| Final 16:30 | time | +time | L | t.a. | Y | | 1. Fanny Blankers-Koen |  Netherlands | 24.4s OR | | 2 | 24.4 | 30 | | 2. Audrey Williamson |  Great Britain | 25.1s | +0.80 | 5 | 25.2 | 21 | | 4. Mickey Patterson |  United States | 25.2s | +0.86 | 6 | 25.3 | 21 | | 3. Shirley Strickland |  Australia | 25.3e | +0.85 | 3 | 25.3 | 23 | | 5. Margaret Walker | Great Britain | 25.6e | +1.19 | 4 | | 23 | | 6. Daphne Robb-Hasenjäger |  South Africa | 25.7e | +1.25 | 1 | | 19 |
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| | | Venue: Empire Stadium, London. | | 33 competitors from 17 nations. | | First time this event was held! |
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| World Record: 23.6sStanisława Walasiewicz , Poland Warsaw, Poland 4 August 1935 |
Semi-Finals - Thursday 05.08 17:00 | | First 2 from each 2 semi-finals progress to Final. |
| Semi 1 | time | +time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Fanny Blankers-Koen | Netherlands | 24.3s OR | | 24.4 | 30 | | 2. Mickey Patterson | United States | 25.0s | +0.62 | | 21 | | 3. Margaret Walker | Great Britain | 25.3s | +1.02 | | 23 | | 4. Cynthia Thompson |  Jamaica | | +1.27 | | 25 | | 5. Rosine Faugouin |  France | | +1.33 | | 18 | | 6. Joyce King | Australia | | +1.38 | | 27 | | 7. Phyllis Lightbourn-Jones |  Bermuda | | | | 19 |
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| Semi 2 | time | +time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Shirley Strickland | Australia | 24.9ws | | 25.1w | 23 | | 1. Audrey Williamson | Great Britain | 24.9ws | +0.01 | | 21 | | 3. Daphne Robb-Hasenjäger | South Africa | 25.1ws | +0.12 | | 19 | | 4. Sylvia Cheeseman | Great Britain | | +0.38 | | 19 | | 5. Nel Karelse | Netherlands | | +0.58 | | 22 | | 6. Liliane Sprécher | France | | +0.62 | | 22 | | 7. Betty McKinnon | Australia | | +0.75 | | 23 |
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Although Blankers-Koen had not bettered 25 seconds until 1947, she
was the favourite after her 100m triumph, and two runs of 24.2 before
London. Daphne Robb was the fastest in the heats with 25.3, but
Blankers-Koen depleted the opposition’s hopes with 24.3 in the semi-
finals.
Drawn in the tight inside lane in the final, Blankers-Koen overpow-
ered the field, cruising past them on the bend to take a 3m lead at
halfway and flowing away over the rain-soaked track to win by 7m
from Williamson. To put Blankers-Koen’s effort in perspective, her
winning margin was more than twice that of Griffith Joyner in her 1988
win, and easily the largest margin of victory in the history of the event
within an Olympics.
Patterson was officially placed third, but in 1975 an examination of
the photo-finish by ATFS President Bob Sparks showed that Strickland
had finished in the bronze medal position. In 2015 Athletics Australia
appealed again to the IAAF and IOC for Strickland to be awarded an
additional bronze medal.
| Heat 1 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Fanny Blankers-Koen | Netherlands | 25.7s OR | 25.9 | 30 | | 2. Liliane Sprécher | France | 26.0s | | 22 | | 3. Mae Faggs | United States | 26.0s | | 16 | | 4. Melânia Luz |  Brazil | 26.6?s | | 20 | | 5. Phyllis Edness | Bermuda | | | 18 |
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| Heat 2 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Cynthia Thompson | Jamaica | 25.6s OR | 25.7 | 25 | | 2. Sylvia Cheeseman | Great Britain | 25.7s | | 19 | | 3. Diane Foster |  Canada | 26.1s | | 19 | | 4. Helena de Menezes | Brazil | 27.7?s | | 21 |
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| Heat 3 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Joyce King | Australia | 25.9s | 26.1 | 27 | | 2. Phyllis Lightbourn-Jones | Bermuda | 27.0s | | 19 | | 3. Lucila Pini | Brazil | 27.6s | | 17 | | 4. Marie-Thérèse Renard |  Belgium | 28.5?s | | 23 | | -. Olga Šicnerová |  Czechoslovakia | DNF | | 20 |
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| Heat 4 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Daphne Robb-Hasenjäger | South Africa | 25.3s OR | 25.5 | 19 | | 2. Shirley Strickland | Australia | 25.8s | | 23 | | 3. Nell Jackson | United States | 25.8s | | 19 | | 4. Donna Gilmore | Canada | | | | | 5. Alma Butia |  Yugoslavia | | | 19 |
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| Heat 5 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Mickey Patterson | United States | 25.5ws | 25.9w | 21 | | 2. Margaret Walker | Great Britain | 25.8ws | | 23 | | 3. Kathleen Russell | Jamaica | 26.3ws | | 20 | | 4. Ann-Britt Leyman |  Sweden | 26.3?s | | 26 | | 5. Tilly Decker |  Luxembourg | | | 18 | | 6. Betty Kretschmer |  Chile | | | 20 |
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| Heat 6 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Betty McKinnon | Australia | 25.9s | 26.1 | 23 | | 2. Rosine Faugouin | France | 25.9s | | 18 | | 3. Gré de Jongh | Netherlands | 26.2s | | 23 | | 4. Grete Pavlousek |  Austria | | | 24 |
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| Heat 7 | time | t.a. | Y | | 1. Audrey Williamson | Great Britain | 25.4s | 25.6 | 21 | | 2. Nel Karelse | Netherlands | 26.0s | | 22 | | 3. Millie Cheater | Canada | 26.4s | | 20 | | -. Annegret Weller-Schneider | Chile | DQ | | 18 |
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