1972 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 4 × 400 m (women)

sport	athletics
discipline	4 x 400 meter relay
gender	Women
Attendees	54 athletes from 14 countries
Competition location	Olympic Stadium Munich
Competition phase	September 9, 1972 (preliminary) September 10, 1972 (final)
Medalists  GDR  United States  FRG

The women's 4 x 400 meter relay at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich was held on September 9 and 10, 1972 in the Munich Olympic Stadium. The discipline was on the program for the first time at the Olympic Games this year. 54 athletes took part in the competition in 14 relays.

The East German relay team achieved their first Olympic victory with Dagmar Käsling , Rita Kühne , Helga Seidler and Monika Zehre in a new world record time . Silver went to the USA team ( Mable Fergerson , Madeline Manning , Cheryl Toussaint , Kathy Hammond ), bronze went to the Federal Republic of Germany with Anette Rückes , Inge Bödding , Hildegard Falck and Rita Wilden .

The Austrian relay could not qualify for the final.

Teams from Switzerland and Liechtenstein did not take part.

Existing records

World record	3: 28.8 min	GDR ( Monika Zehrt , Rita Kühne , Ingelore Lohse , Helga Seidler )	Colombes , France	5th July 1972
Olympic record	There was not yet an Olympic record for the 4 x 400 meter relay , as this competition was held for the first time in Munich .

Conducting the competition

The relays completed two preliminary heats on September 9, in which the four best teams qualified for the final on September 10.

Time schedule

September 9, 3:10 p.m .:
Prelims September 10, 4:25 p.m .: Final

The qualified relays are highlighted in light blue.

Preliminary round

Date: September 9, 1972, from 3:10 p.m.

Forward 1

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	BR Germany	Anette Rückes Inge Bödding Hildegard Falck Rita Wilden	3: 29.32 min
2	France	Martine Duvivier Colette Besson Bernadette Martin Nicole Duclos	3: 30.02 min
3	Soviet Union	Lyubov Runzo Olga Syrowatskaja Natalja Tschistjakowa Nadeschda Kolesnikowa	3: 30.23 min
4th	Finland	Mona-Lisa Strandvall Pirjo Wilmi Tuula Rautanen Marika Eklund	3: 30.84 min
5	Cuba	Asunción Acosta Marcela Chibás Beatriz Castillo Aurelia Pentón	3: 32.44 min
6th	Sweden	Eva-Charlotte Malmström Elisabeth Randerz Ann Larsson Karin Lundgren	3: 32.62 min
7th	Barbados	Lorna Forde Barbara Bishop Marcia Trotman Heather Gooding	3: 44.45 min

Forward 2

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	GDR	Dagmar Käsling Rita Kühne Helga Seidler Monika Zehrt	3: 28.48 min	WR
2	United States	Mable Fergerson Madeline Manning Cheryl Toussaint Kathy Hammond	3: 28.63 min
3	Australia	Allison Ross-Edwards Raelene Boyle Cheryl Peasley Charlene Rendina	3: 29.99 min
4th	Great Britain	Janet Simpson Verona Bernard Jannette Roscoe Rosemary Stirling	3: 30.05 min
5	Jamaica	Ruth Williams Una Morris Rosie Allwood Yvonne Saunders	3: 31.89 min
6th	Austria	Christiane Casapicola Helga Kapfer Gerlinde Massing Karoline Käfer	3: 42.19 min
DSQ	Poland	Bożena Zientarska Krystyna Kasperczyk Elżbieta Skowrońska Danuta Piecyk

final

space	Season	occupation	time	annotation
1	GDR	Dagmar Käsling Rita Kühne Helga Seidler Monika Zehrt	3: 22.95 min	WR
2	United States	Mable Fergerson Madeline Manning Cheryl Toussaint Kathy Hammond	3: 25.15 min
3	BR Germany	Anette Rückes Inge Bödding Hildegard Falck Rita Wilden	3: 26.51 min
4th	France	Martine Duvivier Colette Besson Bernadette Martin Nicole Duclos	3: 27.52 min
5	Great Britain	Verona Bernard Janet Simpson Jannette Roscoe Rosemary Stirling	3: 28.74 min
6th	Australia	Allison Ross-Edwards Raelene Boyle Cheryl Peasley Charlene Rendina	3: 28.84 min
7th	Finland	Marika Eklund Pirjo Wilmi Tuula Rautanen Mona-Lisa Strandvall	3: 29.44 min
8th	Soviet Union	Lyubov Runzo Olga Syrowatskaja Natalja Tschistjakowa Nadeschda Kolesnikowa	3: 31.89 min

Date: September 10, 1972, 4:25 p.m.

The GDR relay was the clear favorite for this race due to the top performances of the individual runners involved. At last year's European Championships , the team clearly dominated and set a new world record, which it first improved in July of the Olympic season and then in the second run here in Munich .

In the final, the GDR women ran the undisputed Olympic victory from the start. They pulverized their world record from the preliminary round by another five and a half seconds. For all other teams it was only about the placements behind the GDR relay. With a gap of more than 20 meters, the US team won the silver medal ahead of the Federal Republic of Germany, France and Great Britain. The squadrons from places two to four also remained below the GDR world record, which had existed until then.

literature

• Werner Schneider / Sport-Informations-Dienst / Bertelsmann Sportredaktion, The Olympic Games 1972. Munich - Kiel - Sapporo, Bertelsmann-Verlag, Munich, Gütersloh, Vienna 1972, ISBN 3-570-04559-5 , p. 57

Web links

• SportsReference 4 × 400 m , accessed December 7, 2017
• Official report, Volume 3 "The competitions" , p. 70, English / French / German (PDF, 28 MB), accessed on December 7, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009 Page 651 (Engl.) ( Memento of 29 June 2011 at the Internet Archive ), accessed on December 7, 2017
2. ↑ Official Report, Volume 3 "The competitions" ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 43, English / French / German (PDF, 28 MB), accessed on December 7, 2017 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Official Report, Volume 3 "The competitions" ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 70, English / French / German (PDF, 28 MB), accessed on December 7, 2017 
4. ↑ SportsReference , accessed December 7, 2017