Host City: Ciudad de México, Mexico |
Format: Top four in each heat advanced to the final. |
Date Started: October 14, 1968 |
Format: Top four in each heat advanced to the semi-finals. |
Date Finished: October 16, 1968 |
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(Competitors: 29; Countries: 21; Finalists: 8) |
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Venue(s): University Olympic Stadium, Ciudad de México
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Overview by IAAF |
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Board was the favourite and produced the fastest time before the final with 52.5 (52.56) in her semi-final, held in dry conditions after a storm had affected the first race, won by Henning in a German record 53.3 (53.33). Scott took the lead early on in the final, and held off Board until just before 300m, when the Briton took over. As the race unwound Board was clearly struggling, and the unheralded Besson slipped by in the last 20m to win by just over half a metre, with the tall Pechonkina leaving her effort too late and finishing third, a metre behind. The standard was unprecedented, even allowing for altitude, as seven beat 53 seconds as compared with a previous best of two in the same race. Tragically, Board contracted cancer at the end of the following season, and died in December 1970, aged 22. |
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Summary by Sports-reference.com |
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Great Britain’s Lillian Board was favored based on fast times early in the year. The lead in the final was taken by Jarvis Scott (USA) but she faded at 300 metres and Board took over. In the last 20 metres, France’s Colette Besson pulled up to win the gold medal with Board second. Besson was completely unheralded prior to the competition, but would place second in the 400 at the 1969 European Championships. Britain’s press was somewhat critical of Board, but later had cause to regret that. Within 18 months of the 1968 Olympics, she was diagnosed with cancer and died in December 1970, when she was only 22. |
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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 |
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Results |
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400 m |
Women |
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Final |
16 October |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
52.03 |
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Colette Besson |
France |
FRA |
22 |
(=)OR |
52.0 h |
2 |
52.12 |
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Lillian Board |
Great Britain |
GBR |
19 |
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52.1 h |
3 |
52.25 |
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Nataliya Pechonkina-Chistyakova |
Soviet Union |
URS |
22 |
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52.2 h |
4 |
52.57 |
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Janet Simpson |
Great Britain |
GBR |
24 |
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52.5 h |
5 |
52.75 |
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Aurelia Pentón |
Cuba |
CUB |
27 |
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52.7 h |
6 |
52.79 |
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Jarvis Scott |
United States |
USA |
21 |
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52.7 h |
7 |
52.89 |
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Helga Henning |
West Germany |
FRG |
30 |
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52.8 h |
8 |
53.02 |
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Mirna van der Hoeven-Jansen |
Netherlands |
NED |
20 |
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53.0 h |
400 m |
Women |
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Semi-Finals Heat One |
15 October |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
53.33 |
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Q |
Helga Henning |
West Germany |
FRG |
30 |
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53.3 h |
2 |
53.62 |
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Q |
Colette Besson |
France |
FRA |
22 |
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53.6 h |
3 |
54.01 |
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Q |
Janet Simpson |
Great Britain |
GBR |
24 |
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54.0 h |
4 |
54.08 |
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Q |
Aurelia Pentón |
Cuba |
CUB |
27 |
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54.0 h |
5 |
54.35 |
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Esther Stroy |
United States |
USA |
15 |
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54.3 h |
6 |
54.63 |
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Una Morris |
Jamaica |
JAM |
21 |
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54.6 h |
7 |
54.67 |
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Ingrīda Verbele |
Soviet Union |
URS |
20 |
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54.6 h |
8 |
55.37 |
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Joan Fisher |
Canada |
CAN |
19 |
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55.2 h |
400 m |
Women |
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Semi-Finals Heat Two |
15 October |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
52.56 |
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Q |
Lillian Board |
Great Britain |
GBR |
19 |
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52.5 h |
2 |
52.69 |
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Q |
Mirna van der Hoeven-Jansen |
Netherlands |
NED |
20 |
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52.6 h |
3 |
52.83 |
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Q |
Nataliya Pechonkina-Chistyakova |
Soviet Union |
URS |
22 |
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52.8 h |
4 |
53.22 |
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Q |
Jarvis Scott |
United States |
USA |
21 |
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53.2 h |
5 |
53.64 |
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Mary Green |
Great Britain |
GBR |
24 |
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53.6 h |
6 |
53.93 |
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Karin Wallgren-Lundgren |
Sweden |
SWE |
24 |
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53.9 h |
7 |
54.30 |
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Monique Noirot |
France |
FRA |
27 |
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54.2 h |
8 |
57.39 |
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Lois Drinkwater |
United States |
USA |
17 |
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57.3 h |
400 m |
Women |
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Round One Heat One |
14 October |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
53.11 |
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Q |
Colette Besson |
France |
FRA |
22 |
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53.1 h |
2 |
53.53 |
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Q |
Jarvis Scott |
United States |
USA |
21 |
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53.5 h |
3 |
53.58 |
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Q |
Helga Henning |
West Germany |
FRG |
30 |
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53.5 h |
4 |
54.62 |
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Q |
Joan Fisher |
Canada |
CAN |
19 |
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54.6 h |
5 |
55.47 |
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Enriqueta Basilio |
Mexico |
MEX |
20 |
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55.6 h |
6 |
56.56 |
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Joyce Bennett |
Australia |
AUS |
23 |
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56.5 h |
400 m |
Women |
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Round One Heat Two |
14 October |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
52.86 |
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Q |
Aurelia Pentón |
Cuba |
CUB |
27 |
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52.8 h |
2 |
53.00 |
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Q |
Lillian Board |
Great Britain |
GBR |
19 |
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52.9 h |
3 |
54.07 |
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Q |
Ingrīda Verbele |
Soviet Union |
URS |
20 |
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54.0 h |
4 |
54.19 |
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Q |
Una Morris |
Jamaica |
JAM |
21 |
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54.1 h |
5 |
54.34 |
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Anne Covell |
Canada |
CAN |
18 |
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54.3 h |
6 |
54.91 |
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Anna Chmelková |
Czechoslovakia |
TCH |
24 |
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54.9 h |
7 |
55.61 |
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Antónia Munkácsi |
Hungary |
HUN |
29 |
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55.6 h |
8 |
58.25 |
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Jean Robotham |
Costa Rica |
CRC |
24 |
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58.2 h |
400 m |
Women |
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Round One Heat Three |
14 October |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
53.17 |
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Q |
Mirna van der Hoeven-Jansen |
Netherlands |
NED |
20 |
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53.1 h |
2 |
53.58 |
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Q |
Esther Stroy |
United States |
USA |
15 |
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53.5 h |
3 |
53.63 |
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Q |
Janet Simpson |
Great Britain |
GBR |
24 |
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53.6 h |
4 |
53.67 |
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Q |
Monique Noirot |
France |
FRA |
27 |
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53.6 h |
5 |
54.05 |
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Tekla Chemabwai |
Kenya |
KEN |
18 |
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54.0 h |
6 |
55.43 |
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Sandra Brown |
Australia |
AUS |
22 |
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55.4 h |
7 |
56.38 |
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Channa Shezifi |
Israel |
ISR |
24 |
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56.3 h |
400 m |
Women |
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Round One Heat Four |
14 October |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
53.73 |
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Q |
Nataliya Pechonkina-Chistyakova |
Soviet Union |
URS |
22 |
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53.7 h |
2 |
54.00 |
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Q |
Mary Green |
Great Britain |
GBR |
24 |
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53.9 h |
3 |
54.30 |
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Q |
Karin Wallgren-Lundgren |
Sweden |
SWE |
24 |
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54.2 h |
4 |
54.56 |
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Q |
Lois Drinkwater |
United States |
USA |
17 |
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54.5 h |
5 |
54.77 |
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Donata Govoni |
Italy |
ITA |
24 |
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54.7 h |
6 |
55.01 |
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Eeva Haimi |
Finland |
FIN |
22 |
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55.0 h |
7 |
56.34 |
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Josefa Vicent |
Uruguay |
URU |
18 |
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56.3 h |
8 |
57.09 |
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Olajumoke Bodunrin |
Nigeria |
NGR |
23 |
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57h |
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