View source for Betty Robinson

{{short description|American Olympic champion}}
{{for|the Christian music singer and songwriter|Betty Jean Robinson}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
|name=
|image= Betty Robinson 2.jpg
| image_size     = 
|caption= 
|birth_name = Elizabeth R. Robinson
|birth_date= August 23, 1911
|birth_place= [[Riverdale, Illinois]], US<ref name=sr/>
|death_date= {{death date and age|1999|05|18|1911|08|23}}
|death_place=[[Denver]], [[Colorado]], US<ref name=sr/>
|website= [https://www.bettyrobinson.org bettyrobinson.org]
| height = 5 ft 5+1/2 in
| weight = 126 lb
|sport=Athletics
| event=Sprint
|pb= 50 y – 5.8 (1929)<br>100 m – 12.0 (1928)<br>200 m – 25.5 (1931)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://trackfield.brinkster.net/Profile.asp?ID=2296&Gender=W |title=Elizabeth Robinson |website=trackfield.brinkster.net}}</ref>
|club=ICCW, Chicago<ref name=sr/>
|alma_mater=
| show-medals    = yes
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Athletics at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1928 Summer Olympics|1928 Amsterdam]]|[[Athletics at the 1928 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metres|100 m]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1936 Summer Olympics|1936 Berlin]]|[[Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay|4 × 100 m relay]]}}
{{MedalSilver|1928 Amsterdam|[[Athletics at the 1928 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay|4 × 100 m relay]]}}
}}

'''Elizabeth R. Schwartz''' (née '''Robinson'''; August 23, 1911 – May 18, 1999) was an American athlete and winner of the first Olympic [[100 metres]] for women.<ref name=sr/>

==Early life==
Robinson was born in [[Riverdale, Illinois]]. She was a student at [[Thornton Township High School]] when she achieved national acclaim as an Olympic champion.

Her talent was discovered by her science teacher Charles Price, who saw her running to catch the train after school. He was a former athlete and the coach of the school team.<ref name= ":0">{{Cite web|date=2021-08-08| title=Betty Robinson: the sprint star who 'rose from the dead'| url= https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/betty-robinson-olympic-champion-comic-feature|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007112550/https://worldathletics.org/heritage/news/betty-robinson-olympic-champion-comic-feature|archive-date=2021-10-07|access-date=2022-02-15|website=WorldAthletics.org}}</ref>

==Athletics==
Robinson ran her first official race on March 30, 1928, at the age of 16, at an indoor meet where she finished second to Helen Filkey, the US record holder at 100 m, in the 60-yard dash.<ref>{{cite book | first= Eric L. | last= Cowe | year= 2005| title = Early Women's Athletics: Statistics and History, Volume Two| isbn= 9780953703005| page=69| publisher= Eric L. Cowe }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web| last= Carroll |first=John|date=2019-03-07| title=Betty Robinson: the fastest woman in the world who came back from the dead|url=https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/training/motivation/a26747820/who-is-betty-robinson/ |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210709055404/https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/training/motivation/a26747820/who-is-betty-robinson/|archive-date=2021-07-09|access-date=2022-02-15| website=Runner's World|language=en-GB}}</ref> At her next race on June 2, outdoors at 100 meters, she beat Filkey and equalled the [[List of world records in athletics|world record]], though her time was not recognized because it was deemed wind-aided.{{sfn|Gergen|2014|p=12}}<ref name=":1" />

At the [[1928 Summer Olympics|1928 Amsterdam Olympics]], her third 100 m competition, Robinson was the only female US athlete to qualify for the 100 m final.<ref name=":0" /> She reached the final and won, equaling the world record of 12.2 seconds. She was the inaugural Olympic champion in the event, since athletics for women had not been on the program before, and its inclusion was in fact still heavily disputed among officials.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web| title=Elizabeth Robinson |url= https://olympics.com/en/athletes/elizabeth-robinson|access-date=2022-02-15|website=Olympics.com}}</ref> She remains the youngest athlete to win Olympic 100 m gold.<ref name=":0" /> With the American [[4 x 100 metres relay]] team, Robinson added a [[silver medal]] to her record.<ref name=":2" />

Six decades later, Robinson was interviewed for a book, ''Tales of Glory: An Oral History of the Summer Olympic Games Told By America's Gold Medal Winners'', by Lewis H. Carlson and John J Fogarty. This is how she remembered the 100 m race:{{blockquote|I can remember breaking the tape, but I wasn't sure that I'd won. It was so close. But my friends in the stands jumped over the railing and came down and put their arms around me, and then I knew I'd won. Then, when they raised the flag, I cried.}}
''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' reporter [[William L. Shirer|William L Shirer]] wrote that 'an unheralded, pretty, blue-eyed blonde young woman from Chicago became the darling of the spectators when she flew down the cinder path, her golden locks flying, to win'.<ref name=":1" />

She joined [[Northwestern University]] where she decided to pursue a physical education degree, hoping to become a coach at the 1936 Olympics.<ref name=":0" /> Robinson joined the rifle team at Northwestern in addition to running track there.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Remembering the First Lady of Track: Northwestern Magazine - Northwestern University |url=http://www.northwestern.edu/magazine/spring2014/campuslife/remembering-the-first-lady-of-track |access-date=2024-05-18 |website=www.northwestern.edu}}</ref> She was also a member of [[Kappa Kappa Gamma]].<ref>{{Cite book| last=Fowler|first=Ellen Margaret| url= https://kappa.historyit.com/list-view.php?id=297142|title=The Key of Kappa Kappa Gamma|publisher=[[Kappa Kappa Gamma]]| year= 1964| pages=70|chapter=Alumnae News, Mid-Winter 1964}}</ref>

On 28 June 1931, Robinson was involved in a plane crash and was severely injured. Initial reports had her being discovered unconscious in the wreckage and wrongly thought dead by her rescuer; in fact, he merely thought she was beyond saving. He took her to Oak Forest infirmary, locally known as the "Poor Farm", because he knew the undertaker.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.teamusa.org/News/2015/April/28/Betty-Robinson-The-Gold-Medalist-Who-Came-Back-From-the-Dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430235519/http://www.teamusa.org/News/2015/April/28/Betty-Robinson-The-Gold-Medalist-Who-Came-Back-From-the-Dead |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 30, 2015 |title=Betty Robinson: The Olympic Gold Medalist Who 'Came Back From The Dead' |first=Karen | last= Rosen |date=April 28, 2015 |website= TeamUSA.org |access-date= September 17, 2020}}</ref> Doctors determined she had suffered severe multiple injuries<ref>{{cite book | first= Roseanne | last= Montillo | year=2017| title= Fire on the Track: Betty Robinson and the Triumph of the Early Olympic Women |publisher = Crown | isbn= 9781101906156 |pages= 3–5, 125–30}}</ref> and she would never race again.<ref name=":0" /> It was another six months before she could get out of a wheelchair, and two years before she could walk normally again.{{sfn|Gergen|2014}} Meanwhile, she missed the [[1932 Summer Olympics]] in her home country.

Still unable to kneel for a normal 100 m start due to the fractures and surgeries on her left leg,<ref name=":0" /> Robinson was a part of the US team of [[Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay|4 × 100 metres relay at the]] [[1936 Summer Olympics]]. The US team was running behind the heavily favored Germans, but the Germans dropped their baton. Robinson took the lead and handed off the baton to Helen Stephens, resulting in her second Olympic gold medal.{{sfn|Gergen|2014|pp=146-7}}<ref name="sr">{{cite Sports-Reference |url= https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ro/betty-robinson-1.html |title=Betty Robinson |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200417173344/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ro/betty-robinson-1.html |archive-date=2020-04-17}}</ref>

==After athletic career==
Retiring after the [[1936 Summer Olympics|Berlin Olympics]], Robinson remained involved in athletics as an official.<ref name="sr" /> She worked in a hardware store for many years.<ref name=":1" /> In 1977, she was inducted into the USA [[National Track and Field Hall of Fame]]. In 1996, she carried the [[Olympic Torch]] for the [[Atlanta Olympic Games]].<ref name=":0" />

==Personal life==
She married and had two children. The family resided in [[Glencoe, Illinois]], a suburb on [[Chicago]]'s North Shore.

She died at age 87, suffering from cancer and [[Alzheimer's disease]].<ref name=":1" />

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|last=Gergen |first=Joe |title=First Lady of Olympic Track: The Life and Times of Betty Robinson |publisher=Northwestern University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0810129580 }}
* {{cite book|last=Montillo |first=Roseanne |title=Fire on the Track: Betty Robinson and the Triumph of the Early Olympic Women |publisher=Crown New York |year=2017 |isbn=978-1101906156 }}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Betty Robinson}}
* {{USATF Hall of Fame|137|Elizabeth (Betty) Robinson (Schwartz)}}
* {{Sports links}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|rec}}
{{s-bef|before= [[Kinue Hitomi]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[World record progression 100 metres women|Women's 100 m world record holder]]|years=June 2, 1928 – June 5, 1932}}
{{s-aft|after= [[Tollien Schuurman]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions 100 m Women}}
{{Footer Olympic Champions 4x100 m Women}}
{{Footer US NC 50m Women}}
{{Footer US NC 100m Women}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1928 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1936 Summer Olympics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Betty}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Cook County, Illinois]]
[[Category:American women sprinters]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:World record setters in the sport of athletics]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Colorado]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1928 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:People from Riverdale, Illinois]]
[[Category:USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners]]
[[Category:Survivors of aviation accidents or incidents]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportswomen]]
[[Category:Olympic women sprinters]]
[[Category:Northwestern Wildcats women's track and field athletes]]