Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metres

Women's 800 metres at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Venue	Olympic Stadium, Munich, West Germany
Date	31 August 1972 & 3 September 1972
Competitors	38 from 28 nations
Winning time	1:58.55 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Hildegard Falck File:Flag of Germany.svg West Germany 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Nijolė Sabaitė File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soviet Union 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Gunhild Hoffmeister File:Flag of East Germany.svg East Germany

These are the official results of the Women's 800 metres event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The competition was held on 31 of August and 3 of September. The favorite coming into the Olympics was West German champion and world record holder Hildegard Falck. In the 1971 West German Championships she became the first woman to officially better two minutes. She was the pre Olympic favorite to win the gold on home soil, the rest of the field was wide open to claim the other podium spots. In the final, like the men's race, the favorite was the slowest starter, though Falck quickly moved into sixth place. By the end of the first lap the field was tightly packed, Ileana Silai, Vera Nikolić and Svetla Zlateva and three abreast for the lead at 58.31. At 500 metres, Falck decided to move and slightly accelerated away from Nijolė Sabaitė and Gunhild Hoffmeister but found herself blocked behind the wall. The wall began to break up during the final turn, Silai the first to start fading allowing Falck some running room, coming off the turn she accelerated into the lead. Pulling away from the field Falck relaxed to cruise across the finish line. Sabaitė made a late run at her from a huge deficit, as she came into view, Falck had to accelerate a little to hold her off for a narrow win. Hoffmeister followed Sabaitė in passing the pack for bronze, but was too far behind to be competitive for higher medals. While the 2 minute barrier had been broken barely a year before this race, five women finished under 2 minutes here, with the remainder of the field bunched within .17 of a second of 2 minutes. While the world record was 1:58.5 (hand timed at the time), this electronically timed 1:58.55 was intrinsically faster, but that conversion was not included in record keeping. Zlateva would improve the world record the following year.

Heats

The top three runners in each heat (blue) and the next fastest (pink), advanced to the semifinal round.

Heat one

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Lane	Time
1	Hildegard Falck	File:Flag of Germany.svg West Germany	6	2:01.52
2	Madeline Manning	File:Flag of the United States.svg United States	7	2:02.63
3	Cheryl Peasley	File:Flag of Australia.svg Australia	8	2:03.11
4	Mary Tracey-Purcell	File:Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg Ireland	3	2:04.18
5	Martine Duvivier	File:Flag of France.svg France	2	2:04.87
6	Donata Govoni	File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy	1	2:05.24
7	Elisabeth Neuenschwander	File:Civil Ensign of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Switzerland	4	2:06.89
-	Arda Kalpakian	File:Flag of Lebanon.svg Lebanon	5	DNS

Heat two

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Lane	Time	Notes
1	Svetla Zlateva	File:Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg Bulgaria	7	1:58.93	OR
2	Vera Nikolić	File:Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg Yugoslavia	6	1:59.62
3	Sylvia Schenk	File:Flag of Germany.svg West Germany	1	2:02.22
4	Elżbieta Skowrońska	File:Flag of Poland (1928-1980).svg Poland	2	2:03.26
5	Jenny Orr	File:Flag of Australia.svg Australia	8	2:04.46
6	Cheryl Toussaint	File:Flag of the United States.svg United States	4	2:08.90
7	Claire Walsh	File:Flag of Ireland (3-2).svg Ireland	3	2:08.98
8	Heather Gooding	File:Flag of Barbados.svg Barbados	5	2:19.69

Heat three

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Lane	Time
1	Nijolė Sabaitė	File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soviet Union	4	2:01.50
2	Abby Hoffman	File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada	5	2:01.57
3	Maria Sykora	File:Flag of Austria.svg Austria	7	2:01.82
4	Gisela Ellenberger	File:Flag of Germany.svg West Germany	1	2:01.92
5	Maritta Politz	File:Flag of East Germany.svg East Germany	3	2:02.40
6	Margaret Coomber	File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain	2	2:02.99
7	Emesia Chizunga	File:Flag of Malawi.svg Malawi	6	2:19.22
-	Malak El-Nasser	File:Flag of Syria (1972–1980).svg Syria	8	DNF

Heat four

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Lane	Time
1	Ileana Silai	File:Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg Romania	5	2:01.42
2	Annelise Damm Olesen	File:Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark	3	2:01.77
3	Magdolna Kulcsár	File:Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary	4	2:02.35
4	Patricia Cropper	File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain	8	2:03.55
5	Vasilena Amzina	File:Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg Bulgaria	2	2:05.92
6	Marleen Verheuen	File:Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Belgium	7	2:09.13
7	Raissa Ruus	File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soviet Union	1	2:11.18
8	Lee Chiu-hsia	File:Flag of the Republic of China.svg Republic of China	6	2:11.81

Heat five

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Lane	Time
1	Nina Morhunova	File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soviet Union	6	2:02.64
2	Gunhild Hoffmeister	File:Flag of East Germany.svg East Germany	7	2:03.15
3	Rosemary Stirling	File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain	1	2:03.64
4	Sue Haden	File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand	4	2:04.86
5	Chereno Maiyo	File:Flag of Kenya.svg Kenya	5	2:04.86
6	Wendy Koenig	File:Flag of the United States.svg United States	3	2:08.71
7	Malika Hadky	File:Flag of Morocco.svg Morocco	2	2:12.46

Semifinals

Top four in each heat advanced to the final round.

Heat one

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Lane	Time
1	Nijolė Sabaitė	File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soviet Union	3	2:00.90
2	Gunhild Hoffmeister	File:Flag of East Germany.svg East Germany	7	2:01.21
3	Abby Hoffman	File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada	4	2:01.37
4	Vera Nikolić	File:Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg Yugoslavia	1	2:01.49
5	Sylvia Schenk	File:Flag of Germany.svg West Germany	2	2:01.50
6	Annelisa Damm Olesen	File:Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark	5	2:04.19
7	Cheryl Peasley	File:Flag of Australia.svg Australia	8	2:04.56
-	Magdolna Kulcsár	File:Flag of Hungary.svg Hungary	6	DNS

Heat two

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Lane	Time
1	Hildegard Falck	File:Flag of Germany.svg West Germany	5	2:01.41
2	Svetla Zlateva	File:Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg Bulgaria	3	2:01.66
3	Ileana Silai	File:Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg Romania	8	2:01.85
4	Rosemary Stirling	File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain	6	2:02.36
5	Madeline Manning	File:Flag of the United States.svg United States	2	2:02.39
6	Maria Sykora	File:Flag of Austria.svg Austria	4	2:02.44
7	Gisela Ellenberger	File:Flag of Germany.svg West Germany	7	2:02.97
8	Nina Morhunova	File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soviet Union	1	2:04.93

Final

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Lane	Time	Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s)	Hildegard Falck	File:Flag of Germany.svg West Germany	1	1:58.55	OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s)	Nijolė Sabaitė	File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Soviet Union	5	1:58.65
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)	Gunhild Hoffmeister	File:Flag of East Germany.svg East Germany	6	1:59.19
4	Svetla Zlateva	File:Flag of Bulgaria (1971-1990).svg Bulgaria	2	1:59.72
5	Vera Nikolić	File:Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg Yugoslavia	8	1:59.98
6	Ileana Silai	File:Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg Romania	3	2:00.04
7	Rosemary Stirling	File:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg Great Britain	4	2:00.15
8	Abby Hoffman	File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada	7	2:00.17

Key: OR = Olympic record; DNS = did not start; DNF = did not finish

External links

• Official report