| Final 16:20 Wind 2.8m/s | time | electr | L | | 1. Wilma Rudolph |  United States | 11.0s | 11.18s | 3 | | 2. Dorothy Hyman |  Great Britain | 11.3s | 11.43s | 2 | | 3. Giuseppina Leone |  Italy | 11.3s | 11.48s | 6 | | 4. Marija Itkina |  Soviet Union | 11.4s | 11.54s | 4 | | 5. Catherine Capdevielle |  France | 11.5s | 11.64s | 1 | | 6. Jenny Smart | Great Britain | 11.6s | 11.72s | 5 |
| Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Roma. 65,000. 31 competitors from 19 nations. |
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| World Record: 11.3s Shirley Strickland, Australia Warsaw, Poland 4 August 1955 11.3s Vera Krepkina, Soviet Union Kiev, Soviet Union 13 September 1958 | | Olympic Record: 11.4s Eslisabeth Cuthbert, Australia Melbourne, Australia November 26,1952 23.4s Elisabeth Cuthbert, Australia Melbourne, Australia November 24,1956. |
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| | | First 3 from each Semi advanced to Final. |
| Semi 1 | time | electr | | 1. Wilma Rudolph | United States | 11.3s | 11.41s | | 2. Giuseppina Leone | Italy | 11.6s | 11.71s | | 3. Jenny Smart | Great Britain | 11.8s | 11.89s | | 4. Halina Herrmann |  Poland | 11.8s | 11.93s | | 5. Brunhilde Hendrix |  Germany | 11.9s | 11.99s | | 6. Vera Krepkina | Soviet Union | 12.0s | 12.08s |
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| Semi 2 | time | electr | | 1. Dorothy Hyman | Great Britain | 11.5s | 11.65s | | 2. Marija Itkina | Soviet Union | 11.7s | 11.78s | | 3. Catherine Capdevielle | France | 11.7s | 11.82s | | 4. Barbara Jones | United States | 11.7s | 11.84s | | 5. Teresa Ciepły | Poland | 11.9s | 12.05s | | 6. Marlene Mathews |  Australia | 11.9s | 12.05s |
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Wilma Rudolph clocked 11.5 in the first two rounds, while pre-race
favourites Cuthbert and Mathews-Willard were both encumbered by
injury problems, Cuthbert not making it past the quarter-finals.
Rudolph equalled the world record with 11.3 (11.41) in the first semi-
final, with Britain’s Hyman running 11.5 (11.65) in the other heat.
Rudolph was sufficiently relaxed to fall asleep on a massage table 30
minutes before the final. She dominated the race, amazing and delight-
ing onlookers with her elegance and power in sweeping to a 2.5m win
in an unheard of 11.0 (11.18). Unfortunately the race was aided by a
wind of 2.75, nullifying it for record purposes, but no-one watching
was in any doubt that they had witnessed the fastest run ever by a
woman. Hyman edged veteran Leone for second, with Maria Itkina, the
all-round sprinter from the USSR, half a metre behind the Italian.
| Quarter 1 | time | electr | | 1. Wilma Rudolph | United States | 11.5s | 11.70s | | 2. Vera Krepkina | Soviet Union | 12.0s | 12.14s | | 3. Marlene Mathews | Australia | 12.1s | 12.25s | | 4. Gisela Birkemeyer | Germany | 12.1s | 12.26s | | 5. Eleanor Haslam |  Canada | 12.3s | 12.46s | | 6. Mona Sulaiman |  Philippines | 12.4s | 12.54s | | 7. Valerie Morgan |  New Zealand | 12.5s | 12.66s |
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| Quarter 2 | time | electr | | 1. Marija Itkina | Soviet Union | 11.7s | 11.88s | | 2. Brunhilde Hendrix | Germany | 11.9s | 12.07s? | | 3. Halina Herrmann | Poland | 11.9s | 12.10s | | 4. Patricia Duggan | Australia | 12.2s | 12.32s | | 5. Jean Holmes-Mitchell |  Panama | 12.3s | 12.39s | | 6. Elizabeth Jenner | Great Britain | 12.4s | 12.50s | | 7. Snezhana Kerkova |  Bulgarien | 12.7s | 12.80s |
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| Quarter 3 | time | electr | | 1. Giuseppina Leone | Italy | 12.0s | 12.11s | | 2. Catherine Capdevielle | France | 12.0s | 12.16s | | 3. Jenny Smart | Great Britain | 12.0s | 12.17s | | 4. Martha Hudson | United States | 12.2s | 12.30s | | 5. Olga Šikovec |  Yugoslavia | 12.5s | 12.61s | | 6. Carlota Gooden | Panama | 12.6s | 12.70s | | 7. Nancy Lewington | Canada | 13.1s | 13.23s |
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| Quarter 4 | time | electr | | 1. Dorothy Hyman | Great Britain | 11.6s | 11.77s | | 2. Barbara Jones | United States | 11.9s | 12.02s | | 3. Teresa Ciepły | Poland | 12.0s | 12.14s | | 4. Betty Cuthbert | Australia | 12.0s | 12.18s | | 5. Valerie Jerome | Canada | 12.4s | 12.50s | | 6. Vivi Markussen |  Denmark | 12.4s | 12.56s | | -. H. Raepke | Germany | DNS | |
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| Heat 1 | time | electr | | 1. Giuseppina Leone | Italy | 11.7s | 11.87s | | 2. Barbara Jones | United States | 11.8s | 11.91s | | 3. Eleanor Haslam | Canada | 12.0s | 12.21s | | 4. Elizabeth Jenner | Great Britain | 12.2s | 12.39s | | -. U. Flegel |  Austria | DNS | |
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| Heat 2 | time | electr | | 1. Patricia Duggan | Australia | 11.9s | 12.18s | | 2. Mona Sulaiman | Philippines | 12.1s | 12.40s | | 3. Vivi Markussen | Denmark | 12.2s | 12.53s | | 4. Nancy Lewington | Canada | 12.4s | 12.67s | | -. E. Heldt |  Hungary | DNS |
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| Heat 3 | time | electr | | 1. Marija Itkina | Soviet Union | 11.7s | 11.83s | | 2. Marlene Mathews | Australia | 12.0s | 12.10s | | 3. Olga Šikovec | Yugoslavia | 10.5s | 10.75s | | 4. Carlota Gooden | Panama | 12.2s | 12.36s | | -. A. Munkacsi | Hungary | DNS | |
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| Heat 4 | time | electr | | 1. Jenny Smart | Great Britain | 11.9s | 12.04s | | 2. Betty Cuthbert | Australia | 12.1s | 12.21s | | 3. Valerie Morgan | New Zealand | 12.5s | 12.61s | | 4. Snezhana Kerkova | Bulgarien | 12.6s | 12.66s | | -. A. Stolzova |  Czechoslovakia | DNS | |
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| Heat 5 | time | electr | | 1. Dorothy Hyman | Great Britain | 11.8s | 11.98s | | 2. Gisela Birkemeyer | Germany | 12.2s | 12.31s | | 3. Jean Holmes-Mitchell | Panama | 12.4s | 12.52s | | 4. Valerie Jerome | Canada | 12.5s | 12.58s | | 5. Maeve Kyle |  Ireland | 12.5s | 12.59s | | 6. Ilana Adir |  Israel | 12.9s | 13.04s |
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| Heat 6 | time | electr | | 1. Wilma Rudolph | United States | 11.5s | 11.65s | | 2. Catherine Capdevielle | France | 11.8s | 11.94s | | 3. Halina Herrmann | Poland | 12.0s | 12.13s | | 4. Hannelore Raepke | Germany | 12.3s | 12.45s |
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| Heat 7 | time | electr | | 1. Vera Krepkina | Soviet Union | 11.8s | 11.97s | | 2. Brunhilde Hendrix | Germany | 11.8s | 11.99s | | 3. Teresa Ciepły | Poland | 12.1s | 12.25s | | 4. Martha Hudson | United States | 12.2s | 12.33s | | 5. Aycan Önel |  Turkey | 13.4s | 13.59s |
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