| | Event type

200 metres, Women

Date	29 – 30 November 1956
Status	Olympic
Location	Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Victoria
Participants	27 from 12 countries

In September 1956, Betty Cuthbert broke the world record with a time of 23.2. In the preliminaries she ran the fastest time in both round one and the semi-finals. The final was an easy victory for Cuthbert, the “Golden Girl,” who had won the 100 four days prior. Her winning mark of 23.55 was considered an early version of the auto-timed world record for 200 metres. She would add a third gold medal by anchoring the relay for Australia.

Cuthbert competed at the 1960 Olympics but was injured and not at her best. She later turned to the 400 metres and won the gold medal in that event at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the first time it was ever contested for women. Cuthbert remains, through 2016, the only person to win Olympic golds in the 100, 200, and 400 metres.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	468	Betty Cuthbert	AUS	23.5 (1 h1)	23.6 (1 h1)	23.4 (1)	Gold	WR
2	484	Christa Stubnick	GER	24.5 (1 h3)	23.9 (2 h1)	23.7 (2)	Silver
3	470	Marlene Mathews	AUS	24.0 (1 h6)	24.3 (2 h2)	23.8 (3)	Bronze
4	511	Norma Croker	AUS	24.9 (2 h3)	24.3 (3 h1)	24.0 (4)
5	486	June Paul	GBR	23.8 (1 h4)	24.2 (1 h2)	24.3 (5)
6	482	Gisela Köhler	GER	24.4 (2 h2)	24.3 (3 h2)	24.3 (6)
4 h1 r2/3	518	Mariya Itkina	URS	24.1 (1 h2)	24.3 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r2/3	487	Heather Armitage	GBR	24.8 (1 h5)	24.7 (4 h2)	–
5 h1 r2/3	513	Jean Scrivens	GBR	24.3 (2 h6)	24.4 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	504	Mae Faggs	USA	24.9 (2 h1)	24.8 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r2/3	500	Barbara Lerczak	POL	24.8 (2 h5)	25.2 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	519	Vera Yugova	URS	24.9 (2 h4)	24.9 (6 h2)	–
3 h1 r1/3	473	Diane Matheson	CAN	25.7 (3 h1)	–	–
3 h2 r1/3	517	Wilma Rudolph	USA	24.6 (3 h2)	–	–
3 h3 r1/3	491	Giuseppina Leone	ITA	25.6 (3 h3)	–	–
3 h4 r1/3	514	Letizia Bertoni	ITA	25.2 (3 h4)	–	–
3 h5 r1/3	512	Simone Henry	FRA	25.0 (3 h5)	–	–
3 h6 r1/3	481	Inge Fuhrmann	GER	24.7 (3 h6)	–	–
4 h1 r1/3	502	Mary Klass	SGP	26.3 (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r1/3	515	Genowefa Minicka	POL	25.0 (4 h2)	–	–
4 h3 r1/3	516	Meredith Ellis	USA	26.3 (4 h3)	–	–
4 h4 r1/3	471	Claudette Masdammer	GUY	25.4 (4 h4)	–	–
4 h5 r1/3	472	Eleanor Haslam	CAN	25.3 (4 h5)	–	–
4 h6 r1/3	480	Micheline Fluchot	FRA	24.9 (4 h6)	–	–
5 h1 r1/3	489	Maeve Kyle	IRL	26.4 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h5 r1/3	520	Olga Kosheleva	URS	25.3 (5 h5)	–	–
5 h6 r1/3	474	Maureen Rever	CAN	26.1 (5 h6)	–	–
DNS	479	Catherine Capdevielle	FRA	– (DNS h3)	–	–
DNS	493	Annie Choong	MAL	– (DNS h2)	–	–
DNS	499	Maria Kusion	POL	– (DNS h4)	–	–

Round One

Date	29 November 1956 — 15:20
Format	Top two in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (automatic)	Time (hand)
1	468	Betty Cuthbert	AUS	23.60	23.5	Q
2	486	June Paul	GBR	24.00	23.8	Q
3	470	Marlene Mathews	AUS	24.16	24.0	Q
4	513	Jean Scrivens	GBR	24.27	24.3	Q
5	518	Mariya Itkina	URS	24.31	24.1	Q
6	482	Gisela Köhler	GER	24.53	24.4	Q
7	484	Christa Stubnick	GER	24.58	24.5	Q
8	517	Wilma Rudolph	USA	24.83	24.6
9	487	Heather Armitage	GBR	24.87	24.8	Q
=10	504	Mae Faggs	USA	24.99	24.9	Q
=10	500	Barbara Lerczak	POL	24.99	24.8	Q
12	481	Inge Fuhrmann	GER	25.05	24.7
13	511	Norma Croker	AUS	25.10	24.9	Q
14	480	Micheline Fluchot	FRA	25.12	24.9
=15	519	Vera Yugova	URS	25.13	24.9	Q
=15	512	Simone Henry	FRA	25.13	25.0
17	515	Genowefa Minicka	POL	25.19	25.0
18	472	Eleanor Haslam	CAN	25.27	25.3
19	514	Letizia Bertoni	ITA	25.33	25.2
20	520	Olga Kosheleva	URS	25.48	25.3
21	471	Claudette Masdammer	GUY	25.73	25.4
22	491	Giuseppina Leone	ITA	25.77	25.6
23	473	Diane Matheson	CAN	25.86	25.7
24	474	Maureen Rever	CAN	26.17	26.1
25	502	Mary Klass	SGP	26.37	26.3
26	516	Meredith Ellis	USA	26.46	26.3
27	489	Maeve Kyle	IRL	26.57	26.4
DNS	493	Annie Choong	MAL	–	–
DNS	479	Catherine Capdevielle	FRA	–	–
DNS	499	Maria Kusion	POL	–	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	468	Betty Cuthbert	AUS	23.5	23.60	Q
2	504	Mae Faggs	USA	24.9	24.99	Q
3	473	Diane Matheson	CAN	25.7	25.86
4	502	Mary Klass	SGP	26.3	26.37
5	489	Maeve Kyle	IRL	26.4	26.57

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	518	Mariya Itkina	URS	24.1	24.31	Q
2	482	Gisela Köhler	GER	24.4	24.53	Q
3	517	Wilma Rudolph	USA	24.6	24.83
4	515	Genowefa Minicka	POL	25.0	25.19
DNS	493	Annie Choong	MAL	–	–

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	484	Christa Stubnick	GER	24.5	24.58	Q
2	511	Norma Croker	AUS	24.9	25.10	Q
3	491	Giuseppina Leone	ITA	25.6	25.77
4	516	Meredith Ellis	USA	26.3	26.46
DNS	479	Catherine Capdevielle	FRA	–	–

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	486	June Paul	GBR	23.8	24.00	Q
2	519	Vera Yugova	URS	24.9	25.13	Q
3	514	Letizia Bertoni	ITA	25.2	25.33
4	471	Claudette Masdammer	GUY	25.4	25.73
DNS	499	Maria Kusion	POL	–	–

Heat #5

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	487	Heather Armitage	GBR	24.8	24.87	Q
2	500	Barbara Lerczak	POL	24.8	24.99	Q
3	512	Simone Henry	FRA	25.0	25.13
4	472	Eleanor Haslam	CAN	25.3	25.27
5	520	Olga Kosheleva	URS	25.3	25.48

Heat #6

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	470	Marlene Mathews	AUS	24.0	24.16	Q
2	513	Jean Scrivens	GBR	24.3	24.27	Q
3	481	Inge Fuhrmann	GER	24.7	25.05
4	480	Micheline Fluchot	FRA	24.9	25.12
5	474	Maureen Rever	CAN	26.1	26.17

Semi-Finals

Date	29 November 1956 — 17:50
Format	Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (automatic)	Time (hand)
1	468	Betty Cuthbert	AUS	23.75	23.6	Q
2	484	Christa Stubnick	GER	24.17	23.9	Q
3	486	June Paul	GBR	24.36	24.2	Q
4	511	Norma Croker	AUS	24.41	24.3	Q
=5	518	Mariya Itkina	URS	24.42	24.3
=5	470	Marlene Mathews	AUS	24.42	24.3	Q
7	482	Gisela Köhler	GER	24.48	24.3	Q
8	513	Jean Scrivens	GBR	24.66	24.4
9	487	Heather Armitage	GBR	24.78	24.7
10	504	Mae Faggs	USA	25.06	24.8
=11	500	Barbara Lerczak	POL	25.12	25.2
=11	519	Vera Yugova	URS	25.12	24.9

Heat #1

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	468	Betty Cuthbert	AUS	23.6	23.75	Q
2	484	Christa Stubnick	GER	23.9	24.17	Q
3	511	Norma Croker	AUS	24.3	24.41	Q
4	518	Mariya Itkina	URS	24.3	24.42
5	513	Jean Scrivens	GBR	24.4	24.66
6	500	Barbara Lerczak	POL	25.2	25.12

Heat #2

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	486	June Paul	GBR	24.2	24.36	Q
2	470	Marlene Mathews	AUS	24.3	24.42	Q
3	482	Gisela Köhler	GER	24.3	24.48	Q
4	487	Heather Armitage	GBR	24.7	24.78
5	504	Mae Faggs	USA	24.8	25.06
6	519	Vera Yugova	URS	24.9	25.12

Final Round

Date	30 November 1956 — 17:15

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	468	Betty Cuthbert	AUS	23.4	23.55	WR
2	484	Christa Stubnick	GER	23.7	23.89
3	470	Marlene Mathews	AUS	23.8	24.10
4	511	Norma Croker	AUS	24.0	24.22
5	486	June Paul	GBR	24.3	24.30
6	482	Gisela Köhler	GER	24.3	24.68