| | Event type

4 x 400 metres Relay, Women

Date	9 – 10 September 1972
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympiastadion, Olympiapark, München
Participants	56 from 14 countries

This was the first time that women ran a 4x400 relay at the Olympics. The East Germans were the world record holders, having set the mark in 1971 and breaking it earlier in 1972. In the first round, the GDR again broke the world record, posting 3:28.8. In the final they broke that record by over five seconds, posting 3:22.95 to win by over 20 metres from the United States, with West Germany winning the bronze medal.

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	East Germany	GDR	3:28.48 (1 h2)	3:22.95 (1)	Gold	WR
		Dagmar Käsling • Rita Kühne • Helga Seidler • Monika Zehrt • Waltraud Dietsch (DNS) • Brigitte Rohde (DNS)
2	–	United States	USA	3:28.63 (2 h2)	3:25.15 (2)	Silver
		Mable Fergerson • Madeline Manning • Cheryl Toussaint • Kathy Hammond • Debra Edwards (DNS) • Willie Fergerson (DNS)
3	–	West Germany	FRG	3:29.32 (1 h1)	3:26.51 (3)	Bronze
		Anette Rückes • Inge Bödding • Hildegard Falck • Rita Wilden • Christel Frese (DNS) • Erika Weinstein (DNS)
4	–	France	FRA	3:30.02 (2 h1)	3:27.52 (4)
		Martine Duvivier • Colette Besson • Bernadette Martin • Nicole Duclos • Ghislaine Barnay (DNS) • Éliane Jacq (DNS)
5	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:30.05 (4 h2)	3:28.74 (5)
		Verona Bernard • Janet Simpson • Janette Roscoe • Rosemary Stirling • Pat Cropper (DNS) • Maureen Tranter (DNS)
6	–	Australia	AUS	3:29.99 (3 h2)	3:28.84 (6)
		Allison Ross-Edwards • Raelene Boyle • Cheryl Peasley • Charlene Rendina • Jenny Orr (DNS) • Judy Amoore-Pollock (DNS)
7	–	Finland	FIN	3:30.84 (4 h1)	3:29.44 (7)
		Marika Eklund • Pirjo Wilmi • Tuula Rautanen • Mona-Lisa Strandvall • Seija Rönn (DNS) • Riitta Salin (DNS)
8	–	Soviet Union	URS	3:30.23 (3 h1)	3:31.89 (8)
		Lyubov Runtso • Olga Syrovatskaya • Nataliya Pechonkina-Chistyakova • Nadezhda Kolesnikova • Valentina Chichayeva (DNS) • Nijolė Sabaitė (DNS)
5 h1 r1/2	–	Cuba	CUB	3:32.44 (5 h1)	–
		Asunción Acosta • Marcela Chibás • Beatriz Castillo 1 • Aurelia Pentón • Carmen Trustée (DNS)
5 h2 r1/2	–	Jamaica	JAM	3:31.89 (5 h2)	–
		Ruth Williams • Una Morris • Rosie Allwood • Yvonne Saunders • Marilyn Neufville (DNS) • Yvonne White (DNS)
6 h1 r1/2	–	Sweden	SWE	3:32.62 (6 h1)	–
		Lotta Malmström • Elisabeth Randerz • Ann Larsson • Karin Lundgren • Margaretha Larsson (DNS)
6 h2 r1/2	–	Austria	AUT	3:42.19 (6 h2)	–
		Christiane Casapicola • Maria Sykora • Gerlinde Massing • Karoline Käfer • Helga Kapfer (DNS)
7 h1 r1/2	–	Barbados	BAR	3:44.45 (7 h1)	–
		Lorna Forde • Barbara Bishop • Marcia Trotman • Heather Gooding • Freida Nicholls-Davy (DNS)
AC h2 r1/2	–	Poland	POL	– (DNF h2)	–
		Bożena Zientarska • Krystyna Kacperczyk • Elżbieta Skowrońska • Danuta Piecyk • Danuta Pańkowska (DNS) • Irena Szewińska (DNS)

Round One (9 September 1972 — 15:10)

Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	Time (A)	Split (Pos)
1	–	West Germany	FRG	3:29.32		QOR
	174	Anette Rückes		53.1	53.1 (1)
	156	Inge Bödding		52.9	1:46.0 (2)
	159	Hildegard Falck		51.5	2:37.5 (1)
	181	Rita Wilden		51.8	3:29.3 (1)
2	–	France	FRA	3:30.02		Q
	90	Martine Duvivier		53.5	53.5 (=3)
	86	Colette Besson		51.9	1:45.4 (1)
	92	Bernadette Martin		53.3	2:38.7 (3)
	89	Nicole Duclos		51.3	3:30.0 (2)
3	–	Soviet Union	URS	3:30.23		Q
	356	Lyubov Runtso		53.5	53.5 (=3)
	360	Olga Syrovatskaya		52.6	1:46.1 (3)
	338	Nataliya Pechonkina-Chistyakova		53.0	2:39.1 (4)
	347	Nadezhda Kolesnikova		51.1	3:30.2 (3)
4	–	Finland	FIN	3:30.84		Q
	81	Mona-Lisa Strandvall		55.2	55.2 (6)
	83	Pirjo Wilmi		53.0	1:48.2 (6)
	78	Tuula Rautanen		50.1	2:38.3 (2)
	77	Marika Eklund		52.5	3:30.8 (4)
5	–	Cuba	CUB	3:32.44
	63	Asunción Acosta		53.3	53.3 (2)
	65	Marcela Chibás		53.9	1:47.2 (4)
	72	Beatriz Castillo		53.5	2:40.7 (5)
	69	Aurelia Pentón		51.7	3:32.4 (5)
6	–	Sweden	SWE	3:32.62
	317	Lotta Malmström		53.8	53.8 (5)
	321	Elisabeth Randerz		54.2	1:48.0 (5)
	314	Ann Larsson		53.0	2:41.0 (6)
	316	Karin Lundgren		51.6	3:32.6 (6)
7	–	Barbados	BAR	3:44.45
	24	Lorna Forde		57.4	57.4 (7)
	23	Barbara Bishop		55.6	1:53.0 (7)
	27	Marcia Trotman		54.2	2:47.2 (7)
	25	Heather Gooding		57.3	3:44.5 (7)

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	Time (A)	Split (Pos)
1	–	East Germany	GDR	3:28.48		QWR
	133	Dagmar Käsling		52.5	52.5 (3)
	136	Rita Kühne		50.6	1:43.1 (1)
	146	Helga Seidler		51.1	2:34.2 (1)
	153	Monika Zehrt		54.3	3:28.5 (1)
2	–	United States	USA	3:28.63		Q
	372	Mable Fergerson		51.7	51.7 (=1)
	386	Madeline Manning		52.4	1:44.1 (2)
	395	Cheryl Toussaint		53.2	2:37.3 (2)
	380	Kathy Hammond		51.3	3:28.6 (2)
3	–	Australia	AUS	3:29.99		Q
	11	Allison Ross-Edwards		53.2	53.2 (4)
	2	Raelene Boyle		55.0	1:48.2 (4)
	8	Cheryl Peasley		50.0	2:38.2 (4)
	10	Charlene Rendina		51.8	3:30.0 (3)
4	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:30.05		Q
	114	Janet Simpson		51.7	51.7 (=1)
	95	Verona Bernard		54.1	1:45.8 (3)
	112	Janette Roscoe		52.0	2:37.8 (3)
	116	Rosemary Stirling		52.3	3:30.1 (4)
5	–	Jamaica	JAM	3:31.89
	231	Ruth Williams		53.7	53.7 (5)
	226	Una Morris		54.8	1:48.5 (5)
	220	Rosie Allwood		51.8	2:40.3 (5)
	229	Yvonne Saunders		51.6	3:31.9 (5)
6	–	Austria	AUT	3:42.19
	14	Christiane Casapicola		54.1	54.1 (6)
	21	Maria Sykora		55.2	1:49.3 (6)
	19	Gerlinde Massing		53.5	2:42.8 (6)
	17	Karoline Käfer		59.4	3:42.2 (6)
DNF	–	Poland	POL	–
	286	Bożena Zientarska		–	– (–)
	272	Krystyna Kacperczyk		–	– (–)
	283	Elżbieta Skowrońska		–	– (–)
	281	Danuta Piecyk		–	– (–)

Final (10 September 1972 — 16:25)

Pos	Nr	Team	NOC	Time (A)	Split (Pos)
1	–	East Germany	GDR	3:22.95		WR
	133	Dagmar Käsling		52.2	52.2 (2)
	136	Rita Kühne		50.0	1:42.2 (1)
	146	Helga Seidler		51.0	2:33.2 (1)
	153	Monika Zehrt		49.8	3:23.0 (1)
2	–	United States	USA	3:25.15
	372	Mable Fergerson		51.8	51.8 (1)
	386	Madeline Manning		51.9	1:43.7 (2)
	395	Cheryl Toussaint		52.3	2:36.0 (3)
	380	Kathy Hammond		49.2	3:25.2 (2)
3	–	West Germany	FRG	3:26.51
	174	Anette Rückes		53.1	53.1 (=4)
	156	Inge Bödding		51.6	1:44.7 (4)
	159	Hildegard Falck		51.2	2:35.9 (2)
	181	Rita Wilden		50.6	3:26.5 (3)
4	–	France	FRA	3:27.52
	90	Martine Duvivier		53.0	53.0 (3)
	86	Colette Besson		52.1	1:45.1 (=5)
	92	Bernadette Martin		51.8	2:36.9 (=4)
	89	Nicole Duclos		50.6	3:27.5 (4)
5	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:28.74
	95	Verona Bernard		53.1	53.1 (=4)
	114	Janet Simpson		52.0	1:45.1 (=5)
	112	Janette Roscoe		51.8	2:36.9 (=4)
	116	Rosemary Stirling		51.8	3:28.7 (5)
6	–	Australia	AUS	3:28.84
	11	Allison Ross-Edwards		53.4	53.4 (7)
	2	Raelene Boyle		50.8	1:44.2 (3)
	8	Cheryl Peasley		53.9	2:38.1 (6)
	10	Charlene Rendina		50.7	3:28.8 (6)
7	–	Finland	FIN	3:29.44
	77	Marika Eklund		53.3	53.3 (6)
	83	Pirjo Wilmi		52.4	1:45.7 (7)
	78	Tuula Rautanen		52.6	2:38.3 (7)
	81	Mona-Lisa Strandvall		51.1	3:29.4 (7)
8	–	Soviet Union	URS	3:31.89
	356	Lyubov Runtso		54.0	54.0 (8)
	360	Olga Syrovatskaya		53.2	1:47.2 (8)
	338	Nataliya Pechonkina-Chistyakova		52.6	2:39.8 (8)
	347	Nadezhda Kolesnikova		52.1	3:31.9 (8)