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Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metres

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Women's 800 metres
at the Games of the XVII Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium
DatesSeptember 6 (heats)
September 7 (final)
Competitors27 from 15 nations
Winning time2:04.5 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Lyudmila Lysenko
 Soviet Union
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Brenda Jones
 Australia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ursula Donath
 United Team of Germany
← 1928
1964 →
Video on YouTube Official Video

The women's 800 metres middle distance event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place between September 6 and September 7.[1] This was the return of the event for the first time since 1928.

Dixie Willis had the best time in qualifying, thus the Olympic record, though Lyudmila Lysenko (née 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.

Results

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Heats

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The top two runners in each of the four heats (blue) and the next fastest one (pink) advanced to the final round.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Antje Gleichfeld  United Team of Germany 2:11.05 OR
2 Brenda Jones  Australia 2:11.14
3 Zinaida Matistovich  Soviet Union 2:11.57
4 Maryvonne Dupureur  France 2:12.42
5 Diane Charles  Great Britain 2:14.24
6 Zofia Walasek  Poland 2:16.44
7 Lee Hak-ja  South Korea 2:28.4

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ursula Donath  United Team of Germany 2:07.92 OR
2 Beata Żbikowska  Poland 2:09.57
3 Florica Grecescu  Romania 2:10.10
4 Olga Kazi  Hungary 2:11.07
5 Gilda Jannaccone  Italy 2:13.72
6 Phyllis Perkins  Great Britain 2:15.41
- Pat Daniels  United States DQ

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Lyudmila Lysenko  Soviet Union 2:09.31
2 Gizella Sasvári-Csóka  Hungary 2:09.77
3 Krystyna Nowakowska  Poland 2”09.81
4 Eleanor Haslam  Canada 2:10.17
5 Bedřiška Kulhavá  Czechoslovakia 2:10.23
6 Gerda Kraan  Netherlands 2:10.71
7 Nicole Goullieux  France 2:13.53

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Dixie Willis  Australia 2:06.03 OR
2 Joy Jordan  Great Britain 2:07.29
3 Vera Kummerfeldt  United Team of Germany 2:07.34
4 Yekaterina Parlyuk  Soviet Union 2:07.71
5 Ine ter Laak-Spijk  Netherlands 2:10.36
6 Gül Çiray  Turkey 2:11.55

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Lyudmila Lysenko  Soviet Union 2:04.50 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Brenda Jones  Australia 2:04.58
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ursula Donath  United Team of Germany 2:05.73
4 Vera Kummerfeldt  United Team of Germany 2:06.07
5 Antje Gleichfeld  United Team of Germany 2:06.63
6 Joy Jordan  Great Britain 2:07.95
7 Gizella Sasvári-Csóka  Hungary 2:08.11
8 Beata Żbikowska  Poland 2:11.91
- Dixie Willis  Australia DNF

Key: WR = world record; OR = Olympic record; DNF = did not finish; DQ = disqualified

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1960 Rome Summer Games: Women's 800 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 15 October 2017.