{{short description|German track and field athlete}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Marie Dollinger | image = Marie Dollinger 1928.jpg | image_size = | caption = Marie Dollinger winning an 800 m semifinal at the 1928 Olympics | birth_name = | fullname = | nationality = | residence = | birth_date = 28 October 1910 | birth_place = Langenzenn, Germany | death_date = 10 August 1994 (aged 83) | death_place = Nuremberg, Germany | height = {{convert|1.68|m|ftin|abbr=on}} | weight = {{convert|50|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} | country = | sport = Running | club = Turnverein Langenzenn/1. Fußball Club Nürnberg | retired = | olympics = 1928, 1932, 1936 | highestranking = | show-medals = yes | medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry|{{GER}}}} {{Medal|Competition|Women's World Games}} {{Medal|Gold |1934 London|4×100 m relay}} {{Medal|Silver |1930 Prague|800 metres}} }}
'''Maria "Marie" Dollinger-Hendrix''' (28 October 1910 – 10 August 1994) was a German track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events and the 800 metres. She represented Germany at three consecutive Olympic Games: 1928, 1932 and 1936.
She set an early Olympic record for the 800 m then the 100 m four years later. She was an 800 m finalist in 1928 and placed fourth in the 100 m at both the 1932 and 1936 Olympics. She had most success with the 4×100 metres relay team, setting a world record at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, although the team were disqualified in the final for a dropped baton. Outside of the Olympics she won an 800 m silver medal at the 1930 Women's World Games, a relay gold medal at the 1934 Women's World Games, and several medals at the Olympics of Grace competition.
Individually, in her career she won six titles at the German Athletics Championships and equalled the 800 m world record as well as the European record in the 200 m (neither were ratified). After retirement in 1936 she married fellow Olympic sprinter Friedrich Hendrix and their daughter, Brunhilde Hendrix, later won an Olympic silver medal in the relay in 1960.
==Career==
===First Olympics=== [[File:M Dollinger, Lina Radke, E. Wever 1928.jpg|thumb|235px|Marie Dollinger, Lina Radke and Elfriede Wever, finalists in the 800 m at the 1928 Olympics]] Born in Langenzenn in Bavaria, Dollinger appeared at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics at the age of seventeen and competed in the first ever women's Olympic 800 metres.<ref name=SR1>{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/do/marie-dollinger-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417221033/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/do/marie-dollinger-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-04-17 |title=Marie Dollinger |accessdate=2014-02-02}}</ref> As the winner of the very first 800 m heat, her time of 2:22.4 minutes was the first Olympic record for the discipline.<ref>[http://trackfield.brinkster.net/RecProgression.asp?RecCode=OR&EventCode=WA4&P=F Women, 800 m > Olympic Records Progression]. Brinkster Track and Field. Retrieved on 2014-02-02.</ref> She reached the final of the competition and finished seventh while her older compatriot Lina Radke took the gold in a world record time.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200417174154/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1928/ATH/womens-800-metres.html Athletics at the 1928 Amsterdam Summer Games: Women's 800 metres]. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-02-02.</ref> She improved her best to 2:17.5 minutes the following year, being ranked first in the world that year.<ref name=Brink>[http://trackfield.brinkster.net/Profile.asp?ID=602&Gender=W Maria Dollinger]. Brinkster Track and Field. Retrieved on 2014-02-02.</ref> She entered the 1930 Women's World Games among the favourites but was beaten into second place by British runner Gladys Lunn.<ref name=WG>[http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/fsfi.htm FSFI Women's World Games]. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-02-02.</ref> In Magdeburg in 1931 she matched Radke's world record time of 2:16.8 minutes, but this has not subsequently been officially recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations<ref>[http://trackfield.brinkster.net/RecProgression.asp?RecCode=WR&EventCode=WA4&P=F Women, 800 m > World Records Progression]. Brinkster Track and Field. Retrieved on 2014-02-02.</ref>
===Sprinting: 1932 and 1936 Olympics=== Dollinger began to focus on shorter sprinting events as she entered her twenties. At the 1931 Olympics of Grace, an international women's sporting competition, she won the 100 metres title in a time of 12.6 seconds and was also the 200 metres runner-up behind Britain's Nellie Halstead.<ref name=WG/> Later that year she ran a 200 m personal best of 25.2 seconds in Magdeburg, equalling the European record time (not ratified by the European Athletic Association.<ref>[http://trackfield.brinkster.net/RecProgression.asp?RecCode=ER&EventCode=WA2&P=F Women, 200 m > European Records Progression]. Brinkster Track and Field. Retrieved on 2014-02-02.</ref> Her second Olympic appearance came at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. She travelled with the German team to compete in the 100 m individual and relay events. She broke the 100 metres Olympic record with a time of 12.2 seconds, as again she was the winner in the first heat.<ref>Mallon, Bill (2012). [https://www.webcitation.org/6OU97GUCM?url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/tfn_pdfs/2012_athletics_stats5.pdf TRACK & FIELD ATHLETICS – OLYMPIC RECORD PROGRESSIONS]. ''Track and Field News''. Retrieved on 2014-01-26.</ref> This time was immediately improved by Stanisława Walasiewicz, who set a world record.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200417172601/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1932/ATH/womens-100-metres-round-one.html Athletics at the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Games: Women's 100 metres Round One]. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-02-02.</ref> Dollinger reached the final but was beaten to the podium by Billie von Bremen, ending up in fourth position.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200417173403/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1932/ATH/womens-100-metres.html Athletics at the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Games: Women's 100 metres]. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-02-02.</ref> In the 4×100 metres relay she anchored a team of Grete Heublein, Ellen Braumüller and Tilly Fleischer, but the German women managed only sixth place overall.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200417051458/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/GER/summer/1932/ATH/ Germany Athletics at the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Games]. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-02-02.</ref>
In 1934 she equalled her 100 m best and improved her 200 m time to 24.9 seconds – these ranked her in the top five worldwide in those two events that year. She also set a best of 5.48 metres for the long jump.<ref name=Brink/> She continued to form a part of the German relay team and returned to the 1934 Women's World Games, taking the relay gold alongside Käthe Krauss, Margarete Kuhlmann and Selma Grieme.<ref name=SR1/> She dipped under twelve seconds for the 100 m for the first time in 1935, setting a best of 11.8 seconds in Berlin, which made her the fourth best in the world that season.<ref name=Brink/>
She had her final year of competition in 1936 and the biggest races of her career came at the Berlin Olympic Games. In June, prior to the Olympics, she helped set a European record in the 4 × 100 m relay, timing 46.5 seconds in Köln with a team of Emmy Albus, Krauss, and Grete Debus-Winkels.<ref>[http://trackfield.brinkster.net/RecProgression.asp?RecCode=ER&EventCode=WC1&P=F Women, 4 x 100 m Relay > European Records Progression]. Brinkster Track and Field. Retrieved on 2014-02-02.</ref> At the Berling Olympics, Dollinger won both her heat and semi-final in the women's 100 m but was again narrowly beaten out of the medal positions and finished fourth (this time to her compatriot Krauss).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200417091440/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1936/ATH/womens-100-metres-final.html Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Women's 100 metres Final]. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-02-02.</ref> Redemption seemed be on its way in the women's 4×100 metres relay heats, where Albus, Krauss, Dollinger and Ilse Dörffeldt established a new Olympic and world record time of 46.4 seconds – finishing a full second ahead of the British team.<ref>''Report: Games of the Olympiad'', New York: United States Olympic Committee, 1936, {{OCLC|17760969}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=LwSCAAAAMAAJ p. 159].</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200417091439/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1936/ATH/womens-4-x-100-metres-relay-round-one.html Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Women's 4 × 100 metres Relay Round One]. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-02-02.</ref> In the relay final the German team had built up a large lead by the point that Dollinger handed the baton to Dörffeldt for the last leg of the race. Dörffeldt dropped the baton, however, much to the disappointment of the home crowd, and the team were disqualified.<ref>Bud Greenspan, ''100 Greatest Moments in Olympic History'', Los Angeles: General Publication Group, 1995, {{ISBN|9781881649663}}, [https://books.google.com/books?ei=12sAUIHyJYjU2AWGxKmEBA&id=6ukFmVU2HNUC p. 33].</ref><ref name=Duff>Duff Hart-Davis, ''Hitler's games: the 1936 Olympics'', New York: Harper, 1986, {{ISBN|9780060155544}}, [https://books.google.com/books?ei=9EAAUNzxGsnE2gWI-JD5Aw&id=v6QHAQAAIAAJ p. 200].</ref> This was Dollinger's last performance at a major event and ended her career without having won an Olympic medal.<ref name=SR1/>
She was a six-time national champion at the German Athletics Championships during her career, winning three 800 m titles (1929 to 1931), two 200 m titles (1931 and 1933), and a single 100 m title in 1932. She was awarded the Golden Needle honour by the Deutscher Leichtathletik-Verband for her achievements in athletics.<ref name=SR1/>
===Later life=== Following her retirement from the sport, in 1937 she married Friedrich Hendrix, another German Olympic sprinter silver medallist, and the couple had a child in 1938, Brunhilde Hendrix. Friedrich died in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa in World War II.<ref>{{cite Sports-Reference |check-wikidata=no |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/he/fritz-hendrix-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417224127/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/he/fritz-hendrix-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-04-17 |title=Fritz Hendrix |accessdate=2014-02-02}}</ref> Brunhilde followed in her parents footsteps and represented Germany in the relay at the Olympics. She was a silver medallist in the event at the 1960 Rome Olympics.<ref>{{cite Sports-Reference |check-wikidata=no |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/he/brunhilde-hendrix-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417222100/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/he/brunhilde-hendrix-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-04-17 |title=Brunhilde Hendrix |accessdate=2014-02-02}}</ref> Marie Dollinger died in August 1994 in Nürnberg aged 83.<ref name=SR1/>
==Personal bests== *100 metres – 11.8 s (1935) *200 metres – 24.9 s (1934) *800 metres – 2:16.8 min (1931) *Long jump – 5.48 m (1932 and 1934)
==References== {{reflist|35em}} {{Commons category|Marie Dollinger}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dollinger, Marie}} Category:1910 births Category:1994 deaths Category:People from Langenzenn Category:Athletes from Middle Franconia Category:German women sprinters Category:German women middle-distance runners Category:Olympic athletes for Germany Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Category:World record setters in the sport of athletics Category:Women's World Games medalists Category:Olympic women sprinters Category:20th-century German sportswomen