1928 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 100 m (women)

sport	athletics
discipline	100 meter run
gender	Women
Attendees	31 athletes from 13 countries
Competition location	Olympic Stadium Amsterdam
Competition phase	July 30, 1928 (preliminary / semi-finals) July 31, 1928 (final)
Medalists Betty Robinson ( USA )   Fanny Rosenfeld ( CAN )   Ethel Smith ( CAN )

The women's 100-meter run at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam was held on July 30 and 31, 1928 in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam . 31 athletes took part.

The American Betty Robinson was Olympic champion ahead of the Canadian Fanny Rosenfeld and her compatriot Ethel Smith .

Existing records

• World record : 12.0 s - Myrtle Cook ( Canada ), Halifax , July 2, 1928
• The discipline was on the Olympic program for the first time. That is why there was no Olympic record yet .

Conducting the competition

On July 30th, nine preliminary runs were completed. The first two runners qualified for the semi-finals on the same day. From these three preliminary decisions, the first two runners each made their way to the final, which took place on July 31st.

Note: The qualified runners are highlighted in light blue.

Prelims

Date: July 30, 1928

Not all times have been passed down.

Forward 1

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Anni Holdmann	German Empire	13.0 s	OR
2	Edith Robinson	Australia	k. A.
3	Derna Polazzo	Italy	k. A.

Forward 2

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Erna Steinberg	German Empire	12.8 s	OR
2	Mary Washburn	United States	k. A.
3	Nettie Grooss	Netherlands	k. A.
4th	Ruth Svedberg	Sweden

Forward 3

Hitomi Kinue (JPN) won her preliminary ahead of Florence Bell (No. 674), Anne Vrana-O'Brien (No. 585) and Matilde Moraschi (No. 245).

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Hitomi Kinue	Japan	12.8 s	ORe
2	Florence Bell	Canada	13.0 s
3	Anne Vrana-O'Brien	United States	13.1 s
4th	Matilde Moraschi	Italy	13.6 s

Forward 4

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Leni Junker	German Empire	12.8 s	ORe
2	Elta Cartwright	United States	k. A.
3	Yolande Plancke	France	k. A.

Forward 5

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Georgette Gagneux	France	13.0 s
2	Maud Sundberg	Sweden	k. A.
3	Luigia Bonfanti	Italy	k. A.

Forward 6

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Leni Schmidt	German Empire	12.8 s	ORe
2	Marjorie Clark	South African Union	13.0 s
3	Rie Briejer	Netherlands	13.1 s
4th	Lucienne Velu	France	13.5 s

Forward 7

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Fanny Rosenfeld	Canada	12.6 s	OR
2	Betty Robinson	United States	k. A.
3	Read Aengenendt	Netherlands	13.0 s

Forward 8

Myrtle Cook (No. 675) won their prelim ahead of Norma Wilson (No. 406) and Bets ter Horst (No. 348).

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Myrtle Cook	Canada	12.8 s
2	Norma Wilson	New Zealand	13.0 s
3	Bets ter Horst	Netherlands	13.0 s

Forward 9

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Ethel Smith	Canada	12.6 s	ORe
2	Marguerite Radideau	France	k. A.
3	Zinaida Liepina	Latvia	k. A.
4th	Sidonie Verschueren	Belgium

Semifinals

Date: July 30, 1928

Not all times have been passed down.

Run 1

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Fanny Rosenfeld	Canada	12.4 s	OR
2	Ethel Smith	Canada	k. A.
3	Georgette Gagneux	France	k. A.
4th	Anni Holdmann	German Empire	k. A.
5	Mary Washburn	United States
6th	Marjorie Clark	South African Union

Run 2

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Betty Robinson	United States	12.4 s	ORe
2	Myrtle Cook	Canada	k. A.
3	Edith Robinson	Australia	k. A.
4th	Hitomi Kinue	Japan
5	Leni Junker	German Empire
6th	Maud Sundberg	Sweden

Run 3

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Leni Schmidt	German Empire	12.8 s
2	Erna Steinberg	German Empire	12.9 s
3	Jane Bell	Canada	k. A.
4th	Elta Cartwright	United States
5	Norma Wilson	New Zealand
6th	Marguerite Radideau	France

final

space	Surname	nation	height	annotation
1	Betty Robinson	United States	12.2 s	OR
2	Fanny Rosenfeld	Canada	12.3 s
3	Ethel Smith	Canada	12.3 s
4th	Erna Steinberg	German Empire	12.4 s
DSQ	Myrtle Cook	Canada
	Leni Schmidt	German Empire

Date: July 31, 1928

The Canadian Myrtle Cook came to Amsterdam as a world record holder and co-favorite . After two false starts caused by her, she was disqualified. Leni Schmidt got infected by Cook's nervousness and the same thing happened to her. Only four female sprinters fought for the first Olympic medals in the women's 100-meter run . Betty Robinson from the USA won the race in the Olympic record time of 12.2 seconds. Silver and bronze went to the two Canadians Fanny Rosenfeld and Ethel Smith. Fourth place remained for the German Erna Steinberg. It was a close race, Steinberg was only two tenths of a second behind the Olympic champion.

Picture gallery

• 

  Olympic Champion Betty Robinson (USA)

• 

  Fanny Rosenfeld (CAN), winner of the silver medal

• 

  Ethel Smith - bronze medal for the Canadian

literature

Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 1: 1896-1936, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, pp. 213f

Web links

• SportsReference 100 m , accessed September 14, 2017
• Official report pp. 467-470, engl. (PDF), accessed on September 14, 2017

Video

• 16 Year Old Elizabeth Robinson Wins 100m - New WR | Amsterdam 1928 Olympics , published December 13, 2012 on youtube.com, accessed September 14, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009 page 640 ( Memento from June 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive )