1976 Women's Relay Team | U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame, Class of 2022

[@lydiadugan8368]

I love you, Shirley! I remember you in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. You should have won gold. It broke my heart to watch you come in second in the 200, 400, and 800 free. I began swimming 🏊‍♀️ as recreational swimmer because of you.

[@andiezero]

That race was at the time, and today , still is considered the GREATEST race in the history of the Olympics!

[@archimedesscrew3710]

Brilliant ladies. Well deserved 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@josemariagarcia1099]

1976 olympics womens swim relay

[@AngeloDallas-p5x]

Line from the movie Rounders by Russian mobster and poker expert KGB: "PAY THAT MAN, HIS MONEY!" Olympic committee? give that woman her stack of gold medals. Shirley was the best swimmer in the world. The East Germans were complete zeros in women's swimming in the previous summer Olympics. They came out of nowhere. The East Germans were doping and won every single women's swim event in Montreal in 1976 leading up to the 4 by 100 relay race. In a totally dummkopf move, the East Germans had their best swimmer swim the first leg of the 4 by 100 relay. Shirley must have been looking to the heavens and begging for a bit of fairness. The three American swimmers on her team gave her that. They each had to swim a personal best time and by the end of the third leg, Jill Sterkel ensured that Shirley was the first anchor into the pool to swim the final leg. She would not be facing Kornelia Ender (their best swimmer). Kornelia Ender (a cheat then universally considered the best female swimmer in the world) swam the first leg for East Germany. Shirley got her shot at gold thanks to three incredible teammates all swimming the race of their lives. As many as 10,000 East German athletes were subjected to SYSTEMATIC doping and injections for the glory of that evil Communist regime that lies on the trash heap of human history. As a Montrealer, I know the 1976 Summer Olympics gave us many great moments. Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci and the first perfect 10 awarded in Olympic gymnastics, Sugar Ray Leonard winning gold in boxing and a young lady by the name of Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner ignited the imagination of a nation by winning the men's decathlon (and by having great hair). The moment that gave me goosebumps more than any other was when 15 year old Jill Sterkel handed Shirley the lead to start the final leg of that 4 by 100 relay.