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1968 Olympic Games Ciudad de México, Mexico - Women's 80 m Hurdles

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Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1968 Olympic Games Ciudad de México, Mexico - (Athletics); Last Updated: 27 June 2016; Hits: 973

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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

(Competitors: 33; Countries: 23; Finalists: 8)

Venue(s): University Olympic Stadium, Ciudad de México

Overview by IAAF

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.

Summary by Sports-reference.com

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

				Results

*80 m Hurdles*	Women			Final	18 October

Rank	Mark			Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	10.39			Maureen Caird	Australia	AUS	17	OR	10.3 h
2	10.46			Pam Kilborn-Ryan	Australia	AUS	29		10.4 h
3	10.51			Chi Cheng	Chinese Taipei	TPE	24		10.4 h
4	10.60			Patty van Wolvelaere-Johnson	United States	USA	18		10.5 h
5	10.61			Karin Richert-Balzer	East Germany	GDR	30		10.6 h
6	10.66			Danuta Straszyńska	Poland	POL	26		10.6 h
7	10.66			Elżbieta Żebrowska	Poland	POL	23		10.6 h
8	10.72			Tatyana Talysheva	Soviet Union	URS	30		10.7 h
*80 m Hurdles*	Women			Semi-Finals Heat One	18 October

Rank	Mark			Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	10.59		Q	Maureen Caird	Australia	AUS	17		10.5 h
2	10.72		Q	Patty van Wolvelaere-Johnson	United States	USA	18		10.6 h
3	10.80		Q	Tatyana Talysheva	Soviet Union	URS	30		10.7 h
4	10.83		Q	Karin Richert-Balzer	East Germany	GDR	30		10.8 h
5	10.86			Vera Korsakova	Soviet Union	URS	27		10.8 h
6	11.00			Teresa Sukniewicz	Poland	POL	19		10.9 h
7	11.08			Valeria Bufanu-Ştefănescu	Romania	ROU	22		11.0 h
8	11.12			Inge Aigner	Austria	AUT	25		11.1 h
*80 m Hurdles*	Women			Semi-Finals Heat Two	18 October

Rank	Mark			Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	10.44		Q	Pam Kilborn-Ryan	Australia	AUS	29	(=)OR	10.4 h
2	10.56		Q	Chi Cheng	Chinese Taipei	TPE	24		10.5 h
3	10.60		Q	Danuta Straszyńska	Poland	POL	26		10.5 h
4	10.70		Q	Elżbieta Żebrowska	Poland	POL	23		10.6 h
5	10.70			Mamie Rallins	United States	USA	27		10.6 h
6	10.84			Judy Dyer	United States	USA	20		10.8 h
7	10.84			Inge Schell	West Germany	FRG	29		10.8 h
8	11.22			Mária Kiss	Hungary	HUN	19		11.2 h
*80 m Hurdles*	Women			Round One Heat One	17 October

Rank	Mark			Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	10.69	w	Q	Mamie Rallins	United States	USA	27		10.6w h
2	10.74	w	Q	Vera Korsakova	Soviet Union	URS	27		10.6w h
3	10.77	w	Q	Inge Schell	West Germany	FRG	29		10.7w h
4	11.09	w		Carmen Smith	Jamaica	JAM	25		11.0w h
5	11.10	w		Carla Panerai	Italy	ITA	21		11.0w
6	11.20	w		Enriqueta Basilio	Mexico	MEX	20		11.1w h
7	11.24	w		Ulla-Britt Wieslander	Sweden	SWE	26		11.2w h
*80 m Hurdles*	Women			Round One Heat Two	17 October

Rank	Mark			Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	10.41		Q	Pam Kilborn-Ryan	Australia	AUS	29	OR	10.4 h
2	10.92		Q	Valeria Bufanu-Ştefănescu	Romania	ROU	22		10.9 h
3	10.93		Q	Mária Kiss	Hungary	HUN	19		10.9 h
4	10.99			Marlene Elejarde	Cuba	CUB	17		10.9 h
5	11.02			Marijana Lubej	Yugoslavia	YUG	23		11.0 h
6	11.07			Snezhana Yurukova	Bulgaria	BUL	23		11.0 h
7	11.19			Ann Wilson	Great Britain	GBR	19		11.1 h
*80 m Hurdles*	Women			Round One Heat Three	17 October

Rank	Mark			Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	10.65		Q	Patty van Wolvelaere-Johnson	United States	USA	18		10.6 h
2	10.72		Q	Teresa Sukniewicz	Poland	POL	19		10.7 h
3	10.81		Q	Tatyana Talysheva	Soviet Union	URS	30		10.8 h
4	11.13			Carlota Ulloa	Chile	CHI	24		11.1 h
5	11.17			Jenny Wingerson-Meldrum	Canada	CAN	25		11.1 h
AC	DNF			Pat Pryce-Nutting	Great Britain	GBR	26
*80 m Hurdles*	Women			Round One Heat Four	17 October

Rank	Mark			Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	10.48		Q	Maureen Caird	Australia	AUS	17	(=)OR	10.4 h
2	10.53		Q	Chi Cheng	Chinese Taipei	TPE	24		10.5 h
3	10.72		Q	Danuta Straszyńska	Poland	POL	26		10.7 h
4	10.83		Q	Inge Aigner	Austria	AUT	25		10.8 h
5	10.95			Meta Antenen	Switzerland	SUI	19		10.9 h
6	11.03			Pat Jones	Great Britain	GBR	26		11.0 h
7	11.50			Roswitha Emonts-Gast	Belgium	BEL	23		11.4 h
*80 m Hurdles*	Women			Round One Heat Five	17 October

Rank	Mark			Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	10.72		Q	Karin Richert-Balzer	East Germany	GDR	30		10.7 h
2	10.83		Q	Elżbieta Żebrowska	Poland	POL	23		10.8 h
3	10.94		Q	Judy Dyer	United States	USA	20		10.9 h
4	10.97			Liudmila Ievleva	Soviet Union	URS	27		10.9 h
5	11.77			Yeh Chu-Mei	Chinese Taipei	TPE	24		11.7 h
6	12.90			Cecilia Sosa	El Salvador	ESA	20		12.8 h