100 metres, Women

Stanisława Wałasiewicz was born in Poland but had lived in the United States since she was a young child. In the United States she competed mostly under the Americanized name of Stella Walsh. In 1930 she won the 60 metres, and the 100 and 200 at the FSFI Women’s World Games. It was thought she would compete at the 1932 Olympics for the United States, but shortly before she was to become a naturalized citizen, she elected to compete for Poland. In the first round in Los Angeles she equaled the world record of 11.9, and posted that mark again in the semis. The final saw the lead taken by Canada’s Hilda Strike but she was outrun in the last few metres by Walsh/Wałasiewicz. Walsh would eventually win over 40 US titles. She lived until her death in Cleveland, Ohio. In December 1980, she was shot to death during a robbery. At her autopsy, it was revealed that she was a gender mosaic, often called a gynandromorph, who had mixed internal genitalia.