Jeanette Dolson

Jeanette Dolson took up track and field athletics in the early 1930s and qualified to represent Canada at the 1936 Summer Games by coming in third in the 100 metres at the Olympic trials. At the Games she was eliminated in the semifinals of the 100 m, but advanced to the final of the 4×100 metre relay alongside Dot Brookshaw, Hilda Cameron, and Aileen Meagher. Their time of 48.0 was slower than the Britons, the Americans, and the Germans (who set a world record in their heats), but German runner Ilse Dörffeldt dropped the baton during the final, giving the Canadians an opportunity to capture the bronze medal.

Dolson was even more successful at her next major international tournament, the 1938 British Empire Games, earning her passage by winning the 60 and 100 yard dashes at the trials. At this tournament she won silver in the 110-220-110 yards relay (with Meagher and the non-Olympian Barbara Howard) and bronze in the 100 yards and the 220-110-220-110 yards relay (alongside Howard, Meagher, and the non-Olympian Violet Montgomery). She was also eliminated in the semifinals of the 220 yards. In 1939 her efforts earned her the Velma Springstead Trophy, one of Canada’s annual prizes for its top female athlete. Her career was ended with the onset of World War II and she eventually moved to the United States, where she lived until her death in 2004. She was the youngest and last-surviving member of her bronze medal-winning team.

Personal Best: 100 – 12.0 (1937).