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

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]

Women's 400 metres
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
VenueEstadio Olímpico Universitario
DateOctober 14–16
Competitors29 from 22 nations
Winning time52.0
Medalists
Colette Besson  France
Lillian Board  Great Britain
Natalya Pechonkina  Soviet Union
Athletics at the
1968 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 mmenwomen
200 mmenwomen
400 mmenwomen
800 mmenwomen
1500 mmen
5000 mmen
10,000 mmen
80 m hurdleswomen
110 m hurdlesmen
400 m hurdlesmen
3000 m
steeplechase		men
4×100 m relaymenwomen
4×400 m relaymen
Road events
Marathonmen
20 km walkmen
50 km walkmen
Field events
Long jumpmenwomen
Triple jumpmen
High jumpmenwomen
Pole vaultmen
Shot putmenwomen
Discus throwmenwomen
Javelin throwmenwomen
Hammer throwmen
Combined events
Pentathlonwomen
Decathlonmen

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  Shin Geum-Dan (PRK) 51.9 Pyongyang, North Korea October 23, 1962
Olympic record  Betty Cuthbert (AUS) 52.0 Tokyo, Japan October 17, 1964

Results

Heat 1
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Colette Besson France 53.1Q
2Jarvis Scott United States 53.5Q
3Helga Henning West Germany 53.5Q
4Joan Fisher Canada 54.6Q
5Enriqueta Basilio Mexico 55.6
6Joyce Bennett Australia 56.5

Heat 2
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Aurelia Pentón Cuba 52.8Q
2Lillian Board Great Britain 52.9Q
3Ingrīda Verbele Soviet Union 54.0Q
4Una Morris Jamaica 54.1Q
5Anne Covell Canada 54.3
6Anna Chmelková Czechoslovakia 54.9
7Antónia Munkácsi Hungary 55.6
8Jean Robotham Costa Rica 58.2

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

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

Semifinal 1
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
1Helga Henning West Germany 53.3Q
2Colette Besson France 53.6Q
3Janet Simpson Great Britain 54.0Q
4Aurelia Pentón Cuba 54.0Q
5Esther Stroy United States 54.3
6Una Morris Jamaica 54.6
7Ingrīda Verbele Soviet Union 54.6
8Joan Fisher Canada 55.2

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

Final
RankAthleteNationTimeNotes
Colette Besson France 52.0
Lillian Board Great Britain 52.1
Natalya Pechonkina Soviet Union 52.2
4Janet Simpson Great Britain 52.5
5Aurelia Pentón Cuba 52.7
6Jarvis Scott United States 52.7
7Helga Henning West Germany 52.8
8Mirna van der Hoeven-Jansen 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.
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