Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay

The women's 4 × 100 metres relay event at the 1936 Olympic Games took place on August 8 and August 9. The American team won with a time of 46.9 s after the German team, which had been in the lead, dropped the baton on the final leg.

Results

Heats

Heat 1

Rank Country Competitors Time Notes 1 Harriet Bland, Annette Rogers, Betty Robinson, Helen Stephens 47.1 Q 2 Dorothy Brookshaw, Jeanette Dolson, Hilda Cameron, Aileen Meagher 48.0 Q 3 Kitty ter Braake, Fanny Blankers-Koen, Alida de Vries, Elisabeth Koning 48.4 Q 4 Charlotte Machmer, Johanna Vancura, Grete Neumann, Veronika Kohlbach 49.9

Key: Q = Qualified

Heat 2

Rank Country Competitors Time Notes 1 Emmy Albus, Käthe Krauß, Marie Dollinger, Ilse Dörffeldt 46.4 Q, WR 2 Eileen Hiscock, Violet Olney, Audrey Brown, Barbara Burke 47.5 Q 3 Lidia Bongiovanni, Ondina Valla, Fernanda Bullano, Claudia Testoni 48.6 Q 4 Irja Lipasti, Ebba From, Raili Halttu, Rauni Essman 49.5

Key: Q = Qualified, WR = World record

Final

Rank Country Competitors Time Notes Harriet Bland, Annette Rogers, Betty Robinson, Helen Stephens 46.9 Eileen Hiscock, Violet Olney, Audrey Brown, Barbara Burke 47.6 Dorothy Brookshaw, Jeanette Dolson, Hilda Cameron, Aileen Meagher 47.8 4 Lidia Bongiovanni, Ondina Valla, Fernanda Bullano, Claudia Testoni 48.7 5 Kitty ter Braake, Fanny Blankers-Koen, Alida de Vries, Elisabeth Koning 48.8 Emmy Albus, Käthe Krauß, Marie Dollinger, Ilse Dörffeldt DSQ

Key: DSQ = Disqualified

In the heats, the German team set a world record of 46.4 s.Report: Games of the Olympiad, New York: United States Olympic Committee, 1936, , p. 159. In the final, they built a commanding lead, but their fourth runner, Ilse Dörffeldt, dropped the baton.Bud Greenspan, 100 Greatest Moments in Olympic History, Los Angeles: General Publication Group, 1995, , p. 33.Duff Hart-Davis, Hitler's games: the 1936 Olympics, New York: Harper, 1986, , p. 200. The American team won in 46.9 s.Louise Mead Tricard, American Women's Track and Field: A History, 1895 through 1980, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1996, , p. 227.Reinhard Rürup, ed., 1936, die Olympischen Spiele und der Nationalsozialismus: eine Dokumentation, Berlin: Argon, 1996, , p. 144 Guy Walters, Berlin Games: How Hitler Stole the Olympic Dream, London: Hodder-John Murray, , pp. 268–69, wrongly stating that the time of 46.9 s was half a second faster than the record 46.4.

References