| | Event type

400 metres, Women

Date	14 – 16 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Estadio Olímpico Universitario, Ciudad de México
Participants	29 from 21 countries

Great Britain’s Lillian Board was favored based on fast times early in the year. The lead in the final was taken by Jarvis Scott (USA) but she faded at 300 metres and Board took over. In the last 20 metres, France’s Colette Besson pulled up to win the gold medal with Board second. Besson was completely unheralded prior to the competition, but would place second in the 400 at the 1969 European Championships. Britain’s press was somewhat critical of Board, but later had cause to regret that. Within 18 months of the 1968 Olympics, she was diagnosed with cancer and died in December 1970, when she was only 22.

Another story concerned Dutch athlete Lia Hinten-Louer. The former pentathlete had concentrated on the 400 m since the Tokyo Games and she flew to Mexico ranked fourth in the world having recently broken the national record. She felt unwell on arrival and, after visiting a doctor, discovered she was 10 weeks pregnant. Hinten-Louer withdrew from the Games and immediately retired from the sport.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	R1	SF	Final
1	117	Colette Besson	FRA	53.1 (1 h1)	53.6 (2 h1)	52.0 (1)	Gold
2	126	Lillian Board	GBR	52.9 (2 h2)	52.5 (1 h2)	52.1 (2)	Silver
3	238	Nataliya Pechenkina	URS	53.7 (1 h4)	52.8 (3 h2)	52.2 (3)	Bronze
4	141	Janet Simpson	GBR	53.6 (3 h3)	54.0 (3 h1)	52.5 (4)
5	69	Aurelia Pentón	CUB	52.8 (1 h2)	54.0 (4 h1)	52.7 (5)
6	102	Jarvis Scott	USA	53.5 (2 h1)	53.2 (4 h2)	52.7 (6)
7	5	Helga Henning	FRG	53.5 (3 h1)	53.3 (1 h1)	52.8 (7)
8	154	Mirna van der Hoeven-Jansen	NED	53.1 (1 h3)	52.6 (2 h2)	53.0 (8)
5 h1 r2/3	104	Esther Stroy	USA	53.5 (2 h3)	54.3 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r2/3	127	Mary Green	GBR	53.9 (2 h4)	53.6 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r2/3	180	Una Morris	JAM	54.1 (4 h2)	54.6 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r2/3	219	Karin Wallgren	SWE	54.2 (3 h4)	53.9 (6 h2)	–
7 h1 r2/3	249	Ingrīda Verbele	URS	54.0 (3 h2)	54.6 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r2/3	122	Monique Noirot	FRA	53.6 (4 h3)	54.2 (7 h2)	–
8 h1 r2/3	56	Joan Fisher	CAN	54.6 (4 h1)	55.2 (8 h1)	–
8 h2 r2/3	91	Lois Drinkwater	USA	54.5 (4 h4)	57.3 (8 h2)	–
5 h1 r1/3	185	Enriqueta Basilio	MEX	55.6 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r1/3	54	Anne Covell	CAN	54.3 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r1/3	183	Tekla Chemabwai	KEN	54.0 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r1/3	172	Donata Govoni	ITA	54.7 (5 h4)	–	–
6 h1 r1/3	32	Joyce Bennett	AUS	56.5 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r1/3	72	Anna Chmelková	TCH	54.9 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r1/3	34	Sandra Brown	AUS	55.4 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r1/3	112	Eeva Haimi	FIN	55.0 (6 h4)	–	–
7 h2 r1/3	164	Antónia Munkácsi	HUN	55.6 (7 h2)	–	–
7 h3 r1/3	171	Channa Shezifi	ISR	56.3 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r1/3	252	Josefa Vicent	URU	56.3 (7 h4)	–	–
8 h2 r1/3	64	Jean Robotham	CRC	58.2 (8 h2)	–	–
8 h4 r1/3	193	Olajumoke Bodunrin	NGR	57.0 (8 h4)	–	–
DNS	47	Irenice Maria Rodrigues	BRA	–	–	–
DNS	151	Lia Louer	NED	–	–	–
DNS	218	Elisabeth Östberg	SWE	–	–	–

Round One

Date	14 October 1968 — 10:40
Format	Top four in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	117	Colette Besson	FRA	53.1	53.11	Q
2	102	Jarvis Scott	USA	53.5	53.53	Q
3	5	Helga Henning	FRG	53.5	53.58	Q
4	56	Joan Fisher	CAN	54.6	54.62	Q
5	185	Enriqueta Basilio	MEX	55.6	55.47
6	32	Joyce Bennett	AUS	56.5	56.56

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	69	Aurelia Pentón	CUB	52.8	52.86	Q
2	126	Lillian Board	GBR	52.9	53.00	Q
3	249	Ingrīda Verbele	URS	54.0	54.07	Q
4	180	Una Morris	JAM	54.1	54.19	Q
5	54	Anne Covell	CAN	54.3	54.34
6	72	Anna Chmelková	TCH	54.9	54.91
7	164	Antónia Munkácsi	HUN	55.6	55.61
8	64	Jean Robotham	CRC	58.2	58.25

Heat #3

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	154	Mirna van der Hoeven-Jansen	NED	53.1	53.17	Q
2	104	Esther Stroy	USA	53.5	53.58	Q
3	141	Janet Simpson	GBR	53.6	53.63	Q
4	122	Monique Noirot	FRA	53.6	53.67	Q
5	183	Tekla Chemabwai	KEN	54.0	54.05
6	34	Sandra Brown	AUS	55.4	55.43
7	171	Channa Shezifi	ISR	56.3	56.38

Heat #4

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	238	Nataliya Pechenkina	URS	53.7	53.73	Q
2	127	Mary Green	GBR	53.9	54.00	Q
3	219	Karin Wallgren	SWE	54.2	54.30	Q
4	91	Lois Drinkwater	USA	54.5	54.56	Q
5	172	Donata Govoni	ITA	54.7	54.77
6	112	Eeva Haimi	FIN	55.0	55.01
7	252	Josefa Vicent	URU	56.3	56.34
8	193	Olajumoke Bodunrin	NGR	57.0	57.09

Semi-Finals

Date	15 October 1968 — 15:20
Format	Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	5	Helga Henning	FRG	53.3	53.33	Q
2	117	Colette Besson	FRA	53.6	53.62	Q
3	141	Janet Simpson	GBR	54.0	54.01	Q
4	69	Aurelia Pentón	CUB	54.0	54.08	Q
5	104	Esther Stroy	USA	54.3	54.35
6	180	Una Morris	JAM	54.6	54.63
7	249	Ingrīda Verbele	URS	54.6	54.67
8	56	Joan Fisher	CAN	55.2	55.37

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	126	Lillian Board	GBR	52.5	52.56	Q
2	154	Mirna van der Hoeven-Jansen	NED	52.6	52.69	Q
3	238	Nataliya Pechenkina	URS	52.8	52.83	Q
4	102	Jarvis Scott	USA	53.2	53.22	Q
5	127	Mary Green	GBR	53.6	53.64
6	219	Karin Wallgren	SWE	53.9	53.93
7	122	Monique Noirot	FRA	54.2	54.30
8	91	Lois Drinkwater	USA	57.3	57.39

Final

Date	16 October 1968 — 17:00

Pos	Competitor	NOC	Time (Hand)	Time (Automatic)
1	Colette Besson	FRA	52.0	52.03	=OR
2	Lillian Board	GBR	52.1	52.12
3	Nataliya Pechenkina	URS	52.2	52.25
4	Janet Simpson	GBR	52.5	52.57
5	Aurelia Pentón	CUB	52.7	52.75
6	Jarvis Scott	USA	52.7	52.79
7	Helga Henning	FRG	52.8	52.89
8	Mirna van der Hoeven-Jansen	NED	53.0	53.02