Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Women's long jump

Video on YouTube Official Video @1:07:34
Video on YouTube Amateur film

The women's long jump was an event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. The qualification mark was set at 5.70 metres. Seven athletes didn't surpass that distance in the morning heats.

Summary

In the final, the three medalists separated from the rest of the field on their first attempts, just as they had in qualifying. Elżbieta Krzesińska, who had set the world record three months earlier, jumped 6.20m, Nadezhda Khnykina-Dvalishvili went 6.00 meters exactly and 16 year old Willye White jumped 5.96m. In the second round, Krzesińska equalled her world record 6.35 m (20 ft 10 in). In the third round, White jumped 6.06m to move into silver position. On her fifth attempt Khnykina-Dvalishvili edged into silver with a 6.07m jump. On her final attempt, White jumped 6.09m to take the silver for good. 16 years later, White was still a finalist in 1972.

Final classification

RANK	NAME ATHLETE	DISTANCE
	Elżbieta Krzesińska (POL)	6.35 m =WR
	Willye White (USA)	6.09 m
	Nadezhda Khnykina-Dvalishvili (URS)	6.07 m
4.	Erika Fisch (EUA)	5.89 m
5.	Marthe Lambert (FRA)	5.88 m
6.	Valentina Shaprunova (URS)	5.85 m
7.	Beverly Weigel (NZL)	5.85 m
8.	Nancy Borwick (AUS)	5.82 m
9.	Maria Kusion (POL)	5.79 m
10.	Helga Hoffmann (EUA)	5.73 m
11.	Olga Gyarmati (HUN)	5.66 m
12.	Genowefa Minicka (POL)	5.64 m
—	Dorothy Kozak (CAN)	DNQ
—	Sheila Hoskin (GBR)	DNQ
—	Erica Willis (AUS)	DNQ
—	Yoshie Takahashi (JPN)	DNQ
—	Margaret Johnson (AUS)	DNQ
—	Margaret Matthews (USA)	DNQ
—	Thelma Hopkins (GBR)	DNQ

External links

• Official Report
• Results