1956 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 100 m (women)

sport	athletics
discipline	100 meter run
gender	Women
Attendees	37 athletes from 10 countries
Competition location	Melbourne Cricket Ground
Competition phase	November 24, 1956 (preliminary / semi-finals) November 25, 1956 (final)
Medalists Betty Cuthbert ( AUS )   Christa Stubnick ( GER )   Marlene Mathews ( AUS )

The women's 100-meter run at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne was held on November 24 and 26, 1956 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground . 37 athletes took part.

The Australian Betty Cuthbert became Olympic champion . The German Christa Stubnick prevented an Australian double victory with her silver medal. The Australian Marlene Mathews won bronze .

In addition to Christa Stubnick, Gisela Birkemeyer and Inge Fuhrmann also competed for Germany. While Fuhrmann was eliminated in their preliminary run, Birkemeyer was able to run into the semifinals, but was eliminated there in fourth. Swiss and Austrian athletes did not take part.

Existing records

World record	11.3 s	Shirley de la Hunty ( Australia )	Warsaw , Poland	4th August 1955
Olympic record	11.5 s	Marjorie Jackson ( Australia )	Helsinki semi-finals and finals , Finland	July 21, 1952

Conducting the competition

The athletes competed in six heats on November 24th. The two best runners in each case qualified for the semi-finals on the same day. From the semi-finals, the three winners reached the final on November 26th.

Note: The qualified athletes are highlighted in light blue.

Time schedule

November 24th, 2:45 p.m .: preliminary stages

November 24, 4.40 p.m .: semi-finals

November 26th, 5:20 pm: Final

Note: All times are local Melbourne time (UTC + 10)

Prelims

Forward 1

Date: November 24, 1956, from 2.45 p.m.

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Giuseppina Leone	Italy	11.8 s	12.00 s
2	Wera Krepkina	Soviet Union	11.9 s	12.08 s
3	Mae Faggs	United States	12.2 s	12.36 s
4th	Micheline Fluchot	France	12.4 s	12.55 s
5	Janet Jesudason	Singapore	13.2 s	13.41 s
DNF	Mary Leela Rao	India

Forward 2

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Marlene Mathews	Australia	11.5 s	11.81 s	ORe
2	Galina Restschikowa	Soviet Union	11.8 s	12.11 s
3	Lucinda Williams	United States	12.0 s	12.14 s
4th	Maria Kusion-Bibro	Poland	12.2 s	12.34 s
5	Maureen Rever	Canada	12.2 s	12.36 s
6th	Franca Peggion	Italy	12.4 s	12.55 s
7th	Mary Class	Singapore	12.6 s	12.57 s

Forward 3

Betty Cuthbert (AUS) won the gold medal in the final.

The Polish Barbara Sobotta was eliminated in her preliminary run

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Betty Cuthbert	Australia	11.4 s	11.72 s	OR
2	Isabelle Daniels	United States	11.6 s	11.91 s
3	Anne Pashley	Great Britain	11.7 s	11.94 s
4th	Barbara Sobotta	Poland	12.2 s	12.37 s
5	Maria Musso	Italy	12.2 s	12.40 s
6th	Diane Matheson	Canada	12.4 s	12.59 s

Forward 4

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Heather Armitage	Great Britain	11.5 s	11.81 s
2	Gisela Birkemeyer	Germany	11.7 s	11.85 s
3	Shirley Strickland	Australia	11.7 s	11.86 s
4th	Eleanor Haslam	Canada	11.8 s	11.98 s
5	Halina Herrmann	Poland	12.2 s	12.38 s
6th	Maeve Kyle	Ireland	12.3 s	12.48 s

Forward 5

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Galina Popova	Soviet Union	11.6 s	11.86 s
2	Catherine Capdevielle	France	11.7 s	12.10 s
3	Inge Fuhrmann	Germany	12.2 s	12.31 s
4th	Annie Choong	Malaya	12.5 s	12.73 s

Forward 6

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Christa Stubnick	Germany	11.7 s	11.89 s
2	June Foulds	Great Britain	11.9 s	12.15 s
3	Margaret Stuart	New Zealand	12.3 s	12.38 s
4th	Elaine Winter	South African Union	12.5 s	12.59 s
5	Claudette Masdammer	British Guiana	12.7 s	12.87 s

Semifinals

Date: November 24, 1956, from 4.40 p.m.

Run 1

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Christa Stubnick	Germany	11.9 s	12.05 s
2	Betty Cuthbert	Australia	12.0 s	12.08 s
3	Giuseppina Leone	Italy	12.1 s	12.22 s
4th	June Foulds	Great Britain	12.1 s	12.24 s
5	Galina Popova	Soviet Union	12.2 s	12.34 s
6th	Catherine Capdevielle	France	12.4 s	12.53 s

Run 2

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Marlene Mathews	Australia	11.6 s	11.80 s
2	Heather Armitage	Great Britain	11.6 s	11.87 s
3	Isabelle Daniels	United States	11.7 s	11.94 s
4th	Gisela Birkemeyer	Germany	11.9 s	12.07s
5	Wera Krepkina	Soviet Union	11.9 s	12.07 s
6th	Galina Restschikowa	Soviet Union	12.1 s	12.23 s

final

Crossing the finish line of the final (from left to right): Isabelle Daniels, Giuseppina Leone, Betty Cuthbert, Marlene Mathews, Heather Armitage, Christa Stubnick

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Betty Cuthbert	Australia	11.5 s	11.82 s
2	Christa Stubnick	Germany	11.7 s	11.92 s
3	Marlene Mathews	Australia	11.7 s	11.94 s
4th	Isabelle Daniels	United States	11.8 s	11.98 s
5	Giuseppina Leone	Italy	11.9 s	12.07 s
6th	Heather Armitage	Great Britain	12.0 s	12.10 s

Date: November 26, 1956, 5:20 p.m.

The only 18-year-old world record holder, Betty Cuthbert from Australia, was the favorite in front of the home crowd. But in the semifinals the German Christa Stubnick finished ahead of Cuthbert after a very weak start, so that her chances of winning Olympic gold were given. But the Australian had probably not yet used all her skills.

In the final, Betty Cuthbert was clearly ahead from the start after Stubnicks got off to a bad start. The Australian now pulled through and almost effortlessly won her first gold medal out of three at these Olympic Games. Christa Stubnick was second very thinly ahead of the Australian Marlene Mathews. Again just behind, Isabelle Daniels finished fourth as the best American woman.

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 2: 1948–1968, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 1st edition 1969, pp. 154f

Web links

• SportsReference 100 m , accessed October 10, 2017
• Official report p. 347, engl. (PDF), accessed on October 10, 2017
• Betty Cuthbert - 1956 Melbourne Olympics , published August 8, 2015 on youtube.com, accessed October 10, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009 page 640 ( Memento from June 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ Official report p. 284, engl. (PDF), accessed on October 10, 2017
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Official report p. 347, engl. (PDF), accessed on October 10, 2017
4. ↑ SportsReference (Eng.)