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

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]

Women's 800 metres
at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Maryvonne Dupureur, Ann Packer and Marise Chamberlain on the podium
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates18–20 October
Competitors24 from 16 nations
Medalists
Ann Packer  Great Britain
Maryvonne Dupureur  France
Marise Chamberlain  New Zealand

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.

PlaceAthleteNationTime
1Maryvonne Dupureur France2:04.5
2Marise Chamberlain New Zealand2:06.8
3Zsuzsa Szabó Hungary2:07.7
4Vera Mukhanova Soviet Union2:08.8
5Ann Packer Great Britain2:12.6
6Waltraud Kaufmann United Team of Germany2:14.6
7Jette Andersen Denmark2:15.2
8Abby Hoffman Canada2:17.4

Heat 2

PlaceAthleteNationTime
1Mary Hodson Great Britain2:08.5
2Anita Wörner United Team of Germany2:08.6
3Zoya Skobtsova Soviet Union2:08.6
4Gerda Kraan Netherlands2:09.8
5Maeve Kyle Ireland2:11.3
6Sandy Knott United States2:12.2
7Aldaanish Ramazan Mongolia2:21.1
Dixie Willis AustraliaDid not start

Heat 3

PlaceAthleteNationTime
1Anne Smith Great Britain2:08.0
2Antje Gleichfeld United Team of Germany2:08.2
3Laine Erik Soviet Union2:08.3
4Gizela Farkaš Yugoslavia2:08.7
5Jannie van Eyck-Vos Netherlands2:09.1
6Olga Kazi Hungary2:12.1
7Masako Kisaki Japan2:18.6
8Han Myung Hee South Korea2:22.7

Semifinals

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

Semifinal 1

PlaceAthleteNationTime
1Maryvonne Dupureur France2:04.1 OR
2Antje Gleichfeld United Team of Germany2:04.6
3Laine Erik Soviet Union2:04.7
4Anne Smith Great Britain2:04.8
5Vera Mukhanova Soviet Union2:04.8
6Jannie van Eyck-Vos Netherlands2:05.7
7Mary Hodson Great Britain2:07.1
8Olga Kazi Hungary2:10.2

Semifinal 2

PlaceAthleteNationTime
1Marise Chamberlain New Zealand2:04.6
2Zsuzsa Szabó Hungary2:05.1
3Ann Packer Great Britain2:06.0
4Gerda Kraan Netherlands2:06.2
5Anita Wörner United Team of Germany2:07.1
6Zoya Skobtsova Soviet Union2:07.4
7Gizela Farkaš Yugoslavia2:09.9
8Maeve Kyle Ireland2:12.9

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]

PlaceAthleteNationTime
1Ann Packer Great Britain2:01.1 WR
2Maryvonne Dupureur France2:01.9
3Marise Chamberlain New Zealand2:02.8
4Zsuzsa Szabó Hungary2:03.5
5Antje Gleichfeld United Team of Germany2:03.9
6Laine Erik Soviet Union2:05.1
7Gerda Kraan Netherlands2:05.8
8Anne Smith Great Britain2:05.8

References

  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
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.