1956 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 80 m hurdles (women)

sport	athletics
discipline	80 meter hurdles
gender	Women
Attendees	22 athletes from 11 countries
Competition location	Melbourne Cricket Ground
Competition phase	November 27, 1956 (preliminary / semi-finals) November 28, 1956 (final)
Medalists Shirley Strickland de la Hunty ( AUS )   Gisela Birkemeyer ( GER )   Norma Thrower ( AUS )

The women's 80-meter hurdles at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne was held on November 27 and 28, 1956 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground . 22 athletes took part.

The Australian Shirley Strickland de la Hunty was Olympic champion ahead of the German Gisela Birkemeyer . Bronze went to the Australian Norma Thrower .

Swiss and Austrian athletes did not take part. Two other German athletes took part. While Maria Sander was eliminated in fourth place, Zenta Gastl qualified for the semi-finals. Here she was also fourth in her run and was eliminated.

Existing records

World record	10.6 s	Zenta Gastl ( BR Germany )	Frechen , Germany	July 29, 1956
Olympic record	10.9 s	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty ( Australia )	Helsinki Final , Finland	July 24, 1952

Conducting the competition

The athletes competed in four heats on November 27th. The three best runners in each case qualified for the semi-finals on the same day. From the semi-finals, the top three in each case reached the final on November 28th.

Note: The qualified athletes are highlighted in light blue.

Time schedule

November 27, 2.30 p.m .: Preliminary runs
November 27, 5:20 p.m .: Semi-finals
November 28, 5:15 p.m .: Final

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

Prelims

Date: November 27, 1956, from 2.30 p.m.

Forward 1

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Zenta Gastl	Germany	10.9 s	11.18 s	ORe
2	Bertha Díaz	Cuba	11.4 s	11.51 s
3	Carole Quinton	Great Britain	11.4 s	11.63 s
4th	Barbara Mueller	United States	11.6 s	11.83 s
5	Milena Greppi	Italy	12.3 s	12.66 s

Forward 2

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	Australia	10.8 s	11.02 s	OR
2	Maria Golubnichaya	Soviet Union	11.1 s	11.25 s
3	Margaret Stuart	New Zealand	11.3 s	11.46 s
4th	Constance Darnowski	United States	11.9 s	12.02 s
5	Pauline Threapleton-Wainwright	Great Britain	11.9 s	12.06 s

Forward 3

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Gisela Birkemeyer	Germany	11.0 s	11.11 s
2	Elaine Winter	South African Union	11.1 s	11.28 s
3	Gloria Cooke	Australia	11.4 s	11.45 s
4th	Angèle Picado	France	11.5 s	11.50 s
5	Nila Bessedina	Soviet Union	11.5 s	11.59 s
6th	Irene Robertson	United States	11.9 s	12.02 s
7th	Manolita Cinco	Philippines	12.1 s	12.20 s

Forward 4

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Norma Thrower	Australia	10.8 s	10.94 s	ORe
2	Galina Bystrowa	Soviet Union	10.9 s	11.09 s
3	Marthe Lambert	France	10.9 s	11.18 s
4th	Maria Sander	Germany	11.1 s	11.22 s
5	Francisca Sanopal	Philippines	11.8 s	12.15 s

Semifinals

Date: November 27, 1956, from 5:20 p.m.

Run 1

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	Australia	10.8 s	10.89 s	ORe
2	Gisela Birkemeyer	Germany	10.8 s	10.93 s
3	Maria Golubnichaya	Soviet Union	11.0 s	11.12 s
4th	Marthe Lambert	France	11.1 s	11.37 s
5	Bertha Díaz	Cuba	11.2 s	11.42 s
6th	Carole Quinton	Great Britain	11.4 s	11.61 s

Run 2

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Galina Bystrowa	Soviet Union	11.0 s	11.14 s
2	Norma Thrower	Australia	11.0 s	11.20 s
3	Gloria Cooke	Australia	11.1 s	11.25 s
4th	Zenta Gastl	Germany	11.1 s	11.30 s
5	Elaine Winter	South African Union	11.3 s	11.47 s
6th	Margaret Stuart	New Zealand	11.3 s	11.51 s

final

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Shirley Strickland de la Hunty	Australia	10.7 s	10.96 s	OR
2	Gisela Birkemeyer	Germany	10.9 s	11.12 s
3	Norma Thrower	Australia	11.0 s	11.25 s
4th	Galina Bystrowa	Soviet Union	11.0 s	11.25 s
5	Maria Golubnichaya	Soviet Union	11.3 s	11.50 s
6th	Gloria Cooke	Australia	11.4 s	11.60 s

Date: November 28, 1956, 5:15 p.m.

Particularly favored were the silver medalist from 1952 , Marija Golubnitschaja, from the USSR and the German world record holder Zenta Gastl, who surprisingly dropped out in the semi-finals. Shirley Strickland de la Hunty, Olympic third party in 1948 and Olympic champion in 1952, was no longer rated as highly, but she was one of the medal candidates. However, the final did not develop as expected. Shirley Strickland de la Hunty was Olympic champion in her home country with almost two meters ahead of the German Gisela Birkemeyer. Another Australian woman won the bronze medal in Norma Thrower. The winner set a new Olympic record and stayed just a tenth of a second above the world record.

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 2: 1948–1968, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 1st edition 1969, p. 156f

Web links

• SportsReference 80m hurdles , accessed October 10, 2017
• Official report p. 350f, engl. (PDF), accessed on October 10, 2017
• 100 Miter Huddles Final 1956 Melbourne Olympics , published June 5, 2012 on youtube.com, accessed October 10, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ^ Official report p. 284, engl. (PDF), accessed on October 10, 2017
2. ↑ Official report p. 350, engl. (PDF), accessed on October 10, 2017
3. ↑ ^{a b} Official report p. 351, engl. (PDF), accessed on October 10, 2017
4. ↑ SportsReference (Eng.)