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

Women's 400 metres at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Dates	15–17 October
Competitors	23 from 17 nations
Medalists
Betty Cuthbert   Australia   Ann Packer   Great Britain   Judy Amoore   Australia

Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men		women
200 m		men		women
400 m		men		women
800 m		men		women
1500 m		men
5000 m		men
10,000 m		men
80 m hurdles				women
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men
3000 m steeplechase		men
4×100 m relay		men		women
4×400 m relay		men
Road events
Marathon		men
20 km walk		men
50 km walk		men
Field events
Long jump		men		women
Triple jump		men
High jump		men		women
Pole vault		men
Shot put		men		women
Discus throw		men		women
Javelin throw		men		women
Hammer throw		men
Combined events
Pentathlon				women
Decathlon		men

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.

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.

First round, heat 1

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Antonia Munkacsi	Hungary	54.4 seconds OR
2	Tilly van der Made	Netherlands	54.8 seconds
3	Betty Cuthbert	Australia	56.0 seconds
4	Joy Grieveson	Great Britain	56.8 seconds
5	Ogawa Kiyoko	Japan	57.6 seconds
6	Stephie D'Souza	India	58.0 seconds
7	Erna Maisack	United Team of Germany	58.6 seconds
8	Aldaanish Ramazan	Mongolia	1:00.8

First round, heat 2

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Maria Itkina	Soviet Union	54.9 seconds
2	Margret Buscher	United Team of Germany	55.3 seconds
3	Una Morris	Jamaica	55.3 seconds
4	Maeve Kyle	Ireland	55.4 seconds
5	Janell Smith	United States	55.5 seconds
6	Patricia Kippax	Great Britain	55.5 seconds
7	Abigal Hoffman	Canada	55.9 seconds
8	Samroey Charanggool	Thailand	1:04.0

First round, heat 3

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Ann Packer	Great Britain	53.1 seconds OR
2	Judy Amoore	Australia	53.8 seconds
3	Evelyne Lebret	France	54.8 seconds
4	Gertrud Schmidt	United Team of Germany	55.1 seconds
5	Olga Kazi	Hungary	56.5 seconds
6	M. Rajamani	Malaysia	57.8 seconds
7	Han Myung Hee	South Korea	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	Ann Packer	Great Britain	52.7 seconds OR
2	Betty Cuthbert	Australia	53.8 seconds
3	Antonia Munkacsi	Hungary	54.0 seconds
4	Evelyne Lebret	France	54.5 seconds
5	Joy Grieveson	Great Britain	54.8 seconds
6	Una Morris	Jamaica	54.9 seconds
7	Margret Buscher	United Team of Germany	55.2 seconds
8	Ogawa Kiyoko	Japan	57.1 seconds

Semifinal 2

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Judy Amoore	Australia	53.3 seconds
2	Maria Itkina	Soviet Union	53.5 seconds
3	Tilly van der Made	Netherlands	54.1 seconds
4	Gertrud Schmidt	United Team of Germany	54.2 seconds
5	Patricia Kippax	Great Britain	54.4 seconds
6	Janell Smith	United States	54.5 seconds
7	Maeve Kyle	Ireland	55.3 seconds
—	Olga Kazi	Hungary	Did not start

Final

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Betty Cuthbert	Australia	52.0 seconds OR
2	Ann Packer	Great Britain	52.2 seconds
3	Judy Amoore	Australia	53.4 seconds
4	Antonia Munkacsi	Hungary	54.4 seconds
5	Maria Itkina	Soviet Union	54.6 seconds
6	Tilly van der Made	Netherlands	55.2 seconds
7	Gertrud Schmidt	United Team of Germany	55.4 seconds
8	Evelyne Lebret	France	55.5 seconds

References

• Official Report