Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metres


The Women's 200 metres at the 1952 Summer Olympics took place on July 25 and July 26 at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Australian athlete Marjorie Jackson, who had already won the final in the 100 metres event, earned a second gold medal while setting two world records along the way.

Summary

's world record had stood through the war for almost 17 years. The 41 year old Walsh had won the US Championship the year before but did not compete in the Olympics. The defending champion Fanny Blankers-Koen was in Helsinki, but was suffering from skin boils. She did not finish in the 80 metres hurdles the day before after crashing a hurdle. That turned out to be her last competitive race.
In the second heat, Nadezhda Khnykina took down Blankers-Koen's Olympic record. In the next race on the track, Marjorie Jackson equalled the world record of 23.6, with experimental fully automatic timing giving her a 23.73.
The following day, in the first semi-final, Jackson took the world record outright with 23.4. Later that day, in the final, Jackson was given lane 2, the inside lane. Five steps after the gun, she had already made up the stagger on Bertha "Puck" Brouwer in lane 3. From there Jackson continued to pull away, ultimately to a 4-metre victory. On the home stretch, Brouwer found herself in second place, with Khnykina closing ground down the final straight to make it close for the remaining medals. Brouwer, Khnykina and Jackson's Australian teammate Winsome Cripps all getting credited with the same finishing time but Brouwer getting silver and Khnykina bronze.

Results

Heats

The first round was held on July 25. The first two runners from each heat qualified for the semifinal.
Heat 1
RankNameNationalityResultNotes
1Sylvia Cheeseman24.9
2Ursula Knab25.0
3Tzvetana Berkovska25.2
4Gladys Erbetta25.6
5Flora Kazantseva25.7
6Maria Arndt25.9

Heat 2
RankNameNationalityResultNotes
1Nadezhda Khnykina24.3
2Helga Klein24.6
3Deyse de Castro25.0
4Frances O'Halloran25.2
5Grietje de Jongh25.2
6Ema Konrad25.8

Heat 3
RankNameNationalityResultNotes
1Marjorie Jackson23.6WR
2Catherine Hardy24.8
3Patricia Devine25.1
4Anne-Marie Lousteau25.5
5Olga Gyarmati25.5
6Vera Martelli26.1
7Mary D'Souza26.3

Heat 4
RankNameNationalityResultNotes
1Bertha Brouwer24.6
2Marcelle Gabarrus25.3
3Ann Johnson25.3
4Adriana Millard25.4
5Graviola Ewing26.9

Heat 5
RankNameNationalityResultNotes
1Eulalia Szwajkowska25.5
2Eleanor McKenzie25.5
3Alexandria Sicoe25.6
4Lilian Heinz25.8
5Pirkko Länsivuori27.5
Dolores DwyerDNF

Heat 6
RankNameNationalityResultNotes
1Daphne Hasenjager24.4
2Winsome Cripps24.4
3Mae Faggs24.5
4Hyacinth Walters25.4

Heat 7
RankNameNationalityResultNotes
1Yevgeniya Sechenova25.4
2Luella Law25.7
3Klára Soós25.8
4Genowefa Minicka25.9

Semifinals

The semifinals were held on July 26. The first three runners from each heat qualified to the final.
Heat 1
RankNameNationalityResultNotes
1Marjorie Jackson23.4WR
2Bertha Brouwer24.3
3Daphne Hasenjager24.4
4Sylvia Cheeseman24.7
5Yevgeniya Sechenova25.2
6Luella Law25.3
7Ursula Knab25.5

Heat 2
RankNameNationalityResultNotes
1Nadezhda Khnykina24.1
2Winsome Cripps24.3
3Helga Klein24.4
4Catherine Hardy24.7
5Eleanor McKenzie25.1
6Eulalia Szwajkowska25.2
7Marcelle Gabarrus25.3

Final