| Final 17:15 | time | autom | L | | 1. Elizabeth Cuthbert |  Australia | 23.4s | 23.55s | 5 | | 2. Christina Stubnick |  Germany | 23.7s | 23.89s | 6 | | 3. Marlene Mathews | Australia | 23.8s | 24.10s | 1 | | 4. Norma Croker | Australia | 24.0s | 24.22s | 4 | | 5. June Paul |  Great Britain | 24.3s | 24.30s | 2 | | 6. Gisela Kohler | Germany | 24.3s | 24.68s | 3 |
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| | Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground 120,000. 27 competitors from 13 nations. |
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| World Record: 23.2s Elizabeth Cuthbert, Australia Sydney, Australia, September 16, 1956 | | Olympic Record: 23.4s Marjorie Jackson, Australia Helsinki, Finland. July 26,1952 |
| Semi 1 | time | | 1. Elizabeth Cuthbert | Australia | 23.6s | | 2. Christina Stubnick | Germany | 23.9s | | 3. Norma Croker | Australia | 24.3s | | 4. Maria Itkina |  Soviet Union | 24.3s | | 5. Jean Eileen Scrivens | Great Britain | 24.4s | | 6. Barbara Lerczak |  Poland | 25.2s |
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| Semi 2 | time | | 1. June Paul | Great Britain | 24.2s | | 2. Marlene Mathews | Australia | 24.3s | | 3. Gisela Kohler | Germany | 24.3s | | 4. Heather Armitage | Great Britain | 24.7s | | 5. Mae Faggs |  United States | 24.8s | | 6. Vera Iougova | Soviet Union | 24.9s |
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Cuthbert emerged as a world beater two months before the Games,
improving her best by 0.7 to set a world record of 23.2. The only runner
to duck below 24 seconds in the preliminaries, Cuthbert set herself up
as favourite with times of 23.5 (23.60) and 23.6 (23.75), with June Paul
next fastest at 23.8 (24.00).
In the final Cuthbert led by a metre off the curve and won by three
times that margin from Stubnick and Mathews to equal the Olympic
record, though the time was actually 0.04 seconds quicker than
Jackson’s 23.4/23.59 from the Helsinki semis.
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Heats - Thursday, 29th November 15:20 |
| Heat 1 | time | | 1. Elizabeth Cuthbert | Australia | 23.5s | | 2. Mae Faggs | United States | 24.9s | | 3. Diane Elaine Mathesson |  Canada | 25.7s | | 4. Mary Beatrice Klass |  Singapore | 26.3s | | 5. Maeve Kyle |  Ireland | 26.4s |
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| Heat 2 | time | | 1. Maria Itkina | Soviet Union | 24.1s | | 2. Gisela Kohler | Germany | 24.4s | | 3. Wilma Rudolf | United States | 24.6s | | 4. Genowefa Minicka | Poland | 25.0s |
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| Heat 3 | time | | 1. Christina Stubnick | Germany | 24.5s | | 2. Norma Croker | Australia | 24.9s | | 3. Giuseppina Leone |  Italy | 25.6s | | 4. Meredith Lorraine Ellis | United States | 26.3s |
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| Heat 4 | time | | 1. June Paul | Great Britain | 23.8s | | 2. Vera Iougova | Soviet Union | 24.9s | | 3. Letizia Bertoni | Italy | 25.2s | | 4. Claudette Masdammer |  Guyana | 25.4s |
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| Heat 5 | time | | 1. Heather Armitage | Great Britain | 24.8s | | 2. Barbara Lerczak | Poland | 24.8s | | 3. Simone Henry |  France | 25.0s | | 4. Eleanor Haslam |  Canada | 25.3s | | 5. Olga Kocheleva | Soviet Union | 25.3s |
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| Heat 6 | time | | 1. Marlene Mathews | Australia | 24.0s | | 2. Jean Eileen Scrivens | Great Britain | 24.3s | | 3. Inge Fuhrmann | Germany | 24.7s | | 4. Micheline Fluchot | France | 24.9s | | 5. Maureen Rever | Canada | 26.1s |
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