To The Olympic Games
At the U.S. Olympic tryouts in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Hardy set an American record in the 200-meter run, thus securing a position on the 1952 U.S. Olympic Women's Track Team. She was the only representative of the state of Georgia that year in the Olympics, held in Helsinki, Finland. There, she anchored the 4x100 meter relay. She won the gold medal with her teammates Mae Faggs, [[Barbara Jones (athlete) This particular race was an upset, because the Australians and their star, Marjorie Jackson, whom they called "Jet", were heavily favored to win. A poor baton transfer, however, beat the Australians' chances.
Originally, Janet Moreau was to serve as the anchor for the team, but when the coach realized that Hardy was the fastest runner on the team, the order was changed. Photographs and video of the race show that the race was quite close, but the US runner Hardy was the one who broke the tape at the finish, edging out Germany, who took the silver medal, and Great Britain, who won the bronze medal.
Noteworthy is the fact that Hardy's time in the 100 meters she ran was faster than the winning time in the 100-meter race at this Olympics. Though Hardy had been slated to compete in that event as well, a poor showing in one of the heats killed her chances at advancement. Despite this fact, Hardy and her teammates set a new world record, and brought home the gold in this event.
Upon returning to the States, Hardy was greeted with a ticker tape parade in her hometown, but further recognition was rather muted.
Read more about this topic: Catherine Hardy Lavender
Famous quotes containing the words olympic and/or games:
“Like Olympic medals and tennis trophies, all they signified was that the owner had done something of no benefit to anyone more capably than everyone else.”
—Joseph Heller (b. 1923)
“Intelligence and war are games, perhaps the only meaningful games left. If any player becomes too proficient, the game is threatened with termination.”
—William Burroughs (b. 1914)