| | Event type

4 × 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.

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	West Germany	FRG	42.97 (2 h2)	42.81 (1)	Gold
		Christiane Krause • Ingrid Mickler-Becker • Annegret Richter • Heide Rosendahl • Anne Kroniger (DNS) • Elfgard Schittenhelm (DNS)
2	–	East Germany	GDR	42.88 (1 h2)	42.95 (2)	Silver
		Evelin Kaufer • Christina Heinich • Bärbel Struppert • Renate Stecher • Monika Meyer (DNS) • Brigitte Steinhardt (DNS)
3	–	Cuba	CUB	43.67 (1 h1)	43.36 (3)	Bronze
		Marlene Elejalde • Carmen Valdés • Fulgencia Romay • Silvia Chivás
4	–	United States	USA	43.07 (3 h2)	43.39 (4)
		Martha Rae Watson • Mattiline Render • Mildrette Netter • Iris Davis • Barbara Ferrell (DNS) • Pam Greene (DNS)
5	–	Soviet Union	URS	43.77 (2 h1)	43.59 (5)
		Marina Sidorova • Galina Bukharina • Lyudmila Zharkova • Nadezhda Besfamilnaya • Nadezhda Yudina (DNS) • Nadezhda Kolesnikova (DNS)
6	–	Australia	AUS	44.03 (3 h1)	43.61 (6)
		Maureen Caird • Raelene Boyle • Marion Hoffman • Penny Gillies • Pam Kilborn-Ryan • Lyn Tillett (DNS)
7	–	Great Britain	GBR	43.76 (4 h2)	43.71 (7)
		Andrea Lynch • Della Pascoe • Judy Vernon • Anita Neil • Sonia Lannaman (DNS) • Margaret Critchley (DNS)
8	–	Poland	POL	44.19 (4 h1)	44.20 (8)
		Helena Fliśnik • Barbara Bakulin • Urszula Jóźwik • Danuta Jędrejek • Ewa Długołęcka (DNS)
5 h1 r1/2	–	Italy	ITA	44.62 (5 h1)	–
		Maddalena Grassano • Alessandra Orselli • Laura Nappi • Cecilia Molinari • Maria Bonsangue (DNS) • Donata Govoni (DNS)
5 h2 r1/2	–	Bulgaria	BUL	43.95 (5 h2)	–
		Diana Yorgova • Ivanka Valkova • Ivanka Venkova • Yordanka Yankova • Ivanka Koshnicharska (DNS) • Zdravka Trifonova (DNS)
6 h1 r1/2	–	Finland	FIN	44.68 (6 h1)	–
		Tuula Rautanen • Mona-Lisa Strandvall • Pirjo Wilmi • Marika Eklund • Seija Rönn (DNS) • Riitta Salin (DNS)
7 h1 r1/2	–	Nigeria	NGR	45.15 (7 h1)	–
		Emilia Edet • Ashanti Obi • Helen Olaye • Modupe Oshikoya • Beatrice Ewuzie (DNS) • Nnenna Njoku (DNS)
AC h1 r1/2	–	Philippines	PHI	– (DQ h1)	–
		Lucila Salao • Carmen Torres • Aida Mantawel • Amelita Alanes • Susan Taculod (DNS)
AC h2 r1/2	–	Jamaica	JAM	– (DQ h2)	–
		Lelieth Hodges • Vilma Charlton • Carol Cummings • Debbie Byfield • Rosie Allwood (DNS)
AC h2 r1/2	–	Sweden	SWE	– (DQ h2)	–
		Anneli Olsson • Gun Olsson • Karin Lundgren • Linda Haglund • Margaretha Larsson (DNS)

Round One

Date	9 September 1972 — 17:10
Format	Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Pos	Team	NOC	Time (automatic)
1	East Germany	GDR	42.88	Q
2	West Germany	FRG	42.97	Q
3	United States	USA	43.07	Q
4	Cuba	CUB	43.67	Q
5	Great Britain	GBR	43.76	Q
6	Soviet Union	URS	43.77	Q
7	Bulgaria	BUL	43.95
8	Australia	AUS	44.03	Q
9	Poland	POL	44.19	Q
10	Italy	ITA	44.62
11	Finland	FIN	44.68
12	Nigeria	NGR	45.15
DQ	Philippines	PHI	–
DQ	Jamaica	JAM	–
DQ	Sweden	SWE	–

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	–	Cuba	CUB	43.67	Q
Lead-Off	67	Marlene Elejalde		–
2nd Leg	73	Carmen Valdés		–
3rd Leg	71	Fulgencia Romay		–
Anchor	66	Silvia Chivás		–
2	–	Soviet Union	URS	43.77	Q
Lead-Off	359	Marina Sidorova		–
2nd Leg	336	Galina Bukharina		–
3rd Leg	363	Lyudmila Zharkova-Maslakova		–
Anchor	334	Nadezhda Besfamilnaya		–
3	–	Australia	AUS	44.03	Q
Lead-Off	3	Maureen Caird		–
2nd Leg	12	Pam Kilborn-Ryan		–
3rd Leg	5	Marion Hoffman		–
Anchor	2	Raelene Boyle		–
4	–	Poland	POL	44.19	Q
Lead-Off	276	Helena Fliśnik		–
2nd Leg	268	Barbara Bakulin		–
3rd Leg	275	Urszula Jóźwik		–
Anchor	274	Danuta Jędrejek		–
5	–	Italy	ITA	44.62
Lead-Off	214	Maddalena Grassano		–
2nd Leg	217	Alessandra Orselli		–
3rd Leg	216	Laura Nappi		–
Anchor	215	Cecilia Molinari		–
6	–	Finland	FIN	44.68
Lead-Off	78	Tuula Rautanen		–
2nd Leg	81	Mona-Lisa Strandvall-Pursiainen		–
3rd Leg	83	Pirjo Wilmi-Häggman		–
Anchor	77	Marika Eklund-Lindholm		–
7	–	Nigeria	NGR	45.15
Lead-Off	248	Emilia Edet		–
2nd Leg	251	Ashanti Obi		–
3rd Leg	252	Helen Olaye		–
Anchor	253	Modupe Oshikoya		–
DQ	–	Philippines	PHI	–
Lead-Off	265	Lucila Salao		–
2nd Leg	267	Carmen Torres		–
3rd Leg	264	Aida Mantawel		–
Anchor	262	Amelita Alanes		–

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	–	East Germany	GDR	42.88	Q
Lead-Off	134	Evelin Kaufer		–
2nd Leg	130	Christina Heinich		–
3rd Leg	150	Bärbel Struppert		–
Anchor	147	Renate Stecher		–
2	–	West Germany	FRG	42.97	Q
Lead-Off	164	Christiane Krause		–
2nd Leg	169	Ingrid Mickler-Becker		–
3rd Leg	172	Annegret Richter		–
Anchor	173	Heide Rosendahl		–
3	–	United States	USA	43.07	Q
Lead-Off	396	Martha Rae Watson		–
2nd Leg	390	Mattiline Render		–
3rd Leg	387	Mildrette Netter		–
Anchor	370	Iris Davis		–
4	–	Great Britain	GBR	43.76	Q
Lead-Off	105	Andrea Lynch		–
2nd Leg	109	Della James-Pascoe		–
3rd Leg	118	Judy Vernon		–
Anchor	108	Anita Neil		–
5	–	Bulgaria	BUL	43.95
Lead-Off	47	Diana Yorgova		–
2nd Leg	43	Ivanka Valkova		–
3rd Leg	45	Ivanka Venkova		–
Anchor	46	Yordanka Yankova		–
DQ	–	Jamaica	JAM	–
Lead-Off	225	Lelieth Hodges		–
2nd Leg	223	Vilma Charlton		–
3rd Leg	224	Carol Cummings		–
Anchor	222	Debbie Byfield		–
DQ	–	Sweden	SWE	–
Lead-Off	319	Anneli Olsson		–
2nd Leg	320	Gun Olsson		–
3rd Leg	316	Karin Wallgren-Lundgren		–
Anchor	312	Linda Haglund		–

Final Round

Date	10 September 1972 — 15:55

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time (Automatic)
1	–	West Germany	FRG	42.81	=WR
Lead-Off	164	Christiane Krause		–
2nd Leg	169	Ingrid Mickler-Becker		–
3rd Leg	172	Annegret Richter		–
Anchor	173	Heide Rosendahl		–
2	–	East Germany	GDR	42.95
Lead-Off	134	Evelin Kaufer		–
2nd Leg	130	Christina Heinich		–
3rd Leg	150	Bärbel Struppert		–
Anchor	147	Renate Stecher		–
3	–	Cuba	CUB	43.36
Lead-Off	67	Marlene Elejalde		–
2nd Leg	73	Carmen Valdés		–
3rd Leg	71	Fulgencia Romay		–
Anchor	66	Silvia Chivás		–
4	–	United States	USA	43.39
Lead-Off	396	Martha Rae Watson		–
2nd Leg	390	Mattiline Render		–
3rd Leg	387	Mildrette Netter		–
Anchor	370	Iris Davis		–
5	–	Soviet Union	URS	43.59
Lead-Off	359	Marina Sidorova		–
2nd Leg	336	Galina Bukharina		–
3rd Leg	363	Lyudmila Zharkova-Maslakova		–
Anchor	334	Nadezhda Besfamilnaya		–
6	–	Australia	AUS	43.61
Lead-Off	3	Maureen Caird		–
2nd Leg	2	Raelene Boyle		–
3rd Leg	5	Marion Hoffman		–
Anchor	4	Penny Gillies		–
7	–	Great Britain	GBR	43.71
Lead-Off	105	Andrea Lynch		–
2nd Leg	109	Della James-Pascoe		–
3rd Leg	118	Judy Vernon		–
Anchor	108	Anita Neil		–
8	–	Poland	POL	44.20
Lead-Off	276	Helena Fliśnik		–
2nd Leg	268	Barbara Bakulin		–
3rd Leg	275	Urszula Jóźwik		–
Anchor	274	Danuta Jędrejek		–