# Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metres

The women's 200 metres sprint event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place on September 4 & 7. The favorite would have been Republic of China's Chi Cheng, who set world records in the 200 meters and 220 yards distances in 1970. She suffered a career ending injury at the end of 1970. An attempted surgery in 1971 failed. The top three ranked women in the world in 1971, were the three women on the podium in Munich -- European Champion Renate Stecher (GDR) who won by 0.05 seconds, Commonwealth Champion Raelene Boyle (AUS), and the defending Champion Irena Szewinska of Poland.

## Heats

Top five in each heat (blue) and the next two fastest (pink) advanced to quarterfinal round.

### Heat 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Alice Anum | Ghana | 6 | 23.15 |
| 2 | Barbara Ferrell | United States | 5 | 23.38 |
| 3 | Rosie Allwood | Jamaica | 1 | 23.56 |
| 4 | Donna Murray | Great Britain | 3 | 23.76 |
| 5 | Juana Mosquera | Colombia | 2 | 24.20 |
| 6 | Carolina Rieuwpassa | Indonesia | 7 | 24.68 |
| - | Irene Fitzner | Argentina | 4 | DNS |

### Heat 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Renate Stecher | East Germany | 2 | 22.96 |
| 2 | Raelene Boyle | Australia | 4 | 23.58 |
| 3 | Nadezhda Besfamilnaya | Soviet Union | 3 | 23.62 |
| 4 | Amelita Alanes | Philippines | 5 | 25.28 |
| 5 | Helen Olaye | Nigeria | 1 | 25.30 |
| 6 | Mabel Saeluzika | Malawi | 6 | 28.29 |
| - | Carmen Valdes | Cuba | 7 | DNS |

### Heat 3

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Annegret Kroniger | West Germany | 4 | 23.37 |
| 2 | Wilma van Gool | Netherlands | 6 | 23.86 |
| 3 | Della Pascoe | Great Britain | 2 | 23.97 |
| 4 | Hannah Afriyie | Ghana | 3 | 24.38 |
| 5 | María Luisa Vilca | Peru | 1 | 24.46 |
| 6 | Josefa Vicent | Uruguay | 7 | 25.09 |
| 7 | Meas Kheng | Khmer Republic | 5 | 25.86 |

### Heat 4

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Ellen Strophal | East Germany | 1 | 23.54 |
| 2 | Pam Greene | United States | 7 | 23.96 |
| 3 | Una Morris | Jamaica | 6 | 23.99 |
| 4 | Pirjo Wilmi | Finland | 3 | 24.16 |
| 5 | Rose Musani | Uganda | 5 | 25.37 |
| 6 | Laura Pierre | Trinidad and Tobago | 4 | 26.32 |
| - | Eva Glesková | Czechoslovakia | 2 | DNS |

### Heat 5

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Irena Szewińska | Poland | 3 | 23.37 |
| 2 | Christiane Krause | West Germany | 7 | 23.51 |
| 3 | Jackie Thompson | United States | 6 | 23.67 |
| 4 | Karoline Käfer | Austria | 1 | 24.42 |
| 5 | Russel Carrero | Nicaragua | 5 | 28.02 |
| - | Silvia Chivas | Cuba | 2 | DNS |
| - | Claudette Powell | Bahamas | 4 | DNS |

### Heat 6

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Marina Sidorova | Soviet Union | 5 | 23.46 |
| 2 | Sylviane Telliez | France | 4 | 23.51 |
| 3 | Christina Heinich | East Germany | 6 | 23.90 |
| 4 | Margaret Critchley | Great Britain | 2 | 24.04 |
| 5 | Marcia Trotman | Barbados | 7 | 24.06 |
| 6 | Beatrice Lungu | Zambia | 1 | 25.11 |
| 7 | Fatima El-Faquir | Morocco | 3 | 25.27 |

## Quarterfinals

Top four in each heat advanced to semifinal round (blue).

### Heat 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Irena Szewińska | Poland | 7 | 22.79 |
| 2 | Nadezhda Besfamilnaya | Soviet Union | 3 | 23.20 |
| 3 | Christina Heinich | East Germany | 6 | 23.23 |
| 4 | Barbara Ferrell | United States | 1 | 23.30 |
| 5 | Una Morris | Jamaica | 5 | 23.62 |
| 6 | Marcia Trotman | Barbados | 2 | 24.00 |
| 7 | Amelita Alanes | Philippines | 4 | 24.98 |
| - | Josefa Vicent | Uruguay | 8 | DNS |

### Heat 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Ellen Strophal | East Germany | 8 | 22.93 |
| 2 | Alice Anum | Ghana | 5 | 22.95 |
| 3 | Wilma van Gool | Netherlands | 2 | 23.22 |
| 4 | Christiane Krause | West Germany | 4 | 23.22 |
| 5 | Della Pascoe | Great Britain | 73 | 23.72 |
| 6 | Juana Mosquera | Colombia | 1 | 24.00 |
| 7 | María Luisa Vilca | Peru | 7 | 24.48 |
| 8 | Rose Musani | Uganda | 6 | 25.28 |

### Heat 3

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Renate Stecher | East Germany | 1 | 23.31 |
| 2 | Rosie Allwood | Jamaica | 7 | 23.33 |
| 3 | Sylviane Telliez | France | 8 | 23.69 |
| 4 | Donna Murray | Great Britain | 6 | 23.69 |
| 5 | Pam Greene | United States | 5 | 23.85 |
| 6 | Karoline Käfer | Austria | 4 | 23.92 |
| 7 | Hannah Afriyie | Ghana | 3 | 24.47 |
| - | Russel Carrero | Nicaragua | 2 | DNS |

### Heat 4

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Raelene Boyle | Australia | 7 | 23.06 |
| 2 | Annegret Kroniger | West Germany | 3 | 23.14 |
| 3 | Jackie Thompson | United States | 4 | 23.22 |
| 4 | Marina Sidorova | Soviet Union | 8 | 23.33 |
| 5 | Pirjo Wilmi | Finland | 5 | 23.68 |
| 6 | Margaret Critchley | Great Britain | 2 | 24.05 |
| 7 | Carolina Rieuwpassa | Indonesia | 1 | 25.03 |
| 8 | Helen Olaye | Nigeria | 6 | 25.09 |

## Semifinals

Top four in each heat advanced to the final round (blue).

### Heat 1

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Ellen Strophal | East Germany | 7 | 22.90 |
| 2 | Raelene Boyle | Australia | 3 | 22.92 |
| 3 | Irena Szewińska | Poland | 6 | 22.92 |
| 4 | Rosie Allwood | Jamaica | 1 | 23.14 |
| 5 | Christiane Krause | West Germany | 2 | 23.17 |
| 6 | Jackie Thompson | United States | 4 | 23.18 |
| 7 | Marina Sidorova | Soviet Union | 8 | 23.40 |
| - | Wilma van Gool | Netherlands | 5 | DNS |

### Heat 2

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Lane | Time |
| 1 | Renate Stecher | East Germany | 8 | 22.83 |
| 2 | Annegret Kroniger | West Germany | 5 | 23.05 |
| 3 | Christina Heinich | East Germany | 6 | 23.28 |
| 4 | Alice Anum | Ghana | 4 | 23.30 |
| 5 | Nadezhda Besfamilnaya | Soviet Union | 1 | 23.31 |
| 6 | Sylviane Telliez | France | 3 | 23.34 |
| 7 | Barbara Ferrell | United States | 2 | 23.39 |
| 8 | Donna Murray | Great Britain | 7 | 24.03 |

## Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Lane | Time | Notes |
| | Renate Stecher | East Germany | 6 | 22.40 | WR |
| | Raelene Boyle | Australia | 4 | 22.45 | |
| | Irena Szewińska | Poland | 5 | 22.74 | |
| 4 | Ellen Strophal | East Germany | 3 | 22.75 | |
| 5 | Christina Heinich | East Germany | 7 | 22.89 | |
| 5 | Annegret Kroniger | West Germany | 1 | 22.89 | |
| 7 | Alice Anum | Ghana | 8 | 22.99 | |
| 8 | Rosie Allwood | Jamaica | 2 | 23.11 | |
Key: WR = world record; DNS = did not start; T = Tie