The Women's 200 metres at the 1952 Summer Olympics took place on July 25 (heats) and July 26 (final) at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Australian athlete Marjorie Jackson, who had already won the final in the 100 metres event, earned a second gold medal while setting two world records along the way.

Summary Stanisława Walasiewicz (Stella Walsh)'s world record had stood through the war for almost 17 years. The 41 year old Walsh had won the US Championship the year before but did not compete in the Olympics. The defending champion Fanny Blankers-Koen was in Helsinki, but was suffering from skin boils. She did not finish in the 80 metres hurdles the day before after crashing a hurdle. That turned out to be her last competitive race.

In the second heat, Nadezhda Khnykina took down Blankers-Koen's Olympic record. In the next race on the track, Marjorie Jackson equalled the world record of 23.6, with experimental fully automatic timing giving her a 23.73.

The following day, in the first semi-final, Jackson took the world record outright with 23.4 (23.59 automatic). Later that day, in the final, Jackson was given lane 2, the inside lane. Five steps after the gun, she had already made up the stagger on Bertha "Puck" Brouwer in lane 3. From there Jackson continued to pull away, ultimately to a 4-metre victory. On the home stretch, Brouwer found herself in second place, with Khnykina closing ground down the final straight to make it close for the remaining medals. Brouwer, Khnykina and Jackson's Australian teammate Winsome Cripps all getting credited with the same finishing time but Brouwer getting silver and Khnykina bronze.

Results

Heats The first round was held on July 25. The first two runners from each heat qualified for the semifinal.

Heat 1 Rank Name Nationality Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Sylvia Cheeseman 24.9 25.03 2 Ursula Knab 25.0 25.26 3 Tzvetana Berkovska 25.2 25.49 4 Gladys Erbetta 25.6 25.83 5 Flora Kazantseva 25.7 25.92 6 Maria Arndt 25.9 26.29

Heat 2 Rank Name Nationality Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Nadezhda Khnykina 24.3 24.47 , 2 Helga Klein 24.6 24.83 3 Deyse de Castro 25.0 25.22 4 Frances O'Halloran 25.2 25.45 5 Grietje de Jongh 25.2 25.48 6 Ema Konrad 25.8 26.04

Heat 3 Rank Name Nationality Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Marjorie Jackson 23.6 23.73 , WR 2 Catherine Hardy 24.8 24.91 3 Patricia Devine 25.1 25.25 4 Anne-Marie Lousteau 25.5 25.78 5 Olga Gyarmati 25.5 25.77 6 Vera Martelli 26.1 26.53 7 Mary D'Souza 26.3 26.80

Heat 4 Rank Name Nationality Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Bertha Brouwer 24.6 24.81 2 Marcelle Gabarrus 25.3 25.49 3 Ann Johnson 25.3 25.59 4 Adriana Millard 25.4 25.58 5 Graviola Ewing 26.9 27.02 – Maria Sander – – Maria Musso –

Heat 5 Rank Name Nationality Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Eulalia Szwajkowska 25.5 25.60 2 Eleanor McKenzie 25.5 25.66 3 Alexandria Sicoe 25.6 25.82 4 Lilian Heinz 25.8 26.00 5 Pirkko Länsivuori 27.5 27.66 – Dolores Dwyer – – Shirley Strickland –

Heat 6 Rank Name Nationality Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Daphne Hasenjager 24.4 24.58 2 Winsome Cripps 24.4 24.54 3 Mae Faggs 24.5 24.71 4 Hyacinth Walters 25.4 25.59 – Sonja Prétôt – – Jorun Tangen –

Heat 7 Rank Name Nationality Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Yevgeniya Sechenova 25.4 25.46 2 Luella Law 25.7 25.82 3 Klára Soós 25.8 26.05 4 Genowefa Minicka 25.9 26.17 – Lilián Buglia – – Fanny Blankers-Koen –

Semifinals The semifinals were held on July 26. The first three runners from each heat qualified to the final.

Heat 1 Rank Name Nationality Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Marjorie Jackson 23.4 23.59 , WR 2 Bertha Brouwer 24.3 24.41 3 Daphne Hasenjager 24.4 24.60 4 Sylvia Cheeseman 24.7 24.97 5 Yevgeniya Sechenova 25.2 25.32 6 Luella Law 25.3 25.63 7 Ursula Knab 25.5 25.76

Heat 2 Rank Name Nationality Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes 1 Nadezhda Khnykina 24.1 24.16 2 Winsome Cripps 24.3 24.47 3 Helga Klein 24.4 24.65 4 Catherine Hardy 24.7 24.93 5 Eleanor McKenzie 25.1 25.30 6 Eulalia Szwajkowska 25.2 25.45 7 Marcelle Gabarrus 25.3 25.46

Final Rank Name Nationality Time (hand) Time (automatic) Notes Marjorie Jackson 23.7 23.89 Bertha Brouwer 24.2 24.25 Nadezhda Khnykina 24.2 24.37 4 Winsome Cripps 24.2 24.40 5 Helga Klein 24.6 24.72 6 Daphne Hasenjager 24.6 24.72

References

External links Official Olympic Report.