July |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Birth Date |
Records |
| 1 |
1.59.23 |
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Natallia Dukhnova |
Belarus |
BLR |
16 Jul 66 |
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| 2 |
1.59.35 |
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Toni Hodgkinson |
New Zealand |
NZL |
12 Dec 71 |
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| 3 |
1.59.65 |
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Dawn Williams-Sewer |
Dominica |
DMA |
23 Dec 73 |
NR |
| 4 |
1.59.96 |
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Meredith Valmon |
United States |
USA |
15 Oct 68 |
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| 5 |
2.00.18 |
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Lyubov Tsyoma |
Russia |
RUS |
19 May 63 |
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| 6 |
2.00.27 |
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Charmaine Crooks |
Canada |
CAN |
8 Aug 62 |
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| 7 |
2.36.85 |
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Yasnee Nasheeda |
Maldives |
MDV |
8 Sep 77 |
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DNF |
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Ana Menéndez |
Spain |
ESP |
17 Mar 72 |
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| 800 m |
Women |
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Heat 4 |
26 July |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Birth Date |
Records |
| 1 |
1.59.98 |
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Ana Fidelia Quirot |
Cuba |
CUB |
23 Mar 63 |
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| 2 |
2.00.26 |
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Stella Jongmans |
Netherlands |
NED |
17 May 71 |
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| 3 |
2.00.38 |
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Joetta Clark-Diggs |
United States |
USA |
1 Aug 62 |
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| 4 |
2.01.61 |
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Malin Ewerlöf-Krepp |
Sweden |
SWE |
2 Jun 72 |
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| 5 |
2.02.13 |
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Petya Strashilova |
Bulgaria |
BUL |
18 Mar 65 |
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| 6 |
2.02.88 |
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Lisa Lightfoot |
Australia |
AUS |
3 Dec 66 |
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| 7 |
2.08.31 |
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Restituta Joseph |
Tanzania |
TAN |
30 Jul 71 |
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| 800 m |
Women |
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Heat 5 |
26 July |
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| Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Birth Date |
Records |
| 1 |
1.58.80 |
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Kelly Holmes |
Great Britain |
GBR |
19 Apr 70 |
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| 2 |
1.58.98 |
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Patricia Djaté-Taillard |
France |
FRA |
3 Jan 71 |
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| 3 |
1.59.37 |
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Ludmila Formanová |
Czech Republic |
CZE |
2 Jan 74 |
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| 4 |
2.00.47 |
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Suzy Favor Hamilton |
United States |
USA |
8 Aug 68 |
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| 5 |
2.01.48 |
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Inez Turner |
Jamaica |
JAM |
3 Jan 72 |
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| 6 |
2.04.80 |
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Kutre Dulecha |
Ethiopia |
ETH |
22 Aug 78 |
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DNF |
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Adama Njie |
Gambia |
GAM |
7 Feb 78 |
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