The women's 400-meter run at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich was held on September 2, 3, 4 and 7, 1972 in the Munich Olympic Stadium. 49 athletes took part.
For the Federal Republic of Germany - officially Germany - Christel Frese and Anette Rückes started alongside silver medalist Wilden . Rückes was eliminated in the quarter-finals, Frese could not finish her semi-final race.
In addition to the winner Zehren, Dagmar Käsling and Helga Seidler competed for the GDR . Both made it to the finals, with Seidler finishing fourth and Käsling seventh.
The Austrian Karoline Käfer was eliminated in the quarter-finals, her compatriot Maria Sykora and the Swiss Vreni Leiser in the preliminary run.
Runners from Liechtenstein did not take part.
The athletes competed in seven preliminary runs on September 2nd. The four best runners and the following four time best made it to the quarter-finals on September 3rd. From this, the four best runners reached the semi-finals on September 4th. From the two preliminary rounds, the four best runners qualified for the final, which took place on September 7th.
Time schedule
September 2, 3:30 p.m .: Preliminaries
September 3, 3 p.m .: quarter-finals
September 4, 5:45 p.m .: semi-finals
September 7, 6 p.m .: final
The directly qualified athletes are highlighted in light blue, the others in light green.
The Jamaican world record holder Marilyn Neufville could not take part because of an injury. Therefore, the GDR runner Monika Zehre, who had equalized this record in July of that year, was the only favorite. Another medal contender was her teammate Helga Seidler - former Helga Fischer, European champion from 1971 .
The final was led by the Hungarian Györgyi Balogh. But her starting pace was too fast and she was finally passed through to the last place. Zehren took the lead at the beginning of the second corner. On the home straight it got tight again when the German runner Rita Wilden - former Rita Jahn - got close to the leading runner. But it remained in this order. Monika Zehren was Olympic champion ahead of Rita Wilden. The American Kathy Hammond won the bronze medal. Helga Seidler came fourth in front of the US runner Mable Fergerson and the Australian Charlene Rendina - former Charlene Neighbor.
Monika Zehren, Rita Wilden and Kathy Hammond each won the first medals for their countries in this discipline.