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

Women's 4 × 100 metres relay at the Games of the XI Olympiad
Dates	August 8, 1936 (heats), August 9, 1936 (final)
Competitors	from 8 nations
Teams	8
Winning time	46.9
Medalists
Harriet Bland Annette Rogers Betty Robinson Helen Stephens   United States Eileen Hiscock Violet Olney Audrey Brown Barbara Burke   Great Britain Dorothy Brookshaw Mildred Dolson Hilda Cameron Aileen Meagher   Canada
←  1932 1948  →

The women's 4 × 100 metres relay event at the 1936 Olympic Games took place on August 8 and August 9. ^[1] 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	United States	Harriet Bland, Annette Rogers, Betty Robinson, Helen Stephens	47.1	Q
2	Canada	Dorothy Brookshaw, Jeanette Dolson, Hilda Cameron, Aileen Meagher	48.0	Q
3	Netherlands	Kitty ter Braake, Fanny Blankers-Koen, Alida de Vries, Elisabeth Koning	48.4	Q
4	Austria	Charlotte Machmer, Johanna Vancura, Grete Neumann, Veronika Kohlbach	49.9

Key: Q = Qualified

Heat 2

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

Key: Q = Qualified, WR = World record

Final

Rank	Country	Competitors	Time	Notes
	United States	Harriet Bland, Annette Rogers, Betty Robinson, Helen Stephens	46.9
	Great Britain	Eileen Hiscock, Violet Olney, Audrey Brown, Barbara Burke	47.6
	Canada	Dorothy Brookshaw, Jeanette Dolson, Hilda Cameron, Aileen Meagher	47.8
4	Italy	Lidia Bongiovanni, Ondina Valla, Fernanda Bullano, Claudia Testoni	48.7
5	Netherlands	Kitty ter Braake, Fanny Blankers-Koen, Alida de Vries, Elisabeth Koning	48.8
	Germany	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. ^[2] In the final, they built a commanding lead, but their fourth runner, Ilse Dörffeldt, dropped the baton. ^{[3] [4]} The American team won in 46.9 s. ^{[4] [5] [6] [7]}

References

1. "Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Women's 4 × 100 metres Relay". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
2. Report: Games of the Olympiad, New York: United States Olympic Committee, 1936, OCLC   17760969, p. 159.
3. Bud Greenspan, 100 Greatest Moments in Olympic History, Los Angeles: General Publication Group, 1995, ISBN   9781881649663, p. 33.
4. Duff Hart-Davis, Hitler's games: the 1936 Olympics, New York: Harper, 1986, ISBN   9780060155544, p. 200.
5. Louise Mead Tricard, American Women's Track and Field: A History, 1895 through 1980, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1996, ISBN   9780786402199, p. 227.
6. Reinhard Rürup, ed., 1936, die Olympischen Spiele und der Nationalsozialismus: eine Dokumentation, Berlin: Argon, 1996, ISBN   9783870243500, p. 144 (in German)
7. Guy Walters, Berlin Games: How Hitler Stole the Olympic Dream, London: Hodder-John Murray, ISBN   978-0-7195-6783-4, pp. 268–69, wrongly stating that the time of 46.9 s was half a second faster than the record 46.4.