400 metres, Women
| Date | 4 – 6 August 1984 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California |
| Participants | 28 from 18 countries |
The top 400 metre runners in the world were the 1980 gold medalist, Marita Koch (GDR), who had also won the 1978 and 1982 European titles, and Czechoslovakian Jarmila Kratochvílová, who had won the 1983 World Championship. But the Soviet-led boycott kept them from competing and the field was much weaker as a result. In their absence the favorites were Americans Valerie Brisco-Hooks and Chandra Cheeseborough, who had won the US Olympic Trials, with Briscoe-Hooks second. In the final, the early leader was Britain’s Kathy Smallwood-Cook, but Brisco-Hooks took over at 250 metres, and maintained her lead to become the first woman from a non-East European nation to break 49 seconds. The Soviets sponsored a competing meet at around the time of the Los Angeles Olympics and Koch won that in 48.16, with the first five runners breaking 50.
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | R1 | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 364 | Valerie Brisco-Hooks |  USA | 51.42 (1 h4) | 51.14 (1 h1) | 48.83 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 370 | Chandra Cheeseborough | USA | 50.94 (1 h1) | 50.32 (1 h2) | 49.05 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 153 | Kathy Cook |  GBR | 52.64 (2 h2) | 51.49 (2 h1) | 49.43 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 54 | Marita Payne |  CAN | 52.89 (2 h3) | 50.94 (3 h2) | 49.91 (4) | |||
| 5 | 389 | Lillie Leatherwood | USA | 52.05 (1 h3) | 50.83 (2 h2) | 50.25 (5) | |||
| 6 | 139 | Ute Thimm |  FRG | 52.53 (3 h4) | 51.03 (4 h2) | 50.37 (6) | |||
| 7 | 41 | Charmaine Crooks | CAN | 52.04 (2 h1) | 51.53 (3 h1) | 50.45 (7) | |||
| 8 | 264 | Ruth Waithera |  KEN | 52.53 (2 h4) | 52.21 (4 h1) | 51.56 (8) | |||
| 5 h1 r2/3 | 195 | June Griffith |  GUY | 52.27 (4 h1) | 52.39 (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r2/3 | 48 | Molly Killingbeck | CAN | 52.77 (3 h2) | 51.72 (5 h2) | – | |||
| 6 h1 r2/3 | 247 | Cathy Rattray |  JAM | 52.78 (4 h2) | 53.23 (6 h1) | – | |||
| 6 h2 r2/3 | 173 | Michelle Scutt | GBR | 52.89 (4 h4) | 52.07 (6 h2) | – | |||
| 7 h1 r2/3 | 308 | Marie Mathieu |  PUR | 53.27 (4 h3) | 53.69 (7 h1) | – | |||
| 7 h2 r2/3 | 245 | Ilrey Oliver | JAM | 52.19 (3 h1) | 52.14 (7 h2) | – | |||
| 8 h2 r2/3 | 148 | Helen Barnett | GBR | 52.94 (3 h3) | 52.26 (8 h2) | – | |||
| 1 h2 r1/3 | 117 | Gaby Bußmann | FRG | 52.42 (1 h2) | – (DNS h1) | – | |||
| 5 h1 r1/3 | 135 | Heike Schulte-Mattler | FRG | 52.77 (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 5 h2 r1/3 | 439 | Gail Emmanuel |  TTO | 54.07 (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 5 h3 r1/3 | 206 | Emma Tahapary |  INA | 55.82 (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 5 h4 r1/3 | 241 | Cynthia Green | JAM | 53.61 (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 6 h1 r1/3 | 234 | Erica Rossi |  ITA | 53.04 (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 6 h2 r1/3 | 282 | Elanga Buala |  PNG | 56.82 (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 6 h3 r1/3 | 342 | Rewadee Srithoa |  THA | 58.11 (6 h3) | – | – | |||
| 6 h4 r1/3 | 26 | Carlon Blackman |  BAR | 54.26 (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 7 h1 r1/3 | 5 | Jocelyn Joseph |  ANT | 53.63 (7 h1) | – | – | |||
| 7 h2 r1/3 | 183 | Mercy Addy |  GHA | 58.91 (7 h2) | – | – | |||
| 7 h4 r1/3 | 269 | Zeina Mina |  LBN | 59.56 (7 h4) | – | – | |||
| 8 h1 r1/3 | 193 | Patricia Meigham |  GUA | 55.64 (8 h1) | – | – |
Round One (4 August 1984 — 11:00)
Top four in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Chandra Cheeseborough | USA | 50.94 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Charmaine Crooks | CAN | 52.04 | |||
| 3 | 1 | Ilrey Oliver | JAM | 52.19 | |||
| 4 | 5 | June Griffith | GUY | 52.27 | |||
| 5 | 7 | Heike Schulte-Mattler | FRG | 52.77 | |||
| 6 | 8 | Erica Rossi | ITA | 53.04 | |||
| 7 | 6 | Jocelyn Joseph | ANT | 53.63 | |||
| 8 | 3 | Patricia Meigham | GUA | 55.64 |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Gaby Bußmann | FRG | 52.42 | |||
| 2 | 8 | Kathy Cook | GBR | 52.64 | |||
| 3 | 6 | Molly Killingbeck | CAN | 52.77 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Cathy Rattray | JAM | 52.78 | |||
| 5 | 7 | Gail Emmanuel | TTO | 54.07 | |||
| 6 | 4 | Elanga Buala | PNG | 56.82 | |||
| 7 | 5 | Mercy Addy | GHA | 58.91 |
Heat Three
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Lillie Leatherwood | USA | 52.05 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Marita Payne | CAN | 52.89 | |||
| 3 | 7 | Helen Barnett | GBR | 52.94 | |||
| 4 | 8 | Marie Mathieu | PUR | 53.27 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Emma Tahapary | INA | 55.82 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Rewadee Srithoa | THA | 58.11 |
Heat Four
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Valerie Brisco-Hooks | USA | 51.42 | |||
| 2 | 8 | Ruth Waithera | KEN | 52.53 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Ute Thimm | FRG | 52.53 | |||
| 4 | 3 | Michelle Scutt | GBR | 52.89 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Cynthia Green | JAM | 53.61 | |||
| 6 | 7 | Carlon Blackman | BAR | 54.26 | |||
| 7 | 6 | Zeina Mina | LBN | 59.56 |
Semi-Finals (5 August 1984 — 17:35)
Top four in each heat advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Valerie Brisco-Hooks | USA | 51.14 | |||
| 2 | 6 | Kathy Cook | GBR | 51.49 | |||
| 3 | 1 | Charmaine Crooks | CAN | 51.53 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Ruth Waithera | KEN | 52.21 | |||
| 5 | 5 | June Griffith | GUY | 52.39 | |||
| 6 | 8 | Cathy Rattray | JAM | 53.23 | |||
| 7 | 7 | Marie Mathieu | PUR | 53.69 | |||
| 3 | Gaby Bußmann | FRG | – |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Chandra Cheeseborough | USA | 50.32 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Lillie Leatherwood | USA | 50.83 | |||
| 3 | 6 | Marita Payne | CAN | 50.94 | |||
| 4 | 8 | Ute Thimm | FRG | 51.03 | |||
| 5 | 3 | Molly Killingbeck | CAN | 51.72 | |||
| 6 | 4 | Michelle Scutt | GBR | 52.07 | |||
| 7 | 1 | Ilrey Oliver | JAM | 52.14 | |||
| 8 | 7 | Helen Barnett | GBR | 52.26 |
Final (6 August 1984 — 17:20)
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (A) | Reaction Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Valerie Brisco-Hooks | USA | 48.83 | 0.182 | |||
| 2 | 7 | Chandra Cheeseborough | USA | 49.05 | 0.212 | |||
| 3 | 6 | Kathy Cook | GBR | 49.43 | 0.208 | |||
| 4 | 2 | Marita Payne | CAN | 49.91 | 0.251 | |||
| 5 | 8 | Lillie Leatherwood | USA | 50.25 | 0.260 | |||
| 6 | 1 | Ute Thimm | FRG | 50.37 | 0.215 | |||
| 7 | 3 | Charmaine Crooks | CAN | 50.45 | 0.239 | |||
| 8 | 4 | Ruth Waithera | KEN | 51.56 | 0.334 |