Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres

Women's 400 metres
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Venue Olympic Stadium, Munich, West Germany
Date 2 September 1972 & 7 September 1972
Medalists
  Monika Zehrt   East Germany
  Rita Wilden   West Germany
  Kathy Hammond   United States
«1968 1976»
Athletics at the
1972 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m   men   women
200 m men women
400 m men women
800 m men women
1500 m men women
5000 m men
10,000 m men
100 m hurdles women
110 m hurdles men
400 m hurdles men
3000 m
steeplechase		 men
4×100 m relay men women
4×400 m relay men women
Road events
Marathon men
20 km walk men
50 km walk men
Field events
Long jump men women
Triple jump men
High jump men women
Pole vault men
Shot put men women
Discus throw men women
Javelin throw men women
Hammer throw men
Combined events
Pentathlon women
Decathlon men

These are the official results of the Women's 400 metres event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The competition was held on 2 & 7 of September. The favorite coming into the Olympics was Monika Zehrt of East Germany who equaled the world record in the previous July. The other world record holder was Marilyn Neufville of Jamaica, who was also favored to win, unfortunately she was injured and was unable to compete in the games. This left the field open to challenge the world record holder for the top prize.

Contents

Heats

The top four runners in each heat (blue) and the next four fastest (pink), advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat one

Rank Name Nationality Lane Time Notes
1 Charlene Rendina Australia 7 51.94 OR
2 Rita Wilden West Germany 4 51.97
3 Mable Fergerson United States 1 52.05
4 Judith Ayaa Uganda 2 52.85
5 Karoline Käfer Austria 3 53.60
6 Asunción Acosta Cuba 5 54.52
7 Barbara Bishop Barbados 6 56.35

Heat two

Rank Name Nationality Lane Time
1 Kathy Hammond United States 1 53.45
2 Janette Roscoe Great Britain 7 53.67
3 Marika Eklund Finland 3 53.81
4 Nataliya Pechyonkina Soviet Union 2 53.81
5 Krystyna Kacperczyk Poland 4 53.85
6 Junaidah Aman Malaysia 5 57.36
- Christiane Casapicola Austria 6 DNS

Heat three

Rank Name Nationality Lane Time
1 Monika Zehrt East Germany 3 52.49
2 Mona-Lisa Strandvall Finland 5 52.85
3 Trudy Ruth Netherlands 2 53.16
4 Tekla Chemabwai Kenya 4 53.38
5 Debra Edwards United States 1 54.43
6 Maria Sykora Austria 7 54.46
7 Josefa Vicent Uruguay 6 55.33

Heat four

Rank Name Nationality Lane Time
1 Nicole Duclos France 4 52.69
2 Györgyi Balogh Hungary 7 52.75
3 Nadezhda Kolesnikova Soviet Union 2 53.20
4 Karin Wallgren Sweden 5 53.70
5 Bożena Zientarska Poland 3 54.20
6 Ruth Williams Jamaica 6 55.72
7 Aida Mantawel Philippines 1 57.91

Heat five

Rank Name Nationality Lane Time
1 Yvonne Saunders Jamaica 1 52.38
2 Helga Seidler East Germany 6 52.79
3 Colette Besson France 5 53.41
4 Allison Ross Australia 4 53.48
5 Donata Govoni Italy 2 53.98
6 Irén Orosz Hungary 3 54.83
7 Arda Kalpakian Lebanon 7 1:05.18

Heat six

Rank Name Nationality Lane Time
1 Christel Frese West Germany 5 52.89
2 Dagmar Käsling East Germany 6 52.99
3 Aurelia Pentón Cuba 2 53.25
4 Olga Syrovatskaya Soviet Union 7 53.62
5 Janet Simpson Great Britain 8 54.13
6 Joyce Sadowick Canada 3 54.59
7 Elsy Rivas Colombia 1 56.33
8 Kamaljit Sandhu India 4 57.74

Heat seven

Rank Name Nationality Lane Time
1 Carmen Trustée Cuba 7 52.80
2 Penny Hunt New Zealand 5 52.82
3 Danuta Piecyk Poland 6 53.08
4 Verona Bernard Great Britain 4 53.31
5 Anette Rückes West Germany 3 53.92
6 Vreni Leiser Switzerland 1 54.65
7 Grace Muneene Zambia 2 57.71

Quarterfinals

The top four runners in each heat advanced to the semifinal round.

Heat one

Rank Name Nationality Lane Time
1 Charlene Rendina Australia 5 51.96
2 Helga Seidler East Germany 3 51.97
3 Nadezhda Kolesnikova Soviet Union 1 52.30
4 Trudy Ruth Netherlands 8 52.45
5 Karoline Käfer Austria 6 52.82
6 Janette Roscoe Great Britain 7 53.01
7 Anette Rückes West Germany 2 53.22
- Carmen Truste Cuba 4 DNS

Heat two

Rank Name Nationality Lane Time
1 Yvonne Saunders Jamaica 8 52.13
2 Monika Zehrt East Germany 2 52.33
3 Judith Ayaa Uganda 7 52.68
4 Christel Frese West Germany 1 53.01
5 Colette Besson France 3 53.39
6 Marika Eklund Finland 6 53.50
7 Tekla Chemabwai Kenya 5 53.54
8 Nataliya Pechyonkina Soviet Union 4 54.58

Heat three

Rank Name Nationality Lane Time Notes
1 Györgyi Balogh Hungary 2 51.71 OR
2 Rita Wilden West Germany 8 51.91
3 Aurelia Pentón Cuba 6 52.02
4 Kathy Hammond United States 5 52.44
5 Danuta Piecyk Poland 4 52.62
6 Penny Hunt New Zealand 1 52.66
7 Olga Syrovatskaya Soviet Union 7 53.42
8 Donata Govoni Italy 3 53.78

Heat four

Rank Name Nationality Lane Time
1 Dagmar Käsling East Germany 1 52.33
2 Mona-Lisa Strandvall Finland 3 52.53
3 Mable Fergerson United States 7 52.93
4 Nicole Duclos France 8 52.96
5 Verona Bernard Great Britain 2 53.29
6 Allison Ross Australia 5 53.60
7 Karin Wallgren Sweden 6 53.87
8 Krystyna Kacperczyk Poland 4 54.39

Semifinals

Top four in each heat advanced to the final round.

Heat one

Rank Name Nationality Lane Time Notes
1 Helga Seidler East Germany 4 51.68 OR
2 Dagmar Käsling East Germany 8 51.73
3 Györgyi Balogh Hungary 5 51.90
4 Kathy Hammond United States 1 51.92
5 Aurelia Pentón Cuba 6 52.15
6 Mona-Lisa Strandvall Finland 7 52.23
7 Judith Ayaa Uganda 2 52.91
- Christel Frese West Germany 3 DNF

Heat two

Rank Name Nationality Lane Time Notes
1 Monika Zehrt East Germany 5 51.47 OR
2 Rita Wilden West Germany 3 51.76
3 Charlene Rendina Australia 8 51.90
4 Mable Fergerson United States 6 51.91
5 Yvonne Saunders Jamaica 2 51.93
6 Nicole Duclos France 4 52.18
7 Nadezhda Kolesnikova Soviet Union 7 52.29
8 Trudy Ruth Netherlands 1 53.02

Final

Rank Name Nationality Lane Time Notes
Monika Zehrt East Germany 7 51.08 OR
Rita Wilden West Germany 4 51.21
Kathy Hammond United States 5 51.64
4 Helga Seidler East Germany 6 51.86
5 Mable Fergerson United States 3 51.96
6 Charlene Rendina Australia 8 51.99
7 Dagmar Käsling East Germany 1 52.19
8 Györgyi Balogh Hungary 2 52.39

Key: OR = Olympic record; DNS = did not start; DNF = did not finish

Reference

Men's
1896 • 1900 • 1904 • 1908 • 1912 • 1920 • 1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1948 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004 • 2008
Women's
1896 • 1900 • 1904 • 1908 • 1912 • 1920 • 1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1948 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004 • 2008