Background
Furtsch was born in San Diego, California in 1914.
Furtsch was born in San Diego, California in 1914.
She and her family moved to Orange County when she was 8 years old. During her Junior year at Tustin High School, a gym teacher noticed that she ran very fast. lieutenant was brought to the attention of Tustin High School track coach, Vincent Humeston where she was soon training and running with the boys track team
At the time, only big cities and big city schools had organized women"s track & field
Humeston got in touch with the Los Angeles Athletic Club, who were at the time, training girls for the 1932 Olympics. In 1931, Furtsch placed in an Amateur Athletic Union championship for the only time, when she finished second in the 100 yards.
In the 1932 Olympics, the Women"s 4 x 100 meters relay team broke both the Olympic and world record. Although they ran it in 46.9 seconds, the Olympics at that time did not count tenths of a second.
The Olympic record, therefore, was recorded at 47.0 seconds, while the world record at 46.9 seconds.
She was elected into the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. She and Godfrey Rampling are the only Olympic track and field gold medalists to live for a century.
Furtsch was the last surviving member of the 1932 4x100 meter relay team