| | Event type
4 x 100 metres Relay, Women
| Date | 9 – 10 September 1972 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Olympiastadion, Olympiapark, München |
| Participants | 61 from 15 countries |
At the 1971 European Championships this event had been won by West Germany, with the GDR second, and Poland third. The two German teams were drawn in the same heat in the opening round, and East Germany now prevailed, though narrowly. In the final, Evelyn Kaufer put the GDR ahead on the opening leg, but West Germany pulled slightly ahead as Heide Rosendahl received the baton for the anchor leg. The 1972 long jump gold medalist, Rosendahl held off Renate Stecher, who had won the 100 and 200 gold medals, and brought the gold medal to the FRG by one metre.
Round One (9 September 1972 — 17:10)
Top four in each heat advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (A) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Cuba |  CUB | 43.67 | |||||||||
| Marlene Elejalde • Carmen Valdés • Fulgencia Romay • Silvia Chivás | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | Soviet Union |  URS | 43.77 | |||||||||
| Marina Sidorova • Galina Bukharina • Lyudmila Zharkova • Nadezhda Besfamilnaya | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Australia |  AUS | 44.03 | |||||||||
| Maureen Caird • Pam Kilborn-Ryan • Marion Hoffman • Raelene Boyle | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Poland |  POL | 44.19 | |||||||||
| Helena Fliśnik • Barbara Bakulin • Urszula Jóźwik • Danuta Jędrejek | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Italy |  ITA | 44.62 | |||||||||
| Maddalena Grassano • Alessandra Orselli • Laura Nappi • Cecilia Molinari | |||||||||||||
| 6 | – | Finland |  FIN | 44.68 | |||||||||
| Tuula Rautanen • Mona-Lisa Strandvall • Pirjo Wilmi • Marika Eklund | |||||||||||||
| 7 | – | Nigeria |  NGR | 45.15 | |||||||||
| Emilia Edet • Ashanti Obi • Helen Olaye • Modupe Oshikoya | |||||||||||||
| – | Philippines |  PHI | – | ||||||||||
| Lucila Salao • Carmen Torres • Aida Mantawel • Amelita Alanes | |||||||||||||
Heat Two
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (A) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | East Germany |  GDR | 42.88 | |||||||||
| Evelin Kaufer • Christina Heinich • Bärbel Struppert • Renate Stecher | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | West Germany |  FRG | 42.97 | |||||||||
| Christiane Krause • Ingrid Mickler-Becker • Annegret Richter • Heide Rosendahl | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | United States |  USA | 43.07 | |||||||||
| Martha Rae Watson • Mattiline Render • Mildrette Netter • Iris Davis | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | Great Britain |  GBR | 43.76 | |||||||||
| Andrea Lynch • Della Pascoe • Judy Vernon • Anita Neil | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Bulgaria |  BUL | 43.95 | |||||||||
| Diana Yorgova • Ivanka Valkova • Ivanka Venkova • Yordanka Yankova | |||||||||||||
| – | Jamaica |  JAM | – | ||||||||||
| Lelieth Hodges • Vilma Charlton • Carol Cummings • Debbie Byfield | |||||||||||||
| – | Sweden |  SWE | – | ||||||||||
| Anneli Olsson • Gun Olsson • Karin Lundgren • Linda Haglund | |||||||||||||
Final (10 September 1972 — 15:55)
| Pos | Nr | Team | NOC | Time (A) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | West Germany | FRG | 42.81 | |||||||||
| Christiane Krause • Ingrid Mickler-Becker • Annegret Richter • Heide Rosendahl | |||||||||||||
| 2 | – | East Germany | GDR | 42.95 | |||||||||
| Evelin Kaufer • Christina Heinich • Bärbel Struppert • Renate Stecher | |||||||||||||
| 3 | – | Cuba | CUB | 43.36 | |||||||||
| Marlene Elejalde • Carmen Valdés • Fulgencia Romay • Silvia Chivás | |||||||||||||
| 4 | – | United States | USA | 43.39 | |||||||||
| Martha Rae Watson • Mattiline Render • Mildrette Netter • Iris Davis | |||||||||||||
| 5 | – | Soviet Union | URS | 43.59 | |||||||||
| Marina Sidorova • Galina Bukharina • Lyudmila Zharkova • Nadezhda Besfamilnaya | |||||||||||||
| 6 | – | Australia | AUS | 43.61 | |||||||||
| Maureen Caird • Raelene Boyle • Marion Hoffman • Penny Gillies | |||||||||||||
| 7 | – | Great Britain | GBR | 43.71 | |||||||||
| Andrea Lynch • Della Pascoe • Judy Vernon • Anita Neil | |||||||||||||
| 8 | – | Poland | POL | 44.20 | |||||||||
| Helena Fliśnik • Barbara Bakulin • Urszula Jóźwik • Danuta Jędrejek | |||||||||||||