The women's 200 metres sprint event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place on September 4 & 7. The favorite would have been Republic of China's Chi Cheng, who set world records in the 200 meters and 220 yards distances in 1970. She suffered a career ending injury at the end of 1970. An attempted surgery in 1971 failed. The top three ranked women in the world in 1971, were the three women on the podium in Munich—European Champion Renate Stecher (GDR) who won by 0.05 seconds, Commonwealth Champion Raelene Boyle (AUS), and the defending Champion Irena Szewinska of Poland.
Heats Top five in each heat (blue) and the next two fastest (pink) advanced to quarterfinal round.
Heat 1
Rank Name Nationality Lane Time 1 Alice Anum 6 23.15 2 Barbara Ferrell 5 23.38 3 Rosie Allwood 1 23.56 4 Donna Murray 3 23.76 5 Juana Mosquera 2 24.20 6 Carolina Rieuwpassa 7 24.68 - Irene Fitzner 4 DNS
Heat 2
Rank Name Nationality Lane Time 1 Renate Stecher 2 22.96 2 Raelene Boyle 4 23.58 3 Nadezhda Besfamilnaya 3 23.62 4 Amelita Alanes 5 25.28 5 Helen Olaye 1 25.30 6 Mabel Saeluzika 6 28.29 - Carmen Valdes 7 DNS
Heat 3
Rank Name Nationality Lane Time 1 Annegret Kroniger 4 23.37 2 Wilma van Gool 6 23.86 3 Della Pascoe 2 23.97 4 Hannah Afriyie 3 24.38 5 María Luisa Vilca 1 24.46 6 Josefa Vicent 7 25.09 7 Meas Kheng 5 25.86
Heat 4
Rank Name Nationality Lane Time 1 Ellen Strophal 1 23.54 2 Pam Greene 7 23.96 3 Una Morris 6 23.99 4 Pirjo Wilmi 3 24.16 5 Rose Musani 5 25.37 6 Laura Pierre 4 26.32 - Eva Glesková 2 DNS
Heat 5
Rank Name Nationality Lane Time 1 Irena Szewińska 3 23.37 2 Christiane Krause 7 23.51 3 Jackie Thompson 6 23.67 4 Karoline Käfer 1 24.42 5 Russel Carrero 5 28.02 -Silvia Chivas 2 DNS - Claudette Powell 4 DNS
Heat 6
Rank Name Nationality Lane Time 1 Marina Sidorova 5 23.46 2 Sylviane Telliez 4 23.51 3 Christina Heinich 6 23.90 4 Margaret Critchley 2 24.04 5Marcia Trotman 7 24.06 6 Beatrice Lungu 1 25.11 7 Fatima El-Faquir 3 25.27
Quarterfinals Top four in each heat advanced to semifinal round (blue).
Heat 1
Rank Name Nationality Lane Time 1 Irena Szewińska 7 22.79 2 Nadezhda Besfamilnaya 3 23.20 3 Christina Heinich 6 23.23 4 Barbara Ferrell 1 23.30 5 Una Morris 5 23.62 6 Marcia Trotman 2 24.00 7 Amelita Alanes 4 24.98 - Josefa Vicent 8 DNS
Heat 2
Rank Name Nationality Lane Time 1 Ellen Strophal 8 22.93 2 Alice Anum 5 22.95 3 Wilma van Gool 2 23.22 4Christiane Krause 4 23.22 5 Della Pascoe 73 23.72 6 Juana Mosquera 1 24.00 7 María Luisa Vilca 7 24.48 8 Rose Musani 6 25.28
Heat 3
Rank Name Nationality Lane Time 1 Renate Stecher 1 23.31 2 Rosie Allwood 7 23.33 3 Sylviane Telliez 8 23.69 4 Donna Murray 6 23.69 5 Pam Greene 5 23.85 6 Karoline Käfer 4 23.92 7 Hannah Afriyie 3 24.47 - Russel Carrero 2 DNS
Heat 4
Rank Name Nationality Lane Time 1Raelene Boyle 7 23.06 2 Annegret Kroniger 3 23.14 3 Jackie Thompson 4 23.224 Marina Sidorova 8 23.33 5 Pirjo Wilmi 5 23.68 6 Margaret Critchley 2 24.05 7 Carolina Rieuwpassa 1 25.03 8 Helen Olaye 6 25.09
Semifinals Top four in each heat advanced to the final round (blue).
Heat 1
Rank Name Nationality Lane Time 1 Ellen Strophal 7 22.90 2 Raelene Boyle 3 22.92 3 Irena Szewińska 6 22.92 4 Rosie Allwood 1 23.14 5 Christiane Krause 2 23.17 6 Jackie Thompson 4 23.18 7 Marina Sidorova 8 23.40 - Wilma van Gool 5 DNS
Heat 2
Rank Name Nationality Lane Time 1 Renate Stecher 8 22.83 2 Annegret Kroniger 5 23.05 3 Christina Heinich 6 23.28 4 Alice Anum 4 23.30 5 Nadezhda Besfamilnaya 1 23.31 6 Sylviane Telliez 3 23.34 7 Barbara Ferrell 2 23.39 8 Donna Murray 7 24.03
Final Rank Name Nationality Lane Time Notes Renate Stecher 6 22.40 WR Raelene Boyle 4 22.45 Irena Szewińska 5 22.74 4 Ellen Strophal 3 22.75 5 Christina Heinich 7 22.89 Annegret Kroniger 1 22.89 7 Alice Anum 8 22.99 8 Rosie Allwood 2 23.11 Key: WR = world record; DNS = did not start; T = Tie
References
External links Official report