National High School Records Through the Years

Girls Outdoor Record – 100 meters

Betty Robinson (Thornton Township High School, Harvey, Illinois) 

Performance – 12.4 and 12.2 seconds

Date – July 30 and Aug. 1, 1928

Place – Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Meet – Olympic Games

Previous Record – 12 3/5 twice by Robinson and twice by Anne Vrana (Fremont HS, Los Angeles), all in 1928

Betty Robinson is one of the most important sprinters in American history. That’s because, as a novice 16-year-old high school girl, she became the first Olympic champion in the women’s 100-meter dash. Robinson had never run a race in her life until March of 1928 when she ran an indoor 60 in Chicago at the encouragement of her sister. Women had finally been admitted to the Olympic program, and Robinson progressed rapidly. She finished 2nd at the U.S. Trials on the 4th of July ’28 in Newark, N.J., then 97 years ago this week won the Olympic final, defeating the three Canadian stars, Fanny Rosenfeld, Ethel Smith and Myrtle Cook. Her HSR of 12.2 in winning the Olympic final was not surpassed as the HSR until Helen Stephens (Fulton, Missouri) ran 11.9 in 1935 on her way to being the 1936 Olympic champion. After missing the ’32 Games recovering from a plane crash, Robinson returned in ’36 and, at 24, ran 3rd leg on the winning 4x1 team for the Americans. 

DYESTAT FEATURE ON BETTY ROBINSON'S LEGACY

National High School Records Through the Years appears once a week, compiled and written by a track historian, Jack Pfeifer (Lake Oswego, Oregon). Inquiries may be directed to him by email (jack.pfeifer@gmail.com).