# Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Women's 800 metres

The women's 800 metres middle distance event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place between September 6 and September 7. This was the return of the event for the first time since 1928.
Dixie Willis had the best time in qualifying, thus the Olympic record, though Lyudmila Lysenko (née Shevtsova) had set the world record a month earlier in Moscow. In the final, Willis took the race out, marked by Shevtsova. By the final straightaway, Brenda Jones was also with Shevtsova and looking fast challenging Willis for the lead. Suddenly Willis stepped on the curb and fell off the track into the infield. Shevtsova edged into the lead and dipped at the finish to equal her own world record and take the gold in 2:04.3. Jones was electronically timed at being .08 behind though electronic timing would not become official for another 17 years. Ursula Donath was the lucky (somewhat unified) German who was a step behind the top three when Willis exited to get the bronze. Less than two years later, Wilis would improve the world record by three seconds.

## Results
### Heats

The top two runners in each of the four heats (blue) and the next fastest one (pink) advanced to the final round.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Antje Gleichfeld | United Team of Germany | 2:11.05 | OR |
| 2 | Brenda Jones | Australia | 2:11.14 | |
| 3 | Zinaida Matistovich | Soviet Union | 2:11.57 | |
| 4 | Maryvonne Dupureur | France | 2:12.42 | |
| 5 | Diane Charles | Great Britain | 2:14.24 | |
| 6 | Zofia Walasek | Poland | 2:16.44 | |
| 7 | Lee Hak-ja | South Korea | 2:28.4 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ursula Donath | United Team of Germany | 2:07.92 | OR |
| 2 | Beata Żbikowska | Poland | 2:09.57 | |
| 3 | Florica Grecescu | Romania | 2:10.10 | |
| 4 | Olga Kazi | Hungary | 2:11.07 | |
| 5 | Gilda Jannaccone | Italy | 2:13.72 | |
| 6 | Phyllis Perkins | Great Britain | 2:15.41 | |
| - | Pat Daniels | United States | | DQ |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| 1 | Lyudmila Lysenko | Soviet Union | 2:09.31 |
| 2 | Gizella Sasvári-Csóka | Hungary | 2:09.77 |
| 3 | Krystyna Nowakowska | Poland | 2”09.81 |
| 4 | Eleanor Haslam | Canada | 2:10.17 |
| 5 | Bedřiška Kulhavá | Czechoslovakia | 2:10.23 |
| 6 | Gerda Kraan | Netherlands | 2:10.71 |
| 7 | Nicole Goullieux | France | 2:13.53 |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Dixie Willis | Australia | 2:06.03 | OR |
| 2 | Joy Jordan | Great Britain | 2:07.29 | |
| 3 | Vera Kummerfeldt | United Team of Germany | 2:07.34 | |
| 4 | Yekaterina Parlyuk | Soviet Union | 2:07.71 | |
| 5 | Ine ter Laak-Spijk | Netherlands | 2:10.36 | |
| 6 | Gül Çiray | Turkey | 2:11.55 | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | Lyudmila Lysenko | Soviet Union | 2:04.50 | WR |
| | Brenda Jones | Australia | 2:04.58 | |
| | Ursula Donath | United Team of Germany | 2:05.73 | |
| 4 | Vera Kummerfeldt | United Team of Germany | 2:06.07 | |
| 5 | Antje Gleichfeld | United Team of Germany | 2:06.63 | |
| 6 | Joy Jordan | Great Britain | 2:07.95 | |
| 7 | Gizella Sasvári-Csóka | Hungary | 2:08.11 | |
| 8 | Beata Żbikowska | Poland | 2:11.91 | |
| - | Dixie Willis | Australia | | DNF |
Key: WR = world record; OR = Olympic record; DNF = did not finish; DQ = disqualified