# Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metres

The women's 100 metres sprint event at the 1948 Olympic Games took place July 31 and August 2. The final was won by Dutchwoman Fanny Blankers-Koen.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record Olympic record | Helen Stephens (USA) | 11.5 s | Berlin, Germany | 4 August 1936 |

## Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1).
| Date | Time | |
| Saturday, 31 July 1948 | 14:45 | Round 1 |
| Monday, 2 August 1948 | 15:30 16:45 | Semifinals Finals |

## Results
### Round 1

The fastest two runners in each heat advanced to the semifinals.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Notes |
| 1 | Fanny Blankers-Koen | Netherlands | 12.0 | Q |
| 2 | Viola Myers | Canada | 12.5 | Q |
| 3 | Betty McKinnon | Australia | 12.7 | |
| 4 | Maria Oberbreyer | Austria | | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Notes |
| 1 | Shirley Strickland | Australia | 12.4 | Q |
| 2 | Birthe Nielsen | Denmark | 12.9 | Q |
| 3 | Noemí Simonetto de Portela | Argentina | 13.1 | |
| 4 | Benedicta de Oliveira | Brazil | 13.2 | |
| 5 | Tilly Decker | Luxembourg | | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Notes |
| 1 | Grethe Lovsø Nielsen | Denmark | 12.6 | Q |
| 2 | Winifred Jordan | Great Britain | 12.7 | Q |
| 3 | Audrey Patterson | United States | 12.8 | |
| 4 | Joyce King | Australia | 13.1 | |
| 5 | Betty Kretschmer | Chile | | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Notes |
| 1 | Cynthia Thompson | Jamaica | 12.4 | Q |
| 2 | Daphne Robb-Hasenjager | South Africa | 12.4 | Q |
| 3 | Mabel Walker | United States | 12.2 | |
| 4 | Millie Cheater | Canada | 12.3 | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Notes |
| 1 | Doris Batter | Great Britain | 12.6 | Q |
| 2 | Kathleen Russell | Jamaica | 12.9 | Q |
| 3 | Lillian Young | United States | 13.0 | |
| 4 | Elizabeth Müller | Brazil | 13.2 | Est |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Notes |
| 1 | Dorothy Manley | Great Britain | 12.1 | Q |
| 2 | Phyllis Lightbourn-Jones | Bermuda | 13.0 | Q |
| 3 | Marie-Thérèse Renard | Belgium | 13.6 | |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Notes |
| 1 | Olga Šicnerová | Czechoslovakia | 12.4 | Q |
| 2 | Bente Bergendorff | Denmark | 12.6 | Q |
| 3 | Helena de Menezes | Brazil | 13.2 | |
| 4 | Üner Teoman | Turkey | 13.6 | |

#### Heat 8

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Notes |
| 1 | Liliana Tagliaferri | Italy | 12.8 | Q |
| 2 | Xenia Stad-de Jong | Netherlands | 12.9 | Q |
| 3 | Phyllis Edness | Bermuda | 13.6 | |
| 4 | Grete Pavlousek | Austria | 13.6 | |
| 5 | Alma Butia | Yugoslavia | 13.6 | |

#### Heat 9

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Notes |
| 1 | Patricia Jones | Canada | 12.7 | Q |
| 2 | Grietje de Jongh | Netherlands | 12.9 | Q |
| 3 | Jeanine Moussier | France | 12.9 | |
| 4 | Liv Paulsen | Norway | 12.9 | |

### Semifinals

The fastest two runners in each heat advanced to the final.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Notes |
| 1 | Fanny Blankers-Koen | Netherlands | 12.0 | Q |
| 2 | Shirley Strickland | Australia | 12.4 | Q |
| 3 | Grete Lovso Nielsen | Denmark | 12.7 | Q |
| 4 | Doris Batter | Great Britain | | |
| 5 | Liliana Tagliaferri | Italy | | |
| 6 | Phyllis Lightbourn-Jones | Bermuda | | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Notes |
| 1 | Dorothy Manley | Great Britain | 12.4 | Q |
| 2 | Patricia Jones | Canada | 12.6 | Q |
| 3 | Daphne Robb-Hasenjager | South Africa | 12.7 | |
| 4 | Bente Bergendorff | Denmark | | |
| 5 | Xenia Stad-de Jong | Netherlands | | |
| 6 | Kathleen Russell | Jamaica | | |

#### Semifinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Notes |
| 1 | Viola Myers | Canada | 12.4 | Q |
| 2 | Cynthia Thompson | Jamaica | 12.5 | Q |
| 3 | Olga Sicnerova | Czechoslovakia | 12.5 | |
| 3 | Birthe Nielsen | Denmark | 12.5 | |
| 5 | Winifred Jordan | Great Britain | | |
| 6 | Grietje de Jongh | Netherlands | | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time (hand) | Notes |
| | Fanny Blankers-Koen | Netherlands | 11.9 | |
| | Dorothy Manley | Great Britain | 12.2 | |
| | Shirley Strickland | Australia | 12.2 | |
| 4 | Viola Myers | Canada | 12.3 | Est |
| 5 | Patricia Jones | Canada | 12.4 | Est |
| 6 | Cynthia Thompson | Jamaica | 12.6 | Est |