Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres

The women's 400 metres was the second-longest of the four women's track races in the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 15 October, 16 October, and 17 October 1964. 23 athletes from 17 nations entered. The first round was held on 15 October, the semifinals on 16 October, and the final on 17 October. The 1964 Summer Olympics were the first to feature the women's 400 metres.

Results

First round

The top five runners in each of the 3 heats advanced, as well as the next fastest runner from across the heats.

Heat 1

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Antónia Munkácsi	Template:FlagIOC	54.4 seconds OR
2	Tilly van der Made	Template:FlagIOC	54.8 seconds
3	Betty Cuthbert	Template:FlagIOC	56.0 seconds
4	Joy Grieveson	Template:FlagIOC	56.8 seconds
5	Kiyoki Ogawa	Template:FlagIOC	57.6 seconds
6	Stephie D'Souza	Template:FlagIOC	58.0 seconds
7	Erna Maisack	Template:FlagIOC	58.6 seconds
8	Ramazangiin Aldaa-nysh	Template:FlagIOC	1:00.8

Heat 2

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Maria Itkina	Template:FlagIOC	54.9 seconds
2	Margret Buscher	Template:FlagIOC	55.3 seconds
3	Una Morris	Template:FlagIOC	55.3 seconds
4	Maeve Kyle	Template:FlagIOC	55.4 seconds
5	Janell Smith	Template:FlagIOC	55.5 seconds
6	Patricia Kippax	Template:FlagIOC	55.5 seconds
7	Abigal Hoffman	Template:FlagIOC	55.9 seconds
8	Samruay Charonggool	Template:FlagIOC	1:04.0

Heat 3

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Ann Packer	Template:FlagIOC	53.1 seconds OR
2	Judy Amoore	Template:FlagIOC	53.8 seconds
3	Evelyne Lebret	Template:FlagIOC	54.8 seconds
4	Gertrud Schmidt	Template:FlagIOC	55.1 seconds
5	Olga Kazi	Template:FlagIOC	56.5 seconds
6	Mary Rajamani	Template:FlagIOC	57.8 seconds
7	Han Myeong-hui	Template:FlagIOC	58.7 seconds

Semifinals

The fastest four runners in each of the two semifinals advanced to the final.

Semifinal 1

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Ann Packer	Template:FlagIOC	52.7 seconds OR
2	Betty Cuthbert	Template:FlagIOC	53.8 seconds
3	Antónia Munkácsi	Template:FlagIOC	54.0 seconds
4	Evelyne Lebret	Template:FlagIOC	54.5 seconds
5	Joy Grieveson	Template:FlagIOC	54.8 seconds
6	Una Morris	Template:FlagIOC	54.9 seconds
7	Margret Buscher	Template:FlagIOC	55.2 seconds
8	Ogawa Kiyoko	Template:FlagIOC	57.1 seconds

Semifinal 2

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Judy Amoore	Template:FlagIOC	53.3 seconds
2	Maria Itkina	Template:FlagIOC	53.5 seconds
3	Tilly van der Made	Template:FlagIOC	54.1 seconds
4	Gertrud Schmidt	Template:FlagIOC	54.2 seconds
5	Patricia Kippax	Template:FlagIOC	54.4 seconds
6	Janell Smith	Template:FlagIOC	54.5 seconds
7	Maeve Kyle	Template:FlagIOC	55.3 seconds
—	Olga Kazi	Template:FlagIOC	Did not start

Final

Place	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Betty Cuthbert	Template:FlagIOC	52.0 seconds OR
2	Ann Packer	Template:FlagIOC	52.2 seconds
3	Judy Amoore	Template:FlagIOC	53.4 seconds
4	Antónia Munkácsi	Template:FlagIOC	54.4 seconds
5	Maria Itkina	Template:FlagIOC	54.6 seconds
6	Tilly van der Made	Template:FlagIOC	55.2 seconds
7	Gertrud Schmidt	Template:FlagIOC	55.4 seconds
8	Evelyne Lebret	Template:FlagIOC	55.5 seconds