The Women's 400 metres competition at the
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...
in
Mexico City
Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
,
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
was held at the
University Olympic Stadium
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
on October 14–16.
Summary
In the final, running in lane 1,
Lillian Board
Lillian Barbara Board, (13 December 1948 – 26 December 1970) was a British athlete. She won the silver medal in the 400 metres at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and two gold medals at the 1969 European Championships in Athletics i ...
went out fast, making up the stagger on
Aurelia Pentón in lane 2. In lane 4,
Jarvis Scott did the same to
Colette Besson
Colette Besson (7 April 1946 – 9 August 2005) was a French athlete, the surprise winner of the 400 m at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
Athletic career
Prior to the 1968 Olympics, Besson, an unknown physical education teacher, qualif ...
in lane 5 who was passing
Mirna van der Hoeven-Jansen in 6. On the backstretch, Scott opened up a clear lead on the field. Through the final turn,
Natalya Pechonkina in lane 8 started to make headway against Scott's lead, with Board sandwiching the challenge from the inside. Coming off the turn, Board attacked and took the lead, Besson was still more than two metres behind Scott, but the rush was on. Besson shot past Scott and gained on Board with every step. After her early exuberance, Scott had no answer. Besson passed Board 10 metres before the line with Pechonkina taking bronze well ahead of
Janet Simpson.
Competition format
The Women's 200m competition consisted of heats (Round 1), Semifinals and a Final. The four fastest competitors from each race in the heats qualified for the Semifinals. The four fastest competitors from each of the Semifinal races qualified for the final.
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
Results
Round 1
Heat 1
Heat 2
Heat 3
Heat 4
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
Semifinal 2
Final
References
External links
Official Olympic Report ''la84foundation.org''. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics - Women's 400 metres
Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics
400 metres at the Olympics
1968 in women's athletics
Women's events at the 1968 Summer Olympics