Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres

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Women's 400 metres
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Venue Estadio Olímpico Universitario
DateOctober 14–16, 1968
Competitors29 from 22 nations
Winning time52.0
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Colette Besson Flag of France.svg  France
Silver medal icon.svg Lillian Board Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
Bronze medal icon.svg Natalya Pechonkina Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
  1964
1972  

The Women's 400 metres competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico was held at the University Olympic Stadium on October 14–16. [1]

Summary

In the final, running in lane 1, Lillian Board went out fast, making up the stagger on Aurelia Pentón in lane 2. In lane 4, Jarvis Scott did the same to Colette Besson in lane 5 who was passing Mirna van der Hoeven-Jansen in 6. On the backstretch, Scott opened up a clear lead on the field. Through the final turn, Natalya Pechonkina in lane 8 started to make headway against Scott's lead, with Board sandwiching the challenge from the inside. Coming off the turn, Board attacked and took the lead, Besson was still more than two metres behind Scott, but the rush was on. Besson shot past Scott and gained on Board with every step. After her early exuberance, Scott had no answer. Besson passed Board 10 metres before the line with Pechonkina taking bronze well ahead of Janet Simpson.

Competition format

The Women's 200m competition consisted of heats (Round 1), Semifinals and a Final. The four fastest competitors from each race in the heats qualified for the Semifinals. The four fastest competitors from each of the Semifinal races qualified for the final.

Records

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

World record Flag of North Korea.svg  Shin Geum-Dan  (PRK)51.9 Pyongyang, North Korea October 23, 1962
Olympic recordFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Betty Cuthbert  (AUS)52.0 Tokyo, Japan October 17, 1964

Results

Round 1

Heat 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Colette Besson Flag of France.svg  France 53.1Q
2 Jarvis Scott Flag of the United States.svg  United States 53.5Q
3 Helga Henning Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany 53.5Q
4 Joan Fisher Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 54.6Q
5 Enriqueta Basilio Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 55.6
6 Joyce Bennett Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 56.5

Heat 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Aurelia Pentón Flag of Cuba (3-2).svg  Cuba 52.8Q
2 Lillian Board Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 52.9Q
3 Ingrīda Verbele Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 54.0Q
4 Una Morris Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 54.1Q
5 Anne Covell Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 54.3
6 Anna Chmelková Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 54.9
7 Antónia Munkácsi Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 55.6
8 Jean Robotham Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica 58.2

Heat 3

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Mirna van der Hoeven-Jansen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 53.1Q
2 Esther Stroy Flag of the United States.svg  United States 53.5Q
3 Janet Simpson Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 53.6Q
4 Monique Noirot Flag of France.svg  France 53.6Q
5 Tekla Chemabwai Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 54.0
6 Sandra Brown Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 55.4
7 Hana Shezifi Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 56.3

Heat 4

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Natalya Pechonkina Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 53.7Q
2 Mary Green Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 53.9Q
3 Karin Wallgren Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 54.2Q
4 Lois Anne Drinkwater Flag of the United States.svg  United States 54.5Q
5 Donata Govoni Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 54.7
6 Eeva Haimi Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 55.0
7 Josefa Vicent Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 56.3
8 Olajumoke Bodunrin Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria 57.0

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Helga Henning Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany 53.3Q
2 Colette Besson Flag of France.svg  France 53.6Q
3 Janet Simpson Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 54.0Q
4 Aurelia Pentón Flag of Cuba (3-2).svg  Cuba 54.0Q
5 Esther Stroy Flag of the United States.svg  United States 54.3
6 Una Morris Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 54.6
7 Ingrīda Verbele Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 54.6
8 Joan Fisher Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 55.2

Semifinal 2

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1 Lillian Board Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 52.5Q
2 Mirna van der Hoeven-Jansen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 52.6Q
3 Natalya Pechonkina Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 52.8Q
4 Jarvis Scott Flag of the United States.svg  United States 53.2Q
5 Mary Green Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 53.6
6 Karin Wallgren Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 53.9
7 Monique Noirot Flag of France.svg  France 54.2
8 Lois Drinkwater Flag of the United States.svg  United States 57.3

Final

RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Colette Besson Flag of France.svg  France 52.0
Silver medal icon.svg Lillian Board Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 52.1
Bronze medal icon.svg Natalya Pechonkina Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 52.2
4 Janet Simpson Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain 52.5
5 Aurelia Pentón Flag of Cuba (3-2).svg  Cuba 52.7
6 Jarvis Scott Flag of the United States.svg  United States 52.7
7 Helga Henning Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany 52.8
8 Mirna van der Hoeven-Jansen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 53.0

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games: Women's 400 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2017.