| | Event type

80 metres Hurdles, Women

Date	23 – 24 July 1952
Status	Olympic
Location	Helsingin Olympiastadion, Helsinki
Participants	34 from 22 countries

The world record was still held by defending champion Fanny Blankers-Koen, and she competed in 1952, but was slightly injured and at less than her best. She had also won the 1950 European Championships, so she could have been formidable. But it is uncertain if she could have beaten Shirley Strickland even if at her best. In the first round Strickland ran 11.0 to equal Blankers-Koen’s world record. In the semis she ran 10.8 although it was wind-aided and not submitted for record purposes. The final saw Strickland and Blankers-Koen get out together but Fanny hit the third hurdle hard and had to stop. Strickland broke the world record with 10.9 in winning easily. Soviet and Russian Mariya Golubnichiya, after a poor start, came on fast at the end to get a silver medal.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	31	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	AUS	11.0 (1 h1)	10.8 (1 h1)	10.9 (1)	Gold	WR
2	480	Mariya Golubnichaya	URS	11.1 (1 h6)	11.2 (1 h2)	11.1 (2)	Silver
3	757	Maria Sander	GER	11.3 (1 h5)	10.9 (2 h1)	11.1 (3)	Bronze
4	759	Anneliese Seonbuchner	GER	11.4 (2 h4)	11.4 (3 h2)	11.2 (4)
5	222	Jean Desforges	GBR	11.4 (1 h4)	10.9 (3 h1)	11.6 (5)
AC r3/3	132	Fanny Blankers-Koen	NED	11.2 (1 h2)	11.3 (2 h2)	– (DNF)
4 h1 r2/3	479	Elene Gok'ieli	URS	11.5 (1 h3)	11.1 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	223	Pam Seaborne	GBR	11.5 (2 h3)	11.4 (4 h2)	–
5 h1 r2/3	115	Edna Maskell	RSA	11.6 (2 h2)	11.2 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	67	Wanda dos Santos	BRA	11.3 (2 h6)	11.4 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r2/3	271	Milena Greppi	ITA	11.7 (2 h1)	11.4 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	644	Claudie Flament	FRA	11.5 (2 h5)	11.6 (6 h2)	–
3 h1 r1/3	317	Miyo Miyashita	JPN	11.8 (3 h1)	–	–
3 h2 r1/3	964	Klára Soós	HUN	11.9 (3 h2)	–	–
3 h3 r1/3	135	Willy Lust	NED	11.6 (3 h3)	–	–
3 h4 r1/3	361	Luella Law	CAN	11.8 (3 h4)	–	–
3 h5 r1/3	481	Anna Aleksandrova	URS	11.5 (3 h5)	–	–
3 h6 r1/3	640	Yvette Monginou	FRA	11.3 (3 h6)	–	–
4 h1 r1/3	645	Colette Elloy	FRA	11.9 (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r1/3	723	Hilde Antes	SAA	12.0 (4 h2)	–	–
4 h3 r1/3	831	Seija Pöntinen	FIN	11.8 (4 h3)	–	–
4 h4 r1/3	286	Helene Bielansky	AUT	11.8 (4 h4)	–	–
4 h5 r1/3	270	Maria Musso	ITA	11.9 (4 h5)	–	–
4 h6 r1/3	284	Elfriede Steurer	AUT	11.4 (4 h6)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	522	Jorun Tangen	NOR	12.2 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	144	Nilima Ghose	IND	12.9 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	770	Tang Pui Wah	SGP	12.8 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	832	Sylvi Keskinen	FIN	12.4 (5 h4)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	1047	Connie Darnowski	USA	12.1 (5 h5)	–	–
5 h6 r1/3	224	Pauline Threapleton	GBR	11.9 (5 h6)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	236	Leah Horowitz	ISR	12.4 (6 h4)	–	–
6 h5 r1/3	833	Aino Autio	FIN	12.1 (6 h5)	–	–
6 h6 r1/3	869	Gretel Bolliger	SUI	12.3 (6 h6)	–	–
AC h2 r1/3	87	Marion Huber	CHI	– (DNF h2)	–	–
DNS	285	Gertrud Pruschak	AUT	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	365	Shirley Eckel	CAN	– (DNS h3)	–	–
DNS	363	Rosella Thorne	CAN	– (DNS h5)	–	–
DNS	963	Olga Gyarmati	HUN	– (DNS h1)	–	–

Round One (23 July 1952 — 16:00)

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

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	AUS	11.0	11.24	Q=WR
2	5	Milena Greppi	ITA	11.7	11.95	Q
3	4	Miyo Miyashita	JPN	11.8	12.06
4	1	Colette Elloy	FRA	11.9	12.31
5	6	Jorun Tangen	NOR	12.2	12.51
DNS	2	Olga Gyarmati	HUN	–	–

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	6	Fanny Blankers-Koen	NED	11.2	11.34	Q
2	1	Edna Maskell	RSA	11.6	11.80	Q
3	7	Klára Soós	HUN	11.9	11.98
4	2	Hilde Antes	SAA	12.0	12.31
5	4	Nilima Ghose	IND	12.9	13.07
DNF	5	Marion Huber	CHI	–	–
DNS	3	Gertrud Pruschak	AUT	–	–

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	6	Elene Gok'ieli	URS	11.5	11.59	Q
2	1	Pam Seaborne	GBR	11.5	11.62	Q
3	2	Willy Lust	NED	11.6	11.69
4	5	Seija Pöntinen	FIN	11.8	12.22
5	4	Tang Pui Wah	SGP	12.8	13.09
DNS	3	Shirley Eckel	CAN	–	–

Heat Four

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Jean Desforges	GBR	11.4	11.51	Q
2	4	Anneliese Seonbuchner	GER	11.4	11.55	Q
3	5	Luella Law	CAN	11.8	12.09
4	2	Helene Bielansky	AUT	11.8	12.10
5	1	Sylvi Keskinen	FIN	12.4	12.68
6	6	Leah Horowitz	ISR	12.4	12.74

Heat Five

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	5	Maria Sander	GER	11.3	11.41	Q
2	7	Claudie Flament	FRA	11.5	11.83	Q
3	1	Anna Aleksandrova	URS	11.5	11.86
4	3	Maria Musso	ITA	11.9	12.17
5	2	Connie Darnowski	USA	12.1	12.29
6	6	Aino Autio	FIN	12.1	12.31
DNS	4	Rosella Thorne	CAN	–	–

Heat Six

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Mariya Golubnichaya	URS	11.1	11.29	Q
2	2	Wanda dos Santos	BRA	11.3	11.58	Q
3	4	Yvette Monginou	FRA	11.3	11.64
4	6	Elfriede Steurer	AUT	11.4	11.74
5	5	Pauline Threapleton	GBR	11.9	11.88
6	1	Gretel Bolliger	SUI	12.3	12.56

Semi-Finals (23 July 1952 — 18:10)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	31	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	AUS	10.8	11.16	Q
2	757	Maria Sander	GER	10.9	11.19	Q
3	222	Jean Desforges	GBR	10.9	11.37	Q
4	479	Elene Gok'ieli	URS	11.1	11.46
5	115	Edna Maskell	RSA	11.2	11.50
6	271	Milena Greppi	ITA	11.4	11.80

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	480	Mariya Golubnichaya	URS	11.2	11.35	Q
2	132	Fanny Blankers-Koen	NED	11.3	11.42	Q
3	759	Anneliese Seonbuchner	GER	11.4	11.70	Q
4	223	Pam Seaborne	GBR	11.4	11.71
5	67	Wanda dos Santos	BRA	11.4	11.74
6	644	Claudie Flament	FRA	11.6	11.89

Final (24 July 1952 — 16:25)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	3	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	AUS	10.9	11.01	WR
2	5	Mariya Golubnichaya	URS	11.1	11.24
3	4	Maria Sander	GER	11.1	11.38
4	6	Anneliese Seonbuchner	GER	11.2	11.46
5	1	Jean Desforges	GBR	11.6	11.75
DNF	2	Fanny Blankers-Koen	NED	–	–