80 metres hurdles
80 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling ran by women until 1972 in international competitions.
Since the 1972 Summer Olympics, the event has been permanently replaced by the 100 metre hurdles.
Masters athletics
The distance, with different sp ...
at the
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...
took place on July 24 and July 25 at the
Helsinki Olympic Stadium
The Helsinki Olympic Stadium ( fi, Helsingin Olympiastadion; sv, Helsingfors Olympiastadion), located in the Töölö district about from the centre of the Finnish capital Helsinki, is the largest stadium in the country, nowadays mainly used f ...
. Australian athlete
Shirley Strickland de la Hunty
Shirley Barbara de la Hunty AO, MBE (née Strickland; 18 July 1925 – 11 February 2004), known as Shirley Strickland during her early career, was an Australian athlete. She won more Olympic medals than any other Australian in running sports.
...
earned the gold medal, setting new
World
In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
and
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
records.
Summary
Suffering from skin boils, defending champion
Fanny Blankers-Koen
Francina "Fanny" Elsje Blankers-Koen (26 April 1918 – 25 January 2004) was a Dutch track and field athlete, best known for winning four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She competed there as a 30-year-old mother of two, earn ...
was dropping out of other events to save herself for this event. In the first heat,
Shirley Strickland
Shirley Barbara de la Hunty AO, MBE (née Strickland; 18 July 1925 – 11 February 2004), known as Shirley Strickland during her early career, was an Australian athlete. She won more Olympic medals than any other Australian in running sports.
...
set the Olympic record at 11.0. Strickland improved upon that with a 10.8 in the semi final round, joined by
Maria Sander
Maria Sander (30 October 1924 in Dinslaken – 12 January 1999 in Much) was a German athlete who was born as Maria Domagala. She mainly competed in the 100 metres.
She competed for West Germany in the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, ...
and
Jean Desforges
Jean Catherine Pickering (née Desforges; 4 July 1929 – 25 March 2013) was a female track and field athlete from Great Britain, who competed mainly in the 80 metres hurdles and long jump.
She won bronze medals at the Olympics and the Common ...
also running 10.9. It would have been a world record race but instead was wind aided.
In the final, Blankers-Koen blasted out to a clear early lead over the first hurdle. Still leading she hit the second hurdle hard and was knocked off stride. She quit after jumping the third hurdle, this was the last race of her career. Meanwhile Strickland was left with a metre lead on the closest chaser Sander. At the sixth hurdle, Sander lost her stride and struggled, leaving
Maria Golubnichaya
Maria Vasilyevna Golubnichaya (russian: Мария Васильевна Голубничая) (24 February 1924 – August 2015)Anneliese Seonbuchner for bronze.
Results
Heats
The first round was held on July 23. The two fastest runners qualified for the semifinals.
Heat 1
Heat 2
Heat 3
Heat 4
Heat 5
Heat 6
Semifinals
The semifinals were held on the July 23, the same day as the preliminary round. The first three runners from each heat qualified for the final.