Format: Top two in each heat and next fastest advanced to the final.
Date Started: September 6, 1960
Date Finished: September 7, 1960
(Competitors: 27; Countries: 16; Finalists: 9)
Venue(s): Olympic Stadium, Roma
Overview by IAAF
Eighteen year-old Dixie Willis (AUS) was fastest in the heats with 2:05.9 (2:06.03). The veteran Russian Shevtsova, who had won bronze in the European Championships six years earlier, under her maiden name of Lysenko, was favourite, having set a world record of 2:04.3 two months earlier. Willis set the pace in the final, passing 400m in 60.0, with Shevtsova, Jones and Donath in close attendance. Willis still led into the finishing straight, with Donath beginning to fade. Shevtsova and Jones moved up to overtake, and Willis trod on the kerb and suddenly stepped off the track with 70m remaining. Shevtsova and Jones battled to the tape with the Soviet star getting home by half a metre, equalling her world record in the process. Willis stepped back onto the track and finished in approximately 2:27.5, though in official results she is listed as a non-finisher.
Summary by Sports-reference.com
After 32 years, women were once again allowed to compete over 800 metres at the Olympics. At the European Championships, the women ran 800 in both 1954 and 1958, both titles won by Soviet women. With an absence of races to choose from, no real favorite existed in 1960, but the Soviets were expected to be strong. The last five world records had been set by Soviet women, with Liudmyla Lysenko breaking the mark in July 1960. In the heats, Dixie Willis (AUS) had the fastest time with 2:05.9. She led the final as well, from the start until the final homestraight. But she stumbled on the curb and pulled off the track with only 50-70 metres remaining. The finish was close between Lysenko and Australia's Brenda Jones, but Lysenko prevailed, equaling her world record in the process.
Willis would return in 1962 to win the Commonwealth Games title. Her official status in the 1960 800 metres has been listed in various ways, none of which appear to be correct. She is listed in the Official Report as "Scratched" but she definitely ran. Other sources list her as did not finish. In fact, a YouTube video shows the race, and she actually finished the race, in approximately 2:27, as, after stepping off the track, she came back on and jogged across the finish line. This has been investigated by discussions with Willis who states that after being clipped by another runner, she stepped off the curb onto the infield and stopped briefly, but did, in fact, finish the race and was never informed of any disqualification.
Results
800 m
Women
Final
7 September
The women's 800 metres middle distance event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place between September 6 and September 7. This was the return of the event for the first time since 1928, when officials were concerned about winded athletes following the race and overreacted believing women were not capable of long distance running. This race was the first step in the progression of adding distance events, culminating in the first women's marathon in 1984.
Dixie Willis had the best time in qualifying, thus the Olympic record though Lyudmila Shevtsova had set the world record a month earlier in Moscow. In the final Willis took the race out, marked by Shevtsova. By the final straightaway, Brenda Jones was also with Shevtsova and looking fast challenging Willis for the lead. Suddenly Willis stepped on the curb and fell off the track into the infield. Shevtsova edged into the lead and dipped at the finish to equal her own world record and take the gold in 2:04.3. Jones was electronically timed at being .08 behind though electronic timing would not become official for another 17 years. Ursula Donath was the lucky (somewhat unified) German who was a step behind the top three when Willis exited to get the bronze. Less than two years later, Wilis would improve the world record by three seconds.
