4 x 100 metres Relay, Women

The 100 metre final had six finalists from six different nations, so no team could be considered dominant. But the United States had Wilma Rudolph, who had won the 100 and 200 gold medals quite easily. The entire US team was represented by runners from Tennessee State University, nicknamed the Tigerbelles. After three legs, the Germans were leading the American team, with Rudolph receiving the baton two metres behind. But she cruised past German anchor Jutta Heine to give the US a win by three metres, with Rudolph winning her third gold medal. Rudolph had received the baton from Pearl Jones, who had also won a gold medal in the 1952 4x100 relay, when she was only 15 years old. Germany’s third leg was run by Brunhilde Hendrix whose mother, Marie Dollinger, had run the third leg for Germany in 1936, when she had Ilse Dörffeldt botched the exchange, Dörffeldt dropping the baton. Hendrix’s father had also run in an Olympic relay, with Fritz Hendrix running for Germany in 1932 in the 4x1.