ATHLETICS - Fanny Blankers-Koen was almost half of second faster than every opponent in the semi-finals. It was no surprise than that she took the gold.
The 100m final and podium (amateur footage, thofyrv)
Blankers-Koen had a good start, just like Manley in lane six. The British hope even thought that she had a false start, but she kept on going and took the silver. Australian Strickland came in third.
Viola Myers from Canada, who earlier that day won one of the semi-finals, just missed the podium and came in fourth. Blankers-Koens time was 11.9 seconds which is 0.4 seconds above the olympic and world recond, ran by the American Stephens in Berlin 1936. Conditions were far from ideal in London, the final was run on a sodden track.
