London 1948 4x100 w

[catson52]

Was watching a clip of this race at our favorite site. The amount of ground made up by Blankers-Koen on the anchor leg against the Australian runner looked like 10-12 m. The official results show Canada as finishing third 0.2 behind the Aussies. No sign of any team (so) close to the first two in the video clip. Can anyone supply some more details about this race?

[Vault-emort]

The Australian team was (in order) Shirley Strickland, June Maston (Ferguson), Betty McKinnon and Joyce King.

King had beaten Strickland over 100y/220y in the Aussie trials, setting records in both events, but had tonsilitis in London and was not able to produce her best form.

Ferguson went on to coach two Olympic champions - Betty Cuthbert and Maureen Caird.

[DoubleRBar]

I believe when the anchor women took over, Denmark was in the lead. That was a major surprise. I would say Denmark had a two meter advantage over Australia. Britain and the Netherlands were probably about four meters down. Of course you know that Fanny Blankers-Koen blew by everyone and edged Australia by about 0.09 seconds. Canada was third and Denmark ended up in fifth place.

[Vault-emort]

Some Aussie newspaper reports:

The (Australian) team was fortunate to scrape into the final and it was Miss Strickland who gave it an early lead of seven metres which nearly gave Australia victory. Strickland, slow away, overhauled the field with long strides and was well clear when she handed Maston the baton. Miss King was four metres ahead when she received the baton and she went down fighting before the irresistable challenge of Mrs Blankers-Koen, who got up in the last few strides to win a great race. Immediately after the finish, Blankers-Koen made a special journey across the ground to shake hands with Miss Strickland, her greatest Games rival. Blankers-Koen is one of those athletes produced only once in a century.

The excited crowd (of 82,000) barracked wildly, torn between a desire to see the Dutch woman continue through the Games undefeated and a wish to see Australia win. Strickland gave Australia the lead after the first leg and Maston and McKinnon held their position until the latter handed over to King. King held her two yard margin half way down the straight but Blankers-Koen gradually crept up and the pair crossed the line with little between them.

[Vault-emort]

Wow! There's a 1500 word character limit to posts now??

The Australians took 47.6s slightly over a second outside the Olympic record, but remarkably fast time considering the slow, rain-soaked track. Only a few people know that Joyce King was ill after racing during the week and June Maston ran with her leg showing long bruises and a five-inch cut caused by an accident in her bedroom.

Australia lost a gold medal by inches in the women's 400m relay when Blankers-Koen, running last for Holland, beat Australia's fourth runner, King, in a photo finish which brought the crowd to its feet. Strickland sent Australia to the front in the first relay; Maston and McKinnon continued to hold their positions and the latter handed over to King two yards ahead of Blankers-Koen. King was half-way down the straight and it was obvious that the Dutchwoman was all out in an attempt to overtake her. Blankers-Koen gradually caught up, but King fought back and the pair crossed with little seperating them. King, because of illness, has been unable to reach top form. Had she done so Australian would have won.

Shirley Strickland gave Australia the lead in the first stage of the final just as she had done in the heat. Australia qualified for the final by finishing second, about a foot behind Canada. Holland had a hollow win in the 3rd heat. The Task was made easier by a bad changeover between America's first and second runners.