Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres explained

Event:	Women's 400 metres
Games:	1964 Summer
Venue:	Olympic Stadium
Dates:	15–17 October
Competitors:	23
Nations:	17
Win Value:	52.0
Longnames:	yes
Gold:	Betty Cuthbert
Goldnoc:	AUS
Silver:	Ann Packer
Silvernoc:	GBR
Bronze:	Judy Amoore
Bronzenoc:	AUS
Next:	1968

The women's 400 metres was the second-longest of the four women's track races in the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 15 October, 16 October, and 17 October 1964. 23 athletes from 17 nations entered. The first round was held on 15 October, the semifinals on 16 October, and the final on 17 October. The 1964 Summer Olympics were the first to feature the women's 400 metres.^[1]

Results

First round

The top five runners in each of the 3 heats advanced, as well as the next fastest runner from across the heats.

Heat 1

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1			54.4 seconds OR
2			54.8 seconds
3			56.0 seconds
4			56.8 seconds
5			57.6 seconds
6			58.0 seconds
7			58.6 seconds
8			1:00.8

Heat 2

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1			54.9 seconds
2			55.3 seconds
3			55.3 seconds
4			55.4 seconds
5			55.5 seconds
6			55.5 seconds
7			55.9 seconds
8			1:04.0

Heat 3

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1			53.1 seconds OR
2			53.8 seconds
3			54.8 seconds
4			55.1 seconds
5			56.5 seconds
6			57.8 seconds
7			58.7 seconds

Semifinals

The fastest four runners in each of the two semifinals advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1			52.7 seconds OR
2			53.8 seconds
3			54.0 seconds
4			54.5 seconds
5			54.8 seconds
6			54.9 seconds
7			55.2 seconds
8			57.1 seconds

Semifinal 2

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1			53.3 seconds
2			53.5 seconds
3	Tilly van der Made		54.1 seconds
4			54.2 seconds
5			54.4 seconds
6			54.5 seconds
7			55.3 seconds
—			Did not start

Final

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1			52.0 seconds OR
2			52.2 seconds
3			53.4 seconds
4			54.4 seconds
5			54.6 seconds
6			55.2 seconds
7			55.4 seconds
8			55.5 seconds

Notes and References

Web site: Athletics at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games: Women's 400 metres . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417174958/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1964/ATH/womens-400-metres.html . dead . 17 April 2020 . 31 July 2017 . sports-reference.com.