Swimmer Helene Madison wins second Olympic Gold Medal on August 12, 1932.

HistoryLink.org Essay 713 : Printer-Friendly Format

On August 12, 1932, swimmer Helene Madison (1913-1970) of Seattle wins her second Gold Medal of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games in the 400 meter relay swimming race. The winning swimmers in order of legs are Josephine McKim, Helen Johns, Eleanor Saville, and Helene Madison. Their winning time is 4 minutes 38.0 seconds which beat the previous World Record by 9.6 seconds. This is Helene Madison’s second gold medal of the 1932 Olympic Games and she is scheduled to race again tomorrow.

Sources:
David Wallechinsky, The Complete Book of the Olympics (New York: The Viking Press, 1984), 446.

By Greg Lange, January 16, 1999

Travel through time (chronological order):
< Browse to Previous Essay | Browse to Next Essay >

Related Topics: Sports | Women's History | Celebrities |

Licensing: This essay is licensed under a Creative Commons license that encourages reproduction with attribution. Credit should be given to both HistoryLink.org and to the author, and sources must be included with any reproduction. Click the icon for more info. Please note that this Creative Commons license applies to text only, and not to images. For more information regarding individual photos or images, please contact the source noted in the image credit.

Helene Madison with fellow Gold Medalist and future Flash Gordon Buster Crabbe, 1932
Courtesy University of Washington Press