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1956 Olympic Games Melbourne, Australia - Women's 80 m Hurdles

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Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1956 Olympic Games Melbourne, Australia - (Athletics); Last Updated: 09 June 2016; Hits: 356

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Host City: Melbourne, Australia

Format: Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Date Started: November 27, 1956

Format: Top three in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Date Finished: November 28, 1956

(Competitors: 22; Countries: 12; Finalists: 6)

Venue(s): Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria

Overview by IAAF

Eight runners had ducked below 11.0 prior to the Games, all Germans or Soviets, and only Thrower and Strickland were considered worthy rivals to the Europeans. The Australians showed their paces in the heats with Strickland running 10.8 (11.02) into a headwind, and Thrower going even quicker with 10.8 (10.94) benefiting from a 3m following wind. Strickland then ran the first legal sub-11 electric time in the semifinals, holding off Köhler 10.89 to 10.93 as both were credited with 10.8. In the final, Strickland was first to the initial hurdle, and she won by 1.5m from Köhler, with Thrower edging Bystrova by the smallest possible margin for third place. Strickland’s time would have been around 10.80 with the wind following instead of hindering. She so impressed 10,000m winner Vladimir Kuts that he described her in Melbourne as “the queen of running”.

Summary by Sports-reference.com

The defending champion, Shirley Strickland, now Strickland-de la Hunty, was back, and running in her native Australia. The silver medalist, Mariya Golubnichiya (URS), was also back and had won the 1954 European Championship in the interim. In August 1954, she had also equaled Strickland’s world record from the 1952 Olympic final. That record was broken in July 1956 by West German Zenta Gastl, who ran 10.6 in an International in Frechen. Gastl was in Melbourne but finished fourth in the second semi and did not make the final. Three Australians made it to the final, along with Golubnichiya and her teammate Galina Bystrova, later European Champion, and East German Gisela Köhler. In the first semi, Strickland-de la Hunty and Köhler both ran under 11 seconds auto timing, the first time that had been done. The final was not as close as expected, as Strickland-de la Hunty won by almost 2 metres.

				Results

*80 m Hurdles*	Women			Final	28 November

Rank	Mark			Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	10,96			Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	Australia	AUS	31	OR	10.7 h
2	11,12			Gisela Köhler-Birkemeyer	Germany	GER	24		11.9 h
3	11,25			Norma Thrower	Australia	AUS	20		11.0 h
4	11,25			Galina Bystrova	Soviet Union	URS	22		11.0 h
5	11,50			Mariya Golubnichaya	Soviet Union	URS	32		11.3 h
6	11,60			Gloria Cooke-Wigney	Australia	AUS	22		11.4 h
*80 m Hurdles*	Women			Semi-Finals Heat One	27 November

Rank	Mark			Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	10,89		Q	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	Australia	AUS	31	(=)OR	10.8 h
2	10,93		Q	Gisela Köhler-Birkemeyer	Germany	GER	24	(=)OR	10.8 h
3	11,12		Q	Mariya Golubnichaya	Soviet Union	URS	32		11.0 h
4	11,37			Marthe Lambert	France	FRA	20		11.1 h
5	11,42			Berta Díaz	Cuba	CUB	20		11.2 h
6	11,61			Carole Quinton	Great Britain	GBR	20		11.4 h
*80 m Hurdles*	Women			Semi-Finals Heat Two	27 November

Rank	Mark			Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11,14		Q	Galina Bystrova	Soviet Union	URS	22		11.0 h
2	11,20		Q	Norma Thrower	Australia	AUS	20		11.0 h
3	11,25		Q	Gloria Cooke-Wigney	Australia	AUS	22		11.1 h
4	11,30			Zenta Gastl-Kopp	Germany	GER	22		11.1 h
5	11,47			Elaine Winter	South Africa	RSA	24		11.3 h
6	11,51			Margaret Stuart	New Zealand	NZL	22		11.3 h
*80 m Hurdles*	Women			Round One Heat One	27 November

Rank	Mark			Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11,18		Q	Zenta Gastl-Kopp	Germany	GER	22	(=)OR	10.9 h
2	11,51		Q	Berta Díaz	Cuba	CUB	20		11.4 h
3	11,63		Q	Carole Quinton	Great Britain	GBR	20		11.4 h
4	11,83			Barbara Mueller	United States	USA	23		11.6 h
5	12,66			Milena Greppi	Italy	ITA	27		12.3 h
*80 m Hurdles*	Women			Round One Heat Two	27 November

Rank	Mark			Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11,02		Q	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	Australia	AUS	31	OR	10.8 h
2	11,25		Q	Mariya Golubnichaya	Soviet Union	URS	32		11.1 h
3	11,46		Q	Margaret Stuart	New Zealand	NZL	22		11.3 h
4	12,02			Constance Darnowski	United States	USA	21		11.9 h
5	12,06			Pauline Threapleton-Wainwright	Great Britain	GBR	23		11.9 h
*80 m Hurdles*	Women			Round One Heat Three	27 November

Rank	Mark			Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	11,11		Q	Gisela Köhler-Birkemeyer	Germany	GER	24		11.0 h
2	11,28		Q	Elaine Winter	South Africa	RSA	24		11.1 h
3	11,45		Q	Gloria Cooke-Wigney	Australia	AUS	22		11.4 h
4	11,50			Angèle Picado	France	FRA	21		11.5 h
5	11,59			Niliya Besedina-Kulakova	Soviet Union	URS	20		11.5 h
6	12,02			Irene Robertson	United States	USA	25		11.9 h
7	12,20			Manolita Cinco	Philippines	PHI			12.1 h
*80 m Hurdles*	Women			Round One Heat Four	27 November

Rank	Mark			Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	10,94	w	Q	Norma Thrower	Australia	AUS	20		10.8w h
2	11,09	w	Q	Galina Bystrova	Soviet Union	URS	22		10.9w h
3	11,18	w	Q	Marthe Lambert	France	FRA	20		10.9w h
4	11,22	w		Maria Sander	Germany	GER	32		11.1w h
5	12,15	w		Francisca Sanopal	Philippines	PHI			11.8w h