Host City: Ciudad de México, Mexico |
Format: Top four in each heat advanced to the final. |
Date Started: October 17, 1968 |
Format: Top three in each heat and next fastest advanced to the semi-finals. |
Date Finished: October 18, 1968 |
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(Competitors: 33; Countries: 23; 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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Vera Korsakova (URS) had set a world record of 10.2 during the season, but was untested in big competition, and the favourites were reigning champion Balzer and 1967’s best, Kilborn. The Australian set an Olympic record in the heats with 10.4 (10.41) but the shock came when her young teammate Caird also ran 10.4 (10.48). Caird then won her semi-final in 10.5 (10.59) into a strong headwind, with Balzer edging Korsakova for the last qualifying position 10.83 to 10.86. Kilborn won the other semi-final in 10.4 (10.44) from Cheng 10.5 (10.56). Caird was off faster than Kilborn in the final, and this was the difference between the two, as Caird came home with a margin of just over half a metre, with Cheng a similar distance back setting an Asian record. Caird’s mark was the second-fastest ever in the last major race over the distance, and the fastest-ever on automatic timing. She was also the youngest-ever individual track event winner in the Olympics, at 17 years and 19 days. |
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Summary by Sports-reference.com |
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This was the final 80 metre hurdle event at any major competition, as the women’s high hurdles moved up to 100 metres immediately after the 1968 Olympics. In June 1968, Soviet Vera Korsakova had twice broken the world record at a meet in Rīga, Latvia, leaving the mark at 10.2 in the final – and it would become the still-standing 80 metre hurdle world record. While most sprints and horizontal jumps benefited from the altitude of Ciudad de México, with numerous world records set, the women did not match Korsakova’s world record. And Korsakova would not get to the final of the event, placing fifth in the first semi-final. The favorites were Karin Balzer, 1964 gold medalist, and multiple European champion, and Australia’s Pam Kilborn, Commonwealth Games champion in 1962, 1966, and later in 1970, who had not lost since the 1964 Olympics in which she was the bronze medalist. But in the final, Kilborn and Balzer both started very poorly. Balzer never recovered and finished fifth, but Kilborn came on string at the end and almost caught her teammate, the unheralded Maureen Caird, who was only 17-years-old and remains the youngest individual track event gold medalist at the Olympics. |
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:
World record |
Vera Korsakova (URS) |
10.2 |
Soviet Union |
July 16, 1968 |
Olympic record |
Irina Press (URS) |
10.6 |
Rome, Italy |
August 31, 1960 |
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Results |
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80 m Hurdles |
Women |
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Final |
18 October |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
10.39 |
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Maureen Caird |
Australia |
AUS |
17 |
OR |
10.3 h |
2 |
10.46 |
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Pam Kilborn-Ryan |
Australia |
AUS |
29 |
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10.4 h |
3 |
10.51 |
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Chi Cheng |
Chinese Taipei |
TPE |
24 |
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10.4 h |
4 |
10.60 |
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Patty van Wolvelaere-Johnson |
United States |
USA |
18 |
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10.5 h |
5 |
10.61 |
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Karin Richert-Balzer |
East Germany |
GDR |
30 |
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10.6 h |
6 |
10.66 |
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Danuta Straszyńska |
Poland |
POL |
26 |
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10.6 h |
7 |
10.66 |
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Elżbieta Żebrowska |
Poland |
POL |
23 |
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10.6 h |
8 |
10.72 |
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Tatyana Talysheva |
Soviet Union |
URS |
30 |
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10.7 h |
80 m Hurdles |
Women |
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Semi-Finals Heat One |
18 October |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
10.59 |
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Q |
Maureen Caird |
Australia |
AUS |
17 |
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10.5 h |
2 |
10.72 |
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Q |
Patty van Wolvelaere-Johnson |
United States |
USA |
18 |
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10.6 h |
3 |
10.80 |
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Q |
Tatyana Talysheva |
Soviet Union |
URS |
30 |
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10.7 h |
4 |
10.83 |
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Q |
Karin Richert-Balzer |
East Germany |
GDR |
30 |
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10.8 h |
5 |
10.86 |
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Vera Korsakova |
Soviet Union |
URS |
27 |
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10.8 h |
6 |
11.00 |
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Teresa Sukniewicz |
Poland |
POL |
19 |
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10.9 h |
7 |
11.08 |
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Valeria Bufanu-Ştefănescu |
Romania |
ROU |
22 |
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11.0 h |
8 |
11.12 |
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Inge Aigner |
Austria |
AUT |
25 |
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11.1 h |
80 m Hurdles |
Women |
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Semi-Finals Heat Two |
18 October |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
10.44 |
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Q |
Pam Kilborn-Ryan |
Australia |
AUS |
29 |
(=)OR |
10.4 h |
2 |
10.56 |
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Q |
Chi Cheng |
Chinese Taipei |
TPE |
24 |
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10.5 h |
3 |
10.60 |
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Q |
Danuta Straszyńska |
Poland |
POL |
26 |
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10.5 h |
4 |
10.70 |
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Q |
Elżbieta Żebrowska |
Poland |
POL |
23 |
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10.6 h |
5 |
10.70 |
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Mamie Rallins |
United States |
USA |
27 |
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10.6 h |
6 |
10.84 |
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Judy Dyer |
United States |
USA |
20 |
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10.8 h |
7 |
10.84 |
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Inge Schell |
West Germany |
FRG |
29 |
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10.8 h |
8 |
11.22 |
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Mária Kiss |
Hungary |
HUN |
19 |
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11.2 h |
80 m Hurdles |
Women |
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Round One Heat One |
17 October |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
10.69 |
w |
Q |
Mamie Rallins |
United States |
USA |
27 |
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10.6w h |
2 |
10.74 |
w |
Q |
Vera Korsakova |
Soviet Union |
URS |
27 |
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10.6w h |
3 |
10.77 |
w |
Q |
Inge Schell |
West Germany |
FRG |
29 |
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10.7w h |
4 |
11.09 |
w |
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Carmen Smith |
Jamaica |
JAM |
25 |
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11.0w h |
5 |
11.10 |
w |
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Carla Panerai |
Italy |
ITA |
21 |
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11.0w |
6 |
11.20 |
w |
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Enriqueta Basilio |
Mexico |
MEX |
20 |
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11.1w h |
7 |
11.24 |
w |
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Ulla-Britt Wieslander |
Sweden |
SWE |
26 |
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11.2w h |
80 m Hurdles |
Women |
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Round One Heat Two |
17 October |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
10.41 |
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Q |
Pam Kilborn-Ryan |
Australia |
AUS |
29 |
OR |
10.4 h |
2 |
10.92 |
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Q |
Valeria Bufanu-Ştefănescu |
Romania |
ROU |
22 |
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10.9 h |
3 |
10.93 |
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Q |
Mária Kiss |
Hungary |
HUN |
19 |
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10.9 h |
4 |
10.99 |
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Marlene Elejarde |
Cuba |
CUB |
17 |
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10.9 h |
5 |
11.02 |
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Marijana Lubej |
Yugoslavia |
YUG |
23 |
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11.0 h |
6 |
11.07 |
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Snezhana Yurukova |
Bulgaria |
BUL |
23 |
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11.0 h |
7 |
11.19 |
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Ann Wilson |
Great Britain |
GBR |
19 |
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11.1 h |
80 m Hurdles |
Women |
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Round One Heat Three |
17 October |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
10.65 |
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Q |
Patty van Wolvelaere-Johnson |
United States |
USA |
18 |
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10.6 h |
2 |
10.72 |
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Q |
Teresa Sukniewicz |
Poland |
POL |
19 |
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10.7 h |
3 |
10.81 |
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Q |
Tatyana Talysheva |
Soviet Union |
URS |
30 |
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10.8 h |
4 |
11.13 |
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Carlota Ulloa |
Chile |
CHI |
24 |
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11.1 h |
5 |
11.17 |
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Jenny Wingerson-Meldrum |
Canada |
CAN |
25 |
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11.1 h |
AC |
DNF |
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Pat Pryce-Nutting |
Great Britain |
GBR |
26 |
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80 m Hurdles |
Women |
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Round One Heat Four |
17 October |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
10.48 |
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Q |
Maureen Caird |
Australia |
AUS |
17 |
(=)OR |
10.4 h |
2 |
10.53 |
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Q |
Chi Cheng |
Chinese Taipei |
TPE |
24 |
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10.5 h |
3 |
10.72 |
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Q |
Danuta Straszyńska |
Poland |
POL |
26 |
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10.7 h |
4 |
10.83 |
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Q |
Inge Aigner |
Austria |
AUT |
25 |
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10.8 h |
5 |
10.95 |
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Meta Antenen |
Switzerland |
SUI |
19 |
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10.9 h |
6 |
11.03 |
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Pat Jones |
Great Britain |
GBR |
26 |
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11.0 h |
7 |
11.50 |
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Roswitha Emonts-Gast |
Belgium |
BEL |
23 |
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11.4 h |
80 m Hurdles |
Women |
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Round One Heat Five |
17 October |
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Rank |
Mark |
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Athlete |
Country |
NOC |
Age |
Records |
Notes |
1 |
10.72 |
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Q |
Karin Richert-Balzer |
East Germany |
GDR |
30 |
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10.7 h |
2 |
10.83 |
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Q |
Elżbieta Żebrowska |
Poland |
POL |
23 |
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10.8 h |
3 |
10.94 |
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Q |
Judy Dyer |
United States |
USA |
20 |
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10.9 h |
4 |
10.97 |
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Liudmila Ievleva |
Soviet Union |
URS |
27 |
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10.9 h |
5 |
11.77 |
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Yeh Chu-Mei |
Chinese Taipei |
TPE |
24 |
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11.7 h |
6 |
12.90 |
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Cecilia Sosa |
El Salvador |
ESA |
20 |
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12.8 h |
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