Betty Robinson

Betty Robinson (born Elizabeth Robinson, later Elizabeth Schwartz, 1911 to 1999) was an American sprinter from Riverdale, Illinois, who won the first Olympic 100 metres for women at the 1928 Amsterdam Games, equalling the world record of 12.2 seconds. Women's athletics had not been on the Olympic programme before, so she was the inaugural champion in the event and remains the youngest winner of Olympic 100 metres gold. She added a silver medal with the American 4 x 100 metres relay team. Her teacher Charles Price first noticed her running for a train. A plane crash in 1931 left her badly injured and unable to race for years, so she missed the 1932 Games, but she returned as part of the United States 4 x 100 metres relay team at the 1936 Olympics.