# Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Women's 80 metres hurdles

The women's 80 metres hurdles was the only women's hurdle race in the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 18 October and 19 October 1964. 31 athletes from 20 nations entered, with 4 not starting the first round. The first round was held on 18 October, with the semifinals and final on 19 October. The 1965 film Tokyo Olympiad by Kon Ichikawa shows amazingly great detail of the preliminaries, preparation, final and medal ceremony surrounding this event. The slow motion study of the final shows Yoda Ikuko getting a fast start. Joining Ikuko in the lead is Teresa Ciepły. Rosie Bonds crashed the second hurdle and is awkward the rest of the race. By the third hurdle Pam Kilborn has overtaken Ikuko and Ciepły for the lead. Karin Balzer and Irina Press were close behind. Over the course of the final five hurdles, Balzer and Press edged closer as Ikuko lost a little ground. Ciepły, Kilborn and Balzer landing at virtually the same moment and Press inches behind. On the run in, Balzer was able to gain just enough ground to take the gold over a straining Ciepły.

## Results
### First round

The top four runners in each of the 4 heats advanced.

#### Heat 1

| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| 1 | Karin Balzer | United Team of Germany | 10.7 seconds |
| 2 | Galina Bystrova | Soviet Union | 10.9 seconds |
| 3 | Rose Hart | Ghana | 11.3 seconds |
| 4 | Snejana Kerkova | Bulgaria | 11.5 seconds |
| 5 | Lorraine Dunn | Panama | 11.5 seconds |
| — | Amy Snider | Canada | Disqualified |
| — | Amelia Hinten | Netherlands | Did not start |

#### Heat 2

| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| 1 | Irina Press | Soviet Union | 10.7 seconds |
| 2 | Pat Pryce | Great Britain | 10.8 seconds |
| 3 | Avis Mcintosh | New Zealand | 10.8 seconds |
| 4 | Gundula Diel | United Team of Germany | 10.9 seconds |
| 5 | Cherrie Sherrard | United States | 11.0 seconds |
| 6 | Marlene Canguio | France | 11.0 seconds |
| 7 | Chi Cheng | Taiwan | 11.1 seconds |
| 8 | Sirkka Norrlund | Finland | 11.2 seconds |

#### Heat 3

There was a strong wind behind the runners; the official report does not credit Piątkowska with equalling the Olympic record of 10.6 seconds.
| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| 1 | Maria Piątkowska | Poland | 10.6 seconds |
| 2 | Pam Kilborn | Australia | 10.7 seconds |
| 3 | Tatyana Talysheva | Soviet Union | 10.9 seconds |
| 4 | Lacey O'Neal | United States | 10.9 seconds |
| 5 | Carmen Smith | Jamaica | 11.8 seconds |
| 6 | Yeh Chu Mei | Taiwan | 12.1 seconds |
| — | Zenta Kopp | United Team of Germany | Did not start |
| — | Mary Rand | Great Britain | Did not start |

#### Heat 4

| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| 1 | Rosie Bonds | United States | 10.6 seconds |
| 2 | Yoda Ikuko | Japan | 10.7 seconds |
| 3 | Teresa Ciepły | Poland | 10.7 seconds |
| 4 | Draga Stamejčič | Yugoslavia | 10.8 seconds |
| 5 | Jenny Wingerson | Canada | 11.1 seconds |
| 6 | Inge Aigner | Austria | 11.2 seconds |
| 7 | Mary Musani | Uganda | 12.9 seconds |
| — | Denise Guenard | France | Did not start |

### Semifinals

The top four runners in each semifinal advanced to the final.

#### Semifinal 1

| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| 1 | Pam Kilborn | Australia | 10.6 seconds =OR |
| 2 | Teresa Ciepły | Poland | 10.7 seconds |
| 3 | Irina Press | Soviet Union | 10.8 seconds |
| 4 | Rosie Bonds | United States | 10.8 seconds |
| 5 | Avis Mcintosh | New Zealand | 10.9 seconds |
| 6 | Tatyana Talysheva | Soviet Union | 10.9 seconds |
| 7 | Gundula Diel | United Team of Germany | 11.0 seconds |
| 8 | Snejana Kerkova | Bulgaria | 11.4 seconds |

#### Semifinal 2

| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| 1 | Karin Balzer | United Team of Germany | 10.6 seconds =OR |
| 2 | Yoda Ikuko | Japan | 10.7 seconds |
| 3 | Draga Stamejčič | Yugoslavia | 10.7 seconds |
| 4 | Maria Piątkowska | Poland | 10.7 seconds |
| 5 | Pat Pryce | Great Britain | 10.7 seconds |
| 6 | Galina Bystrova | Soviet Union | 10.8 seconds |
| 7 | Leahseneth O'Neal | United States | 10.9 seconds |
| 8 | Rose Hart | Ghana | 11.1 seconds |

### Final

Balzer, Ciepły, and Kilborn are not credited by the official report with tying the world record of 10.5 seconds (and breaking the 10.6 second Olympic record) due to the wind advantage. They finished in one of the closest endings to an Olympic final ever, with Balzer defeating Ciepły by about one-hundredth of a second and Kilborn by two one-hundredths.
| Place | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| | Karin Balzer | United Team of Germany | 10.5 seconds |
| | Teresa Ciepły | Poland | 10.5 seconds |
| | Pam Kilborn | Australia | 10.6 seconds |
| 4 | Irina Press | Soviet Union | 10.6 seconds |
| 5 | Ikuko Yoda | Japan | 10.7 seconds |
| 6 | Maria Piątkowska | Poland | 10.7 seconds |
| 7 | Draga Stamejčič | Yugoslavia | 10.8 seconds |
| 8 | Rosie Bonds | United States | 10.8 seconds |