Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metres

The women's 200 metres competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia was held at the Olympic Stadium on November 29–30.[1] The winning margin was 0.3 seconds.

Women's 200 metres
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
VenueMelbourne Cricket Ground
DateNovember 29–30
Competitors27 from 12 nations
Winning time23.4
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Betty Cuthbert  Australia
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Christa Stubnick  United Team of Germany
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Marlene Mathews-Willard  Australia
← 1952
1960 →
Video on YouTube Official Video @1:04:35

Summary

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At home, Australia got three athletes into the final, led by already 100 metres champion Betty Cuthbert. Running in lane 5, with 100 metres silver medalist Christa Stubnick to her outside in lane 6, Cuthbert took an early lead making up the stagger on Stubnick more than 20 metres before the end of the turn. By the time they were all on the straightaway, she had a meter lead on Stubnick with no competition coming from the inside. She widened it to three metres by the finish. The race for bronze was more competitive as the other semi-final winner, June Foulds had opened up a metre lead over the other two Australians through the turn, but both were gaining. 50 metres out, Norma Croker caught Foulds marginally ahead, but Marlene Mathews-Willard continued to gain, opening up a meter on her compatriot by the finish, to take bronze. It was the same finish order as the 100 metres.

Competition format

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The women's 200 metres competition started with six heats, where the fastest two from each heat qualified to one of the two semifinals groups. The three fastest runners from each semifinals group advanced to the final.

Records

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Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.

World record   Betty Cuthbert (AUS) 23.2 Sydney, Australia September 16, 1956
Olympic record   Marjorie Jackson (AUS) 23.4 Helsinki, Finland July 26, 1952

Results

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Heats

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Heat 1

Rank Name Country Result
1 Betty Cuthbert   Australia 23.5 Q
2 Mae Faggs   United States 24.9 Q
3 Diane Matheson   Canada 25.7
4 Mary Klass   Singapore 26.3
5 Maeve Kyle   Ireland 26.4

Heat 2

Rank Name Country Result
1 Mariya Itkina   Soviet Union 23.5 Q
2 Gisela Birkemeyer   United Team of Germany 24.4 Q
3 Wilma Rudolph   United States 24.6
4 Genowefa Minicka   Poland 25.0

Heat 3

Rank Name Country Result
1 Christa Stubnick   United Team of Germany 24.5 Q
2 Norma Croker   Australia 24.9 Q
3 Giuseppina Leone   Italy 25.6
4 Meredith Ellis   United States 26.3

Heat 4

Rank Name Country Result
1 June Foulds   Great Britain 23.8 Q
2 Vera Yugova   Soviet Union 24.9 Q
3 Letizia Bertoni   Italy 25.2
4 Claudette Masdammer   Guyana 25.4

Heat 5

Rank Name Country Result
1 Heather Armitage   Great Britain 24.8 Q
2 Barbara Janiszewska   Poland 24.8 Q
3 Simone Henry   France 25.0
4 Eleanor Haslam   Canada 25.3
5 Olga Kosheleva   Soviet Union 25.3

Heat 6

Rank Name Country Result
1 Marlene Mathews-Willard   Australia 24.0 Q
2 Jean Scrivens   Great Britain 24.3 Q
3 Inge Fuhrmann   United Team of Germany 24.7
4 Micheline Fluchot   France 24.9
5 Maureen Rever   Canada 26.1

Semifinals

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Group 1

Rank Name Country Result
1 Betty Cuthbert   Australia 23.6 Q
2 Christa Stubnick   United Team of Germany 23.9 Q
3 Norma Croker   Australia 24.3 Q
4 Maria Itkina   Soviet Union 24.3
5 Jean Scrivens   Great Britain 24.4
6 Barbara Janiszewska   Poland 25.2

Group 2

Rank Name Country Result
1 June Foulds   Great Britain 24.2 Q
2 Marlene Mathews-Willard   Australia 24.3 Q
3 Gisela Birkemeyer   United Team of Germany 24.3 Q
4 Heather Armitage   Great Britain 24.7
5 Mae Faggs   United States 24.8
6 Vera Yugova   Soviet Union 24.9

Final

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Rank Name Country Result
  Betty Cuthbert   Australia 23.4
  Christa Stubnick   United Team of Germany 23.7
  Marlene Mathews-Willard   Australia 23.8
4 Norma Croker   Australia 24.0
5 June Foulds   Great Britain 24.3
6 Gisela Birkemeyer   United Team of Germany 24.3

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Women's 200 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2017.