| | Event type

200 metres, Women

Date	5 – 6 August 1948
Status	Olympic
Location	Empire Stadium, Wembley, London
Participants	33 from 17 countries

Just looking at the results, Fanny Blankers-Koen’s victory in the 200 metres was the easiest. Her margin of victory over Audrey Williamson of 7 tenths is the largest ever in the event. But after the heats, Blankers-Koen had to combat a severe bout of home-sickness. She was sick of all the media attention and pressure, and wanted to go home to her two children. Only after a long talk with her coach and husband, 1928 Olympian Jan Blankers, she decided to start the semi-finals. Her eyes still red from the tears, she dominated her race. On a wet and muddy track, she paced to a third gold medal the next day.

Third placed Mickey Patterson is noted as the first Afro-American woman to win an Olympic medal; high jumper Alice Coachman won the first gold medal the next day. However, it was later revealed that Patterson actually had finished in fourth place, as the finish photo clearly showed Shirley Strickland crossing the line earlier.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	692	Fanny Blankers-Koen	NED	25.7 (1 h1)	24.3 (1 h1)	24.4 (1)	Gold	OR
2	723	Audrey Williamson	GBR	25.4 (1 h7)	24.9w (=1 h2)	25.1 (2)	Silver
3	668	Shirley Strickland	AUS	25.8 (2 h4)	24.9w (=1 h2)	25.3est (3)
4	707	Mickey Patterson	USA	25.5w (1 h5)	25.0 (2 h1)	25.2 (4)	Bronze
5	722	Margaret Walker	GBR	25.8w (2 h5)	25.3 (3 h1)	25.6est (5)
6	705	Daphne Robb	RSA	25.3 (1 h4)	25.1w (3 h2)	25.7est (6)
4 h1 r2/3	702	Cynthia Thompson	JAM	25.6 (1 h2)	– (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	721	Sylvia Cheeseman	GBR	25.7 (2 h2)	– (4 h2)	–
5 h1 r2/3	720	Rosine Faugouin	FRA	25.9 (2 h6)	– (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	966	Nel Karelse	NED	26.0 (2 h7)	– (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r2/3	666	Joyce King	AUS	25.9 (1 h3)	– (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	688	Liliane Sprécher	FRA	26.0 (2 h1)	– (6 h2)	–
7 h1 r2/3	674	Phyllis Lightbourn	BER	27.0 (2 h3)	– (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r2/3	667	Betty McKinnon	AUS	25.9 (1 h6)	– (7 h2)	–
3 h1 r1/3	725	Mae Faggs	USA	26.0 (3 h1)	–	–
3 h2 r1/3	715	Diane Foster	CAN	26.1 (3 h2)	–	–
3 h3 r1/3	714	Lucila Pini	BRA	27.6 (3 h3)	–	–
3 h4 r1/3	726	Nell Jackson	USA	25.8 (3 h4)	–	–
3 h5 r1/3	701	Kathleen Russell	JAM	26.3w (3 h5)	–	–
3 h6 r1/3	693	Gré de Jongh	NED	26.2 (3 h6)	–	–
3 h7 r1/3	678	Millie Cheater	CAN	26.4 (3 h7)	–	–
4 h1 r1/3	713	Melânia Luz	BRA	26.6est (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r1/3	675	Helena de Menezes	BRA	27.7est (4 h2)	–	–
4 h3 r1/3	672	Marie-Thérèse Renard	BEL	28.5est (4 h3)	–	–
4 h4 r1/3	716	Donna Gilmore	CAN	– (4 h4)	–	–
4 h5 r1/3	724	Ann-Britt Leyman	SWE	26.3west (4 h5)	–	–
4 h6 r1/3	670	Grete Pavlousek	AUT	– (4 h6)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	673	Phyllis Edness	BER	– (5 h1)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	710	Alma Butia	YUG	– (5 h4)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	703	Tilly Decker	LUX	– (5 h5)	–	–
6 h5 r1/3	681	Betty Kretschmer	CHI	– (6 h5)	–	–
AC h3 r1/3	682	Olga Šicnerová	TCH	– (DNF h3)	–	–
AC h7 r1/3	719	Annegret Weller	CHI	– (DQ h7)	–	–
DNS	712	Elisabeth Ranftl	AUT	– (DNS h7)	–	–
DNS	686	Léa Caurla	FRA	– (DNS h7)	–	–
DNS	711	Grete Jenny	AUT	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	718	Adriana Millard	CHI	– (DNS h6)	–	–
DNS	700	Carmen Phipps	JAM	– (DNS h6)	–	–

Round One (5 August 1948 — 15:30)

Top two in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

Wind	0.0 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Fanny Blankers-Koen	NED	25.7	25.9	QOR
2	2	Liliane Sprécher	FRA	26.0	–	Q
3	5	Mae Faggs	USA	26.0	–
4	3	Melânia Luz	BRA	26.6est	–
5	4	Phyllis Edness	BER	–	–

Heat Two

Wind	1.1 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	5	Cynthia Thompson	JAM	25.6	25.7	QOR
2	1	Sylvia Cheeseman	GBR	25.7	–	Q
3	4	Diane Foster	CAN	26.1	–
4	2	Helena de Menezes	BRA	27.7est	–
DNS	3	Grete Jenny	AUT	–	–

Heat Three

Wind	1.4 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Joyce King	AUS	25.9	26.1	Q
2	4	Phyllis Lightbourn	BER	27.0	–	Q
3	3	Lucila Pini	BRA	27.6	–
4	5	Marie-Thérèse Renard	BEL	28.5est	–
DNF	2	Olga Šicnerová	TCH	–	–

Heat Four

Wind	1.8 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	2	Daphne Robb	RSA	25.3	25.5	QOR
2	1	Shirley Strickland	AUS	25.8	–	Q
3	4	Nell Jackson	USA	25.8	–
4	3	Donna Gilmore	CAN	–	–
5	5	Alma Butia	YUG	–	–

Heat Five

Wind	2.5 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Mickey Patterson	USA	25.5w	25.9w	Q
2	2	Margaret Walker	GBR	25.8w	–	Q
3	5	Kathleen Russell	JAM	26.3w	–
4	4	Ann-Britt Leyman	SWE	26.3west	–
5	6	Tilly Decker	LUX	–	–
6	3	Betty Kretschmer	CHI	–	–

Heat Six

Wind	1.0 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Betty McKinnon	AUS	25.9	26.1	Q
2	6	Rosine Faugouin	FRA	25.9	–	Q
3	1	Gré de Jongh	NED	26.2	–
4	2	Grete Pavlousek	AUT	–	–
DNS	4	Adriana Millard	CHI	–	–
DNS	5	Carmen Phipps	JAM	–	–

Heat Seven

Wind	0.7 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Audrey Williamson	GBR	25.4	25.6	Q
2	2	Nel Karelse	NED	26.0	–	Q
3	5	Millie Cheater	CAN	26.4	–
DQ	4	Annegret Weller	CHI	–	–
DNS	3	Elisabeth Ranftl	AUT	–	–
DNS	6	Léa Caurla	FRA	–	–

Semi-Finals (5 August 1948 — 17:00)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Wind	1.7 m/s

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	692	Fanny Blankers-Koen	NED	24.3	24.4	QOR
2	707	Mickey Patterson	USA	25.0	25.02	Q
3	722	Margaret Walker	GBR	25.3	25.42	Q
4	702	Cynthia Thompson	JAM	–	25.67
5	720	Rosine Faugouin	FRA	–	25.73
6	666	Joyce King	AUS	–	25.78
7	674	Phyllis Lightbourn	BER	–	–

Heat Two

Wind	3.4 m/s
Wind	3.4 m/s

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
=1	668	Shirley Strickland	AUS	24.9w	25.1w	Q
=1	723	Audrey Williamson	GBR	24.9w	25.11	Q
3	705	Daphne Robb	RSA	25.1w	25.22	Q
4	721	Sylvia Cheeseman	GBR	–	25.48
5	966	Nel Karelse	NED	–	25.68
6	688	Liliane Sprécher	FRA	–	25.72
7	667	Betty McKinnon	AUS	–	25.85

Final (6 August 1948 — 16:30)

Wind	0.0 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	2	Fanny Blankers-Koen	NED	24.4	24.4	OR
2	5	Audrey Williamson	GBR	25.1	25.20
4	6	Mickey Patterson	USA	25.2	25.26		1
3	3	Shirley Strickland	AUS	25.3est	25.25		2
5	4	Margaret Walker	GBR	25.6est	25.59
6	1	Daphne Robb	RSA	25.7est	25.65