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

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Women's 200 metres
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Venue Melbourne Cricket Ground
DateNovember 29–30
Competitors27 from 12 nations
Winning time23.4
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Betty Cuthbert Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
Silver medal icon.svg Christa Stubnick Flag of Germany.svg  United Team of Germany
Bronze medal icon.svg Marlene Mathews-Willard Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
  1952
1960  
Video on YouTube Official Video @1:04:35 TV-icon-2.svg
Video on YouTube Official Video @1:04:35

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.

Summary

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

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

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

World record Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Betty Cuthbert  (AUS)23.2 Sydney, Australia September 16, 1956
Olympic recordFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Marjorie Jackson  (AUS)23.4 Helsinki, Finland July 26, 1952

Results

Heats

Heat 1

RankNameCountryResult
1 Betty Cuthbert Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 23.5 Q
2 Mae Faggs US flag 48 stars.svg  United States 24.9 Q
3 Diane Matheson Flag of Canada (1921-1957).svg  Canada 25.7
4 Mary Klass Flag of Singapore (1946-1959).svg  Singapore 26.3
5 Maeve Kyle Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 26.4

Heat 2

RankNameCountryResult
1 Mariya Itkina Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 23.5 Q
2 Gisela Birkemeyer Flag of Germany.svg  United Team of Germany 24.4 Q
3 Wilma Rudolph US flag 48 stars.svg  United States 24.6
4 Genowefa Minicka Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 25.0

Heat 3

RankNameCountryResult
1 Christa Stubnick Flag of Germany.svg  United Team of Germany 24.5 Q
2 Norma Croker Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 24.9 Q
3 Giuseppina Leone Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 25.6
4 Meredith Ellis US flag 48 stars.svg  United States 26.3

Heat 4

RankNameCountryResult
1 June Foulds Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 23.8 Q
2 Vera Yugova Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 24.9 Q
3 Letizia Bertoni Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 25.2
4 Claudette Masdammer Flag of British Guiana (1955-1966).svg  Guyana 25.4

Heat 5

RankNameCountryResult
1 Heather Armitage Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 24.8 Q
2 Barbara Janiszewska Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 24.8 Q
3 Simone Henry Flag of France.svg  France 25.0
4 Eleanor Haslam Flag of Canada (1921-1957).svg  Canada 25.3
5 Olga Kosheleva Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 25.3

Heat 6

RankNameCountryResult
1 Marlene Mathews-Willard Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 24.0 Q
2 Jean Scrivens Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 24.3 Q
3 Inge Fuhrmann Flag of Germany.svg  United Team of Germany 24.7
4 Micheline Fluchot Flag of France.svg  France 24.9
5 Maureen Rever Flag of Canada (1921-1957).svg  Canada 26.1

Semifinals

Group 1

RankNameCountryResult
1 Betty Cuthbert Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 23.6 Q
2 Christa Stubnick Flag of Germany.svg  United Team of Germany 23.9 Q
3 Norma Croker Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 24.3 Q
4 Maria Itkina Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 24.3
5 Jean Scrivens Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 24.4
6 Barbara Janiszewska Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg  Poland 25.2

Group 2

RankNameCountryResult
1 June Foulds Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 24.2 Q
2 Marlene Mathews-Willard Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 24.3 Q
3 Gisela Birkemeyer Flag of Germany.svg  United Team of Germany 24.3 Q
4 Heather Armitage Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 24.7
5 Mae Faggs US flag 48 stars.svg  United States 24.8
6 Vera Yugova Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 24.9

Final

RankNameCountryResult
Gold medal icon.svg Betty Cuthbert Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 23.4
Silver medal icon.svg Christa Stubnick Flag of Germany.svg  United Team of Germany 23.7
Bronze medal icon.svg Marlene Mathews-Willard Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 23.8
4 Norma Croker Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 24.0
5 June Foulds Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 24.3
6 Gisela Birkemeyer Flag of Germany.svg  United Team of Germany 24.3

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References

  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.