4 x 100 metres Relay, Women

Marjorie Jackson had won the 100/200 sprint double and led the favored Australian team, which had two other finalists from the 100, and the 80 metre hurdle champion, Shirley Strickland. In the heats they ran 46.1 to break the world record. In the final, Australia led by two metres on the final curve, run by Winsome Cripps. The exchange to Jackson was clean initially. But Cripps brought up a knee and knocked the baton from Jackson’s hand. To her credit, Jackson caught the baton on the bounce, and ran on, but the delay proved disastrous, and Australia could only finish fifth. Germany then had the lead at the start of the anchor leg, but Cathy Hardy (USA) gained two metres to edge out Marga Petersen of Germany, both teams running world records of 45.9 – although the automatic time had the US with 46.14 to 46.18 for Germany. Pearl Jones ran the second leg for the United States, aged only 15 years, 123 days on the day of the final, and she remains the youngest athlete to have won an Olympic athletics gold medal.