Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metres

Women's 800 metres; at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
	Maryvonne Dupureur, Ann Packer and Marise Chamberlain on the podium
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Dates	18–20 October
Competitors	24 from 16 nations
Medalists

The women's 800 metres was the longest of the four women's track races in the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 18 October, 19 October, and 20 October 1964. 24 athletes from 16 nations entered, with 1 not starting the first round. The first round was held on 18 October, the semifinals on 19 October, and the final on 20 October.[1]

Official Video Highlights

The 1964 race was run with the contemporary break after a single turn, a style that changed and was reverted over the next decade and a half.

Results

First round

The top five runners in each of the 3 heats advanced, as well as the next fastest runner from across the heats.

Heat 1

All three of the eventual medallists were in the first heat.

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Maryvonne Dupureur	France	2:04.5
2	Marise Chamberlain	New Zealand	2:06.8
3	Zsuzsa Szabó	Hungary	2:07.7
4	Vera Mukhanova	Soviet Union	2:08.8
5	Ann Packer	Great Britain	2:12.6
6	Waltraud Kaufmann	United Team of Germany	2:14.6
7	Jette Andersen	Denmark	2:15.2
8	Abby Hoffman	Canada	2:17.4

Heat 2

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Mary Hodson	Great Britain	2:08.5
2	Anita Wörner	United Team of Germany	2:08.6
3	Zoya Skobtsova	Soviet Union	2:08.6
4	Gerda Kraan	Netherlands	2:09.8
5	Maeve Kyle	Ireland	2:11.3
6	Sandy Knott	United States	2:12.2
7	Aldaanish Ramazan	Mongolia	2:21.1
—	Dixie Willis	Australia	Did not start

Heat 3

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Anne Smith	Great Britain	2:08.0
2	Antje Gleichfeld	United Team of Germany	2:08.2
3	Laine Erik	Soviet Union	2:08.3
4	Gizela Farkaš	Yugoslavia	2:08.7
5	Jannie van Eyck-Vos	Netherlands	2:09.1
6	Olga Kazi	Hungary	2:12.1
7	Masako Kisaki	Japan	2:18.6
8	Han Myung Hee	South Korea	2:22.7

Semifinals

The top four runners in each semifinal advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Maryvonne Dupureur	France	2:04.1 OR
2	Antje Gleichfeld	United Team of Germany	2:04.6
3	Laine Erik	Soviet Union	2:04.7
4	Anne Smith	Great Britain	2:04.8
5	Vera Mukhanova	Soviet Union	2:04.8
6	Jannie van Eyck-Vos	Netherlands	2:05.7
7	Mary Hodson	Great Britain	2:07.1
8	Olga Kazi	Hungary	2:10.2

Semifinal 2

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Marise Chamberlain	New Zealand	2:04.6
2	Zsuzsa Szabó	Hungary	2:05.1
3	Ann Packer	Great Britain	2:06.0
4	Gerda Kraan	Netherlands	2:06.2
5	Anita Wörner	United Team of Germany	2:07.1
6	Zoya Skobtsova	Soviet Union	2:07.4
7	Gizela Farkaš	Yugoslavia	2:09.9
8	Maeve Kyle	Ireland	2:12.9

Final

After winning a silver medal in the 400 metres Ann Packer had no plans to run in the 800 metres and had a shopping trip planned until her fiancé, Robbie Brightwell finished fourth in the 400 metres. Disappointed for him, she turned to the 800 metres, an event which she had only raced in five times before.[1]

Packer, who had placed fifth in her first round heat and third in her semifinal, started the final as the second slowest of the eight contestants.

After the break in the final Zsuzsa Szabó took the lead with Maryvonne Dupureur and Antje Gleichfeld in close order behind her. Coming off the second turn Dupureur took the lead. At the bell she accelerated further. Packer was sixth at 400 metres, tagging along at the back of the pack behind Dupureur. Along the backstretch, Dupureur opened a gap which she extended through the final turn, five girls hit the 600 mark virtually shoulder to shoulder, with Packer a step behind the wall. Laine Erik was the outside of the wall but had more speed through the turn, the only one in the field looking to have enough speed to try to make progress on the now five metre lead of Dupureur.

Final. Left-right: Anne Smith, Laine Erik, Marise Chamberlain, Ann Packer, Antje Gleichfeld, Gerda Kraan, Maryvonne Dupureur, Zsuzsa Szabó

Suddenly halfway through the final turn, Packer launched into a sprint, running around the other competitors. She took the lead in the final straight her sprinting speed taking her past Dupureur in a completely different gear to take the gold medal in world record time.[2] The first five runners beat the Olympic record time (set by Dupureur in the semifinals).[1]

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Ann Packer	Great Britain	2:01.1 WR
2	Maryvonne Dupureur	France	2:01.9
3	Marise Chamberlain	New Zealand	2:02.8
4	Zsuzsa Szabó	Hungary	2:03.5
5	Antje Gleichfeld	United Team of Germany	2:03.9
6	Laine Erik	Soviet Union	2:05.1
7	Gerda Kraan	Netherlands	2:05.8
8	Anne Smith	Great Britain	2:05.8

References

"Athletics at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games: Women's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
Ann Packer. The Times

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[SR-1] "Athletics at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games: Women's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2017.

[2] Ann Packer. The Times

800 metres at the Olympic Games
Summary
Men	1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Women	1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020

Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics

Track events
100 m	men	women
200 m	men	women
400 m	men	women
800 m	men	women
1500 m	men
5000 m	men
10,000 m	men
80 m hurdles		women
110 m hurdles	men
400 m hurdles	men
3000 m steeplechase	men
4×100 m relay	men	women
4×400 m relay	men
Road events
Marathon	men
20 km walk	men
50 km walk	men
Field events
Long jump	men	women
Triple jump	men
High jump	men	women
Pole vault	men
Shot put	men	women
Discus throw	men	women
Javelin throw	men	women
Hammer throw	men
Combined events
Pentathlon		women
Decathlon	men