Ann Packer Wins 800m Gold For Great Britain - Tokyo 1964 Olympics | Tokyo
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Don't miss out on everything Olympic! Click here for all highlights, behind-the-scenes and more! http://go.olympic.org/watch?p=yt&teaser=a Classic Olympic Highlights from the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games as Ann Packer wins the women's 800m gold medal for Great Britain. Subscribe to the Olympic channel: http://bit.ly/1dn6AV5 Despite being a very versatile athlete, at the Tokyo 1964 Games, Ann Packer decided to concentrate her efforts on the 400m and then, almost as an after-thought, entered the 800m, another event in which she had little experience but lots of potential. Packer set a European record in the 400m final, but had to be content with a silver medal behind the Australian Betty Cuthbert, who had sprinted clear and held on, despite Packer closing in the final stages. The British athlete turned now to the longer distance, but was not confident of matching that medal-winning performance. She could finish only fifth in the opening heat, scraping into the next round, and was then third in her semi-final. Feeling tired, and lacking confidence, Packer considered missing the final entirely to go shopping. But she was inspired by her fiancé, athlete Robbie Brightwell, who had finished a disappointing fourth in the men's 400m final and was despondent on missing out on a medal. And so, to cheer him up, Packer decided to race anyway. The race was led from the start by the French athlete Maryvonne Dupureur, who broke away from the pack and held first place for most of its distance. Behind her, though, Packer moved up from eighth, to sixth, to third and then overtook Dupureur with 70 metres to go, holding on to win in a new world record time. "It was so easy, I could not believe I had won," said Packer afterwards. "I knew nothing about the event and that probably helped." It was a triumph that appeared to set up this exceptional athlete for a glittering sporting future. Instead, Packer retired from competition at the age of just 22. She married Robbie - who had won his own medal with a silver in the 4x400m relay - and they had three sons - one became a 400m runner, the other two became professional footballers. Find more about the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games: http://www.olympic.org/tokyo-1964-summer-olympics
Comments
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Patrick Stewart sent me here
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Wish our athletes still wore those classic colours as well!
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2:01 is world class even today.1964 cinder track. 1964 shoes. 1964 training knowledge.Easily she gives any of todays' women a run for their money if she had those advantages.
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Great athletic performance and thrilling filmmaking! The entire event covered in one single unbroken shot. Amazing! A candle lit for the camera operator who shot this.
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Magnificent Olympics for Ann
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Amazing performance and with such little fuss at the end! So different to today.
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Near lack of commentary wonderful compared to nowadays when the BBC finds it necessary to take at least two dozen commentators to any Meet. "Pretty little thing" ha ha you'll not get away with that nowadays.
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Anne Packer... simply wonder
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she is very beautiful and elegant.
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Go Ann!!!
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When Ann came to win in the end a huge smile appeared on my face!
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So this gal, who had virtually no prior experience running the 800, enters the race on a whim and wins an Olympic gold medal and breaks the world record? LOL, just shows how much the sport has evolved over the past several decades. Also the absence of any east African runners in an event like this is something not likely to be seen for generations to come.
That said, her time was 2:01.1, but I'd be interested to know her split times. It was surely a negative split, another rarity in the modern 800. -
Wow 2:01 for a women back in 1964 is pretty good.
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Anne Packer the 400m runner 🏃 with a huge burst of speed.
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Ann was in a lousy position with 200 metres to go, but the last 100 was very impressive and I liked her form too.
The commentator was proper old school though. "Inside her, a very pretty little girl..." Just imagine Steve Cram saying that on the BBC today! -
What happened at 1:34? Was there a fire?
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Thank you "Olympics" for bringing this film to us
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'And on the inside of her, a pretty little girl' lol
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I know what you mean, but Jesse Owens(black) did that in 1932-1936 already. He pissed off Hitler by winning the 100m at Berlin 1936 and 3 other gold medals, which made Hitler leave the stadium (allegedly). He still holds the record for most world records set within 1 hour (4 in 45min, May 25 1935, aged 21).
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makes you wonder what Ann Packer could have done had she not retired at 22