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Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres

The Women's 400 metres competition at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada was held at the Olympic Stadium on 25–29 July.[1]

Women's 400 metres
at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
VenueOlympic Stadium
Date25–29 July
Competitors40 from 19 nations
Winning time49.29 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Irena Szewińska
 Poland
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Christina Lathan
 East Germany
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ellen Streidt
 East Germany
← 1972
1980 →

The winning margin was an impressive 1.23 seconds, which as of 2023 remains the only time the women's Olympic 400 metres has been won by more than a second.

Competition format

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The Women's 400m competition consisted of heats (Round 1), quarterfinals, semifinals and a final. The five fastest competitors from each race in the heats plus the next two fastest overall qualified for the Quarterfinals. The four fastest competitors from each of the Quarterfinal races qualified for the Semifinals, where again the four fastest runners from each heat, advanced to the final.

Records

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Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows:

World record   Irena Szewińska (POL) 49.75 Bydgoszcz, Poland 22 June 1976
Olympic record   Monika Zehrt (GDR) 51.08 Munich, West Germany 7 September 1972

Results

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Round 1

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Qual. rule: first 5 of each heat (Q) plus the two fastest times (q) qualified.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Christina Brehmer   East Germany 52.45 Q
2 Verona Bernard-Elder   Great Britain 52.60 Q
3 Rita Wilden   West Germany 53.08 Q
4 Lorna Forde   Barbados 53.93 Q
5 Rachelle Campbell   Canada 54.54 Q

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Debra Sapenter   United States 52.33 Q
2 Donna Hartley   Great Britain 52.75 Q
3 Marita Koch   East Germany 52.78 Q
4 Regina Berg   Belgium 53.66 Q
5 Silvia Hollmann   West Germany 53.73 Q
6 Helen Blake   Jamaica 53.93
7 Ileana Hocking   Puerto Rico 57.85

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Ellen Streidt   East Germany 52.56 Q
2 Christiane Wildschek   Austria 52.65 Q
3 Judy Canty   Australia 52.88 Q
4 Marilyn Neufville   Jamaica 52.93 Q
5 Rosine Wallez   Belgium 52.94 Q
6 Jelica Pavličić   Yugoslavia 54.11

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Sheila Ingram   United States 51.83 Q
2 Nataliya Sokolova   Soviet Union 52.45 Q
3 Irena Szewińska   Poland 52.75 Q
4 Joyce Yakubowich   Canada 53.35 Q
5 Gladys Taylor   Great Britain 53.46 Q
6 Marika Lindholm   Finland 53.64 q
7 Célestine N'Drin   Ivory Coast 54.13

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Rosalyn Bryant   United States 52.01 Q
2 Riitta Salin   Finland 52.57 Q
3 Lyudmila Aksyonova   Soviet Union 52.90 Q
4 Bethanie Nail   Australia 52.98 Q
5 Ruth Williams-Simpson   Jamaica 54.07 Q
6 Helen Ritter   Liechtenstein 58.52

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Nadezhda Ilyina   Soviet Union 51.97 Q
2 Verna Burnard   Australia 52.10 Q
3 Dagmar Fuhrmann   West Germany 52.58 Q
4 Pirjo Häggman   Finland 52.73 Q
5 Margaret Stride   Canada 53.21 Q
6 Rita Bottiglieri   Italy 53.37 q
7 Rose-Marie Gauthier   Haiti 1:13.27

Quarterfinals

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Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Sheila Ingram   United States 51.31 Q
2 Ellen Streidt   East Germany 51.33 Q
3 Pirjo Häggman   Finland 51.65 Q
4 Lyudmila Aksyonova   Soviet Union 51.73 Q
5 Dagmar Fuhrmann   West Germany 52.02
6 Judy Canty   Australia 52.65
7 Lorna Forde   Barbados 53.62
8 Rachelle Campbell   Canada 54.16

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Nataliya Sokolova   Soviet Union 51.63 Q
2 Christina Brehmer   East Germany 51.67 Q
3 Verna Burnard   Australia 51.79 Q
4 Rita Wilden   West Germany 52.41 Q
5 Gladys Taylor   Great Britain 53.71
6 Marika Lindholm   Finland 54.07
7 Margaret Stride   Canada 55.02
— Marilyn Neufville   Jamaica DNS

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Debra Sapenter   United States 51.23 Q
2 Nadezhda Ilyina   Soviet Union 51.32 Q
3 Bethanie Nail   Australia 51.71 Q
4 Christiane Wildschek   Austria 52.25 Q
5 Verona Bernard-Elder   Great Britain 52.70
6 Rosine Wallez   Belgium 53.04
7 Silvia Hollmann   West Germany 53.77
8 Ruth Williams-Simpson   Jamaica 53.88

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Riitta Salin   Finland 51.62 Q
2 Rosalyn Bryant   United States 51.74 Q
3 Marita Koch   East Germany 51.87 Q
4 Irena Szewińska   Poland 52.00 Q
5 Donna Hartley   Great Britain 52.29
6 Rita Bottiglieri   Italy 52.51
7 Regina Berg   Belgium 53.14
8 Joyce Yakubowich   Canada 53.14

Semifinals

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Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Irena Szewińska   Poland 50.48 Q OR
2 Ellen Streidt   East Germany 50.51 Q
3 Sheila Ingram   United States 50.90 Q
4 Riitta Salin   Finland 51.26 Q
5 Bethanie Nail   Australia 51.44
6 Lyudmila Aksyonova   Soviet Union 51.55
7 Christiane Wildschek   Austria 52.20
— Marita Koch   East Germany DNS

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Rosalyn Bryant   United States 50.62 Q
2 Christina Brehmer   East Germany 50.86 Q
3 Pirjo Häggman   Finland 51.03 Q
4 Debra Sapenter   United States 51.34 Q
5 Nadezhda Ilyina   Soviet Union 51.42
6 Verna Burnard   Australia 51.71
7 Rita Wilden   West Germany 51.82
8 Nataliya Sokolova   Soviet Union 51.95

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  Irena Szewińska   Poland 49.28 WR
  Christina Brehmer   East Germany 50.51
  Ellen Streidt   East Germany 50.55
4 Pirjo Häggman   Finland 50.56
5 Rosalyn Bryant   United States 50.65
6 Sheila Ingram   United States 50.90
7 Riitta Salin   Finland 50.98
8 Debra Sapenter   United States 51.66

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games: Women's 400 metres". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2017.
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