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4 × 400 metres Relay, Women

Date9 – 10 September 1972
StatusOlympic
LocationOlympiastadion, Olympiapark, München
Participants56 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.

PosNumberCompetitorsNOCR1Final
1–East GermanyGDR3:28.48 (1 h2)3:22.95 (1)GoldWR
Dagmar Käsling • Rita Kühne • Helga Seidler • Monika Zehrt • Waltraud Dietsch (DNS) • Brigitte Rohde (DNS)
2–United StatesUSA3:28.63 (2 h2)3:25.15 (2)Silver
Mable Fergerson • Madeline Manning • Cheryl Toussaint • Kathy Hammond • Debra Edwards (DNS) • Willie Fergerson (DNS)
3–West GermanyFRG3:29.32 (1 h1)3:26.51 (3)Bronze
Anette Rückes • Inge Bödding • Hildegard Falck • Rita Wilden • Christel Frese (DNS) • Erika Weinstein (DNS)
4–FranceFRA3:30.02 (2 h1)3:27.52 (4)
Martine Duvivier • Colette Besson • Bernadette Martin • Nicole Duclos • Ghislaine Barnay (DNS) • Éliane Jacq (DNS)
5–Great BritainGBR3:30.05 (4 h2)3:28.74 (5)
Verona Bernard • Janet Simpson • Janette Roscoe • Rosemary Stirling • Pat Cropper (DNS) • Maureen Tranter (DNS)
6–AustraliaAUS3:29.99 (3 h2)3:28.84 (6)
Allison Ross-Edwards • Raelene Boyle • Cheryl Peasley • Charlene Rendina • Jenny Orr (DNS) • Judy Amoore-Pollock (DNS)
7–FinlandFIN3:30.84 (4 h1)3:29.44 (7)
Marika Eklund • Pirjo Wilmi • Tuula Rautanen • Mona-Lisa Strandvall • Seija Rönn (DNS) • Riitta Salin (DNS)
8–Soviet UnionURS3:30.23 (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–CubaCUB3:32.44 (5 h1)–
Asunción Acosta • Marcela Chibás • Beatriz Castillo 1 • Aurelia Pentón • Carmen Trustée (DNS)
5 h2 r1/2–JamaicaJAM3:31.89 (5 h2)–
Ruth Williams • Una Morris • Rosie Allwood • Yvonne Saunders • Marilyn Neufville (DNS) • Yvonne White (DNS)
6 h1 r1/2–SwedenSWE3:32.62 (6 h1)–
Lotta Malmström • Elisabeth Randerz • Ann Larsson • Karin Lundgren • Margaretha Larsson (DNS)
6 h2 r1/2–AustriaAUT3:42.19 (6 h2)–
Christiane Casapicola • Maria Sykora • Gerlinde Massing • Karoline Käfer • Helga Kapfer (DNS)
7 h1 r1/2–BarbadosBAR3:44.45 (7 h1)–
Lorna Forde • Barbara Bishop • Marcia Trotman • Heather Gooding • Freida Nicholls-Davy (DNS)
AC h2 r1/2–PolandPOL– (DNF h2)–
Bożena Zientarska • Krystyna Kacperczyk • Elżbieta Skowrońska • Danuta Piecyk • Danuta Pańkowska (DNS) • Irena Szewińska (DNS)

Round One

Date9 September 1972 — 15:10
FormatTop four in each heat advanced to the final.
PosTeamNOCTime (automatic)
1East GermanyGDR3:28.48QWR
2United StatesUSA3:28.63Q
3West GermanyFRG3:29.32QOR
4AustraliaAUS3:29.99Q
5FranceFRA3:30.02Q
6Great BritainGBR3:30.05Q
7Soviet UnionURS3:30.23Q
8FinlandFIN3:30.84Q
9JamaicaJAM3:31.89
10CubaCUB3:32.44
11SwedenSWE3:32.62
12AustriaAUT3:42.19
13BarbadosBAR3:44.45
DNFPolandPOL–

Heat #1

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime (Automatic)SplitExchange
1–West GermanyFRG3:29.32– (–)– (–)QOR
Lead-Off174Anette Rückes –53.1 (1)– (–)
2nd Leg156Inge Bödding –52.9 (3)1:46.0 (2)
3rd Leg159Hildegard Falck –51.5 (2)2:37.5 (1)
Anchor181Rita Jahn-Wilden –51.8 (5)– (–)
2–FranceFRA3:30.02– (–)– (–)Q
Lead-Off90Martine Duvivier –53.5 (=3)– (–)
2nd Leg86Colette Besson –51.9 (1)1:45.4 (1)
3rd Leg92Bernadette Martin –53.3 (5)2:38.7 (3)
Anchor89Nicole Duclos –51.3 (2)– (–)
3–Soviet UnionURS3:30.23– (–)– (–)Q
Lead-Off356Lyubov Runtso –53.5 (=3)– (–)
2nd Leg360Olga Syrovatskaya-Mineyeva –52.6 (2)1:46.1 (3)
3rd Leg338Nataliya Pechonkina-Chistyakova –53.0 (=3)2:39.1 (4)
Anchor347Nadezhda Kolesnikova-Ilyina –51.1 (1)– (–)
4–FinlandFIN3:30.84– (–)– (–)Q
Lead-Off81Mona-Lisa Strandvall-Pursiainen –55.2 (6)– (–)
2nd Leg83Pirjo Wilmi-Häggman –53.0 (4)1:48.2 (6)
3rd Leg78Tuula Rautanen –50.1 (1)2:38.3 (2)
Anchor77Marika Eklund-Lindholm –52.5 (6)– (–)
5–CubaCUB3:32.44– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off63Asunción Acosta –53.3 (2)– (–)
2nd Leg65Marcela Chibás –53.9 (5)1:47.2 (4)
3rd Leg72Beatriz Castillo –53.5 (6)2:40.7 (5)
Anchor69Aurelia Pentón –51.7 (4)– (–)
6–SwedenSWE3:32.62– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off317Lotta Malmström –53.8 (5)– (–)
2nd Leg321Elisabeth Randerz –54.2 (6)1:48.0 (5)
3rd Leg314Ann Larsson –53.0 (=3)2:41.0 (6)
Anchor316Karin Wallgren-Lundgren –51.6 (3)– (–)
7–BarbadosBAR3:44.45– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off24Lorna Forde –57.4 (7)– (–)
2nd Leg23Barbara Bishop –55.6 (7)1:53.0 (7)
3rd Leg27Marcia Trotman –54.2 (7)2:47.2 (7)
Anchor25Heather Gooding –57.3 (7)– (–)

Heat #2

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime (Automatic)SplitExchange
1–East GermanyGDR3:28.48– (–)– (–)QWR
Lead-Off133Dagmar Käsling –52.5 (3)– (–)
2nd Leg136Rita Kühne –50.6 (1)1:43.1 (1)
3rd Leg146Helga Seidler –51.1 (2)2:34.2 (1)
Anchor153Monika Zehrt –54.3 (5)– (–)
2–United StatesUSA3:28.63– (–)– (–)Q
Lead-Off372Mable Fergerson –51.7 (=1)– (–)
2nd Leg386Madeline Manning-Jackson –52.4 (2)1:44.1 (2)
3rd Leg395Cheryl Toussaint –53.2 (5)2:37.3 (2)
Anchor380Kathy Hammond –51.3 (1)– (–)
3–AustraliaAUS3:29.99– (–)– (–)Q
Lead-Off11Allison Ross-Edwards –53.2 (4)– (–)
2nd Leg2Raelene Boyle –55.0 (5)1:48.2 (4)
3rd Leg8Cheryl Peasley –50.0 (1)2:38.2 (4)
Anchor10Charlene Rendina –51.8 (3)– (–)
4–Great BritainGBR3:30.05– (–)– (–)Q
Lead-Off114Janet Simpson –51.7 (=1)– (–)
2nd Leg95Verona Bernard-Elder –54.1 (3)1:45.8 (3)
3rd Leg112Janette Roscoe –52.0 (4)2:37.8 (3)
Anchor116Rosemary Stirling –52.3 (4)– (–)
5–JamaicaJAM3:31.89– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off231Ruth Williams-Simpson –53.7 (5)– (–)
2nd Leg226Una Morris –54.8 (4)1:48.5 (5)
3rd Leg220Rosie Allwood –51.8 (3)2:40.3 (5)
Anchor229Yvonne Saunders –51.6 (2)– (–)
6–AustriaAUT3:42.19– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off14Christiane Casapicola-Wildschek –54.1 (6)– (–)
2nd Leg21Maria Sykora –55.2 (6)1:49.3 (6)
3rd Leg19Gerlinde Massing –53.5 (6)2:42.8 (6)
Anchor17Karoline Käfer –59.4 (6)– (–)
DNF–PolandPOL–– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off286Bożena Zientarska –– (–)– (–)
2nd Leg272Krystyna Kacperczyk –– (–)– (–)
3rd Leg283Elżbieta Skowrońska-Katolik –– (–)– (–)
Anchor281Danuta Piecyk –– (–)– (–)

Final Round

Date10 September 1972 — 16:25
PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime (Automatic)SplitExchange
1–East GermanyGDR3:22.95– (–)– (–)WR
Lead-Off133Dagmar Käsling –52.2 (2)– (–)
2nd Leg136Rita Kühne –50.0 (1)1:42.2 (1)
3rd Leg146Helga Seidler –51.0 (1)2:33.2 (1)
Anchor153Monika Zehrt –49.8 (2)– (–)
2–United StatesUSA3:25.15– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off372Mable Fergerson –51.8 (1)– (–)
2nd Leg386Madeline Manning-Jackson –51.9 (4)1:43.7 (2)
3rd Leg395Cheryl Toussaint –52.3 (5)2:36.0 (3)
Anchor380Kathy Hammond –49.2 (1)– (–)
3–West GermanyFRG3:26.51– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off174Anette Rückes –53.1 (=4)– (–)
2nd Leg156Inge Bödding –51.6 (3)1:44.7 (4)
3rd Leg159Hildegard Falck –51.2 (2)2:35.9 (2)
Anchor181Rita Jahn-Wilden –50.6 (=3)– (–)
4–FranceFRA3:27.52– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off90Martine Duvivier –53.0 (3)– (–)
2nd Leg86Colette Besson –52.1 (6)1:45.1 (=5)
3rd Leg92Bernadette Martin –51.8 (=3)2:36.9 (=4)
Anchor89Nicole Duclos –50.6 (=3)– (–)
5–Great BritainGBR3:28.74– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off95Verona Bernard-Elder –53.1 (=4)– (–)
2nd Leg114Janet Simpson –52.0 (5)1:45.1 (=5)
3rd Leg112Janette Roscoe –51.8 (=3)2:36.9 (=4)
Anchor116Rosemary Stirling –51.8 (7)– (–)
6–AustraliaAUS3:28.84– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off11Allison Ross-Edwards –53.4 (7)– (–)
2nd Leg2Raelene Boyle –50.8 (2)1:44.2 (3)
3rd Leg8Cheryl Peasley –53.9 (8)2:38.1 (6)
Anchor10Charlene Rendina –50.7 (5)– (–)
7–FinlandFIN3:29.44– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off77Marika Eklund-Lindholm –53.3 (6)– (–)
2nd Leg83Pirjo Wilmi-Häggman –52.4 (7)1:45.7 (7)
3rd Leg78Tuula Rautanen –52.6 (=6)2:38.3 (7)
Anchor81Mona-Lisa Strandvall-Pursiainen –51.1 (6)– (–)
8–Soviet UnionURS3:31.89– (–)– (–)
Lead-Off356Lyubov Runtso –54.0 (8)– (–)
2nd Leg360Olga Syrovatskaya-Mineyeva –53.2 (8)1:47.2 (8)
3rd Leg338Nataliya Pechonkina-Chistyakova –52.6 (=6)2:39.8 (8)
Anchor347Nadezhda Kolesnikova-Ilyina –52.1 (8)– (–)