Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Women's pentathlon


The women's pentathlon was part of the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 16 October and 17 October 1964, with the first three events on 16 October and the last two on 17 October. 20 athletes from 15 nations entered. The 1964 Summer Olympics were the first appearance of the women's pentathlon.
The events of the pentathlon, in order, were:
  1. 80 metre hurdles
  2. Shot put
  3. High jump
  4. Long jump
  5. 200 metres

    Results

First day

80 metre hurdles

Shot put

Press's shot put, more than 2.5 metres further than the nearest competitor's, combined with her hurdles victory to give her a solid lead after two events.

High jump

First day rankings

  1. Irina Press, 3245 points
  2. Galina Bystrova, 3055 points
  3. Mary Elizabeth Peters, 3004 points
  4. Mary Rand, 2917 points
  5. Draga Stamejcic, 2845 points
  6. Pat Winslow, 2790 points
  7. Maria Siziakova, 2786 points
  8. Denise Guenard, 2779 points
  9. Dianne Gerace, 2740 points
  10. Helen Frith, 2738 points
  11. Ingrid Becker, 2722 points
  12. Helga Hoffmann, 2718 points
  13. Nina Hansen, 2711 points
  14. Ulla Flegel, 2670 points
  15. Jennifer Wingerson, 2668 points
  16. Oddrun Hokland, 2583 points
  17. Amelia Hinten, 2541 points
  18. Chi Cheng, 2445 points
  19. Takahashi Miyuki, 2291 points
  20. Lee Hak Ja, 2196 points

    Second day

Long jump

Rand won her second straight event, climbing back up to third place overall after her fall to seventh following the shot put. Press, never having been outside the top four in any event, increased her lead to over 200 points above fellow Soviet Bystrova.

200 metres

Rand won her third straight event to pass Bystrova and take the silver medal. Press, who had won the first two events, had her lowest finish of the pentathlon in sixth place, still winning the gold medal by over 200 points and breaking her own world record by more than 100 points.

Final standings

PlaceAthleteNationPoints
1Irina Press5246 WR
2Mary Rand5035
3Galina Bystrova4956
4Mary Elizabeth Peters4797
5Draga Stamejcic4790
6Helga Hoffmann4737
7Pat Winslow4724
8Ingrid Becker4717
9Nina Hansen4611
10Maria Siziakova4580
11Helen Frith4557
12Denise Guenard4548
13Jennifer Wingerson4514
14Amelia Hinten4466
15Dianne Gerace4445
16Oddrun Hokland4429
17Chi Cheng4229
18Takahashi Miyuki3914
19Lee Hak Ja3649
—Ulla FlegelDid not finish
3476 after 4 events