Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metres

Stanisława Walasiewicz (Stella Walsh)'s world record had stood through the war for almost 17 years. The 41 year old Walsh had won the US Championship the year before but did not compete in the Olympics. The defending champion Fanny Blankers-Koen was in Helsinki, but was suffering from skin boils. She did not finish in the 80 metres hurdles the day before after crashing a hurdle. That turned out to be her last competitive race.

In the second heat, Nadezhda Khnykina took down Blankers-Koen's Olympic record. In the next race on the track, Marjorie Jackson equalled the world record of 23.6, with experimental fully automatic timing giving her a 23.73.

The following day, in the first semi-final, Jackson took the world record outright with 23.4 (23.59 automatic). Later that day, in the final, Jackson was given lane 2, the inside lane. Five steps after the gun, she had already made up the stagger on Bertha "Puck" Brouwer in lane 3. From there Jackson continued to pull away, ultimately to a 4-metre victory. On the home stretch, Brouwer found herself in second place, with Khnykina closing ground down the final straight to make it close for the remaining medals. Brouwer, Khnykina and Jackson's Australian teammate Winsome Cripps all getting credited with the same finishing time but Brouwer getting silver and Khnykina bronze.

• Official Olympic Report.