1968 Summer Olympics / Athletics - Long Jump (Women)

sport	athletics
discipline	Long jump
gender	Women
Attendees	27 athletes from 19 countries
Competition location	Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Competition phase	October 13, 1968 (qualification) October 14, 1968 (semi-finals / finals)
Medalists Viorica Viscopoleanu ( ROU )   Sheila Sherwood ( GBR )   Tatiana Talysheva ( URS )

The women's long jump at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City was held on October 13-14, 1968 at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario . 27 athletes took part.

The Romanian Viorica Viscopoleanu became Olympic champion . She won with a new world record distance ahead of the British Sheila Sherwood and Tatiana Talyschewa from the Soviet Union.

Heide Rosendahl , Ingrid Becker and Manon Bornholdt started for the Federal Republic of Germany - officially Germany . Bornholdt failed in the qualification, Becker was sixth in the final, Rosendahl eighth.
The GDR - officially East Germany - was represented by Burghild Wieczorek and Bärbel Löhnert . Both made it to the final. Löhnert took 14th and last place, Wieczorek came fourth.
The Swiss Sieglinde Ammann had three failed attempts in qualification and was eliminated.
Athletes from Austria and Liechtenstein did not take part.

Existing records

World record	6.76 m	Mary Rand ( UK )	Tokyo , Japan	October 14, 1964
Olympic record			Tokyo finals , Japan

Conducting the competition

The athletes competed in a qualifying round on October 13th, which was completed in two groups. The twelve best starters qualified for the final. The width for the direct final qualification - final on October 14th - was 6.35 m. Since fewer than twelve jumpers did not reach this qualification distance, the starting field was filled with the next best jumpers except for twelve athletes. In the final, each participant initially had three attempts. For the first time, the eight best athletes - and not the six best up until 1964 - were able to complete three more attempts.

Time schedule

October 13, 3 p.m .: Qualification

October 14, 4 p.m .: Final

Note: All times are Mexico City local time ( UTC −6)

The athletes who have qualified over the distance are highlighted in light blue, the others in light green.

qualification

Date: October 13, 1968, from 3 p.m.

Group A

Only 14th place in the final: Bärbel Löhnert, GDR

space	Surname	nation	1st attempt	Second attempt	3. Attempt	Expanse	annotation
1	Heide Rosendahl	BR Germany	x	6.54 m	-	6.54 m
2	Violet Odogwu	Nigeria	6.45 m	6.09 m	-	6.45 m
3	Sheila Sherwood	Great Britain	6.42 m	-	-	6.42 m
4th	Bärbel Löhnert	GDR	6.35 m	-	-	6.35 m
5	Tatiana Talysheva	Soviet Union	6.34 m	6.30 m	6.28 m	6.34 m
6th	Maureen Barton	Great Britain	6.27 m	x	6.34 m	6.34 m
7th	Martha Watson	United States	6.30 m	6.18 m	5.99 m	6.30 m
8th	Irena Szewińska	Poland	x	6.19 m	x	6.19 m
9	Etelka Kispál	Hungary	5.98 m	5.93 m	x	5.98 m
10	Mercedes Roman	Mexico	5.75 m	x	5.72 m	5.75 m
11	Gunilla Cederström	Sweden	x	5.57 m	5.72 m	5.72 m
12	Alice Annum	Ghana	5.57 m	5.43 m	5.61 m	5.61 m
13	Jean Robotham	Costa Rica	4.75 m	4.55 m	4.40 m	4.75 m
-	Sieglinde Ammann	Switzerland	x	x	x		without space

Group B

Burghild Wieczorek, DDR, was fourth in the final

space	Surname	nation	1st attempt	Second attempt	3. Attempt	Expanse	annotation
1	Berit Berthelsen	Norway	6.32 m	6.48 m		6.48 m
2	Viorica Viscopoleanu	Romania	6.48 m	-	-	6.48 m
3	Mirosława Sarna	Poland	6.32 m	6.44 m	-	6.44 m
4th	Willye White	United States	6.17 m	6.42 m	-	6.42 m
5	Ingrid Becker	BR Germany	6.25 m	6.40 m	-	6.40 m
6th	Burghild Wieczorek	GDR	6.28 m	6.30 m	6.15 m	6.30 m
7th	Ann Wilson	Great Britain	6.10 m	5.85 m	6.30 m	6.30 m
8th	Manon Bornholdt	BR Germany	6.27 m	6.09 m	x	6.27 m
9	Marcia Garbey	Cuba	5.55 m	6.14 m	x	6.14 m
10	Helēna Ringa	Soviet Union	x	5.84 m	x	5.84 m
11	Lin Chun-yu	Taiwan	5.23 m	x	5.59 m	5.59 m
-	Joan Hendry	Canada	x	x	x		without space
	Cecilia Sosa	El Salvador

final

Date: October 14, 1968, 4 p.m.

The circle of favorites for this competition was quite open. The 1964 Olympic champion Mary Rand was no longer active. Right at the front, the experts expected the 1966 European champion Irena Szewińska . She was the world's best of the year with 6.67 m and won bronze over 100 meters and later gold over 200 meters here in Mexico City the next day . But in her first competition of these games, there was a disappointment for her: she did not get beyond the qualification. The two German co-favorites Heide Rosendahl and Ingrid Becker succeeded in doing so. But they too remained under value in the final and had to be content with places six - Becker - and eight - Rosendahl.

In the very first attempt at the finals, the Romanian Viorica Viscopoleanu, fifth in the 1966 European Championship, jumped a new world record with 6.82 m . In the further course of the competition all athletes bit their teeth and Viorica Viscopoleanu, who is not necessarily one of the favorites, became Olympic champion. However, the athletes behind them also performed very well. The Briton Sherwood jumped three times 6.60 m or more and won the silver medal with her 6.68 m from the fifth attempt. Only two centimeters behind there was bronze for the Soviet jumper Tatiana Talysheva, who achieved her best distance in the second round. The athletes from fourth to eighth place were close together with jumps between 6.40 m and 6.48 m. Burghild Wieczorek from the GDR surprisingly came fourth.

Viorica Viscopoleanu secured the first Romanian Olympic victory in the women's long jump .

space	Surname	nation	1st attempt	Second attempt	3. Attempt	4th attempt	5th attempt	6th attempt	Bottom line	annotation
1	Viorica Viscopoleanu	Romania	6.82 m WR	x	6.64 m	6.54 m	6.52 m	6.57 m	6.82 m	WR
2	Sheila Sherwood	Great Britain	6.60 m	x	6.50 m	6.59 m	6.68 m	6.61 m	6.68 m
3	Tatiana Talysheva	Soviet Union	6.55 m	6.66 m	5.38 m	6.38 m	4.49 m	x	6.66 m
4th	Burghild Wieczorek	GDR	x	6.48 m	6.45 m	6.33 m	6.42 m	6.25 m	6.48 m
5	Mirosława Sarna	Poland	6.47 m	x	4.98 m	6.44 m	6.31 m	6.45 m	6.47 m
6th	Ingrid Becker	BR Germany	x	6.32 m	x	6.43 m	x	6.27 m	6.43 m
7th	Berit Berthelsen	Norway	6.38 m	6.40 m	6.27 m	6.22 m	x	6.32 m	6.40 m
8th	Heide Rosendahl	BR Germany	x	x	6.24 m	6.05 m	6.37 m	6.40 m	6.40 m
9	Violet Odogwu	Nigeria	6.23 m	5.98 m	6.15 m	not in the final of the eight best jumpers			6.23 m
10	Martha Watson	United States	6.20 m	x	6.06 m				6.20 m
11	Willye White	United States	6.01 m	5.44 m	6.08 m				6.08 m
12	Maureen Barton	Great Britain	5.93 m	x	5.95 m				5.95 m
13	Ann Wilson	Great Britain	x	5.90 m	5.59 m				5.90 m
14th	Bärbel Löhnert	GDR	x	x	4.49 m				4.49 m

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 2: 1948–1968, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 1st edition 1969, pp. 387–389

Video

• Viorica Viscopoleanu, o viaţă dăruită sportului de înaltă performanţă , published on July 27, 2016 on youtube.com, accessed on November 10, 2017

Web links

• SportsReference Long Jump , accessed November 10, 2017
• Official report - summary p. 96f, English / French. (PDF), accessed on November 10, 2017
• Official report of the Olympic Games 1968 p. 537, English / French. (PDF), accessed on November 10, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009 Page 646 (Engl.) ( Memento of 29 June 2011 at the Internet Archive ), accessed on November 10, 2017
2. ↑ Official report of the 1968 Olympic Games ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 10, English / French (PDF), accessed on November 10, 2017 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Official Report of the 1968 Olympic Games ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 537, engl./frz. (PDF), accessed on November 10, 2017 
4. ↑ SportsReference , accessed November 10, 2017