Harriet Claiborne Bland (February 13, 1915 – November 6, 1991), later Harriet Bland Green, was an American sprinter from St. Louis, Missouri.
 Bland at the 1936 Olympics | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | February 13, 1915 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Died | November 6, 1991 (aged 76) Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Alma mater | Washington University in St. Louis | |||||||||||
| Height | 163 cm (5 ft 4 in) | |||||||||||
| Weight | 50 kg (110 lb) | |||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||
| Event | Sprint | |||||||||||
| Club | St. Louis Athletic Club | |||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||
| Personal best | 100 m – 12.2 (1932)[1][2] | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||
Bland was born in St. Louis, the daughter of Isabelle Heard Bland. She attended Mary Institute, a private day school.[3]
Bland nearly qualified for the 1932 Summer Olympics team in 1932,[3] and protested the decision to exclude her. She qualified for the 1936 team, but was told that there was no money to send her to Berlin.[4] After a fundraising campaign by the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, to cover her travel expenses,[5][6] and losing her track shoes and handbag in New York before sailing for Berlin,[7] she competed at the 1936 Summer Olympics, under track coach Dee Boeckmann, in the individual 100m and 4 × 100 m relay. She won a gold medal in the relay, with Betty Robinson, Annette Rogers, and Helen Stephens.[1]
Bland was honored upon her return, alongside other American Olympians, at a parade in New York City.[8] She served on the Ozark A. A. U. Women's Track and Field Committee, and coached a track program for girls in St. Louis, after her Olympic win.[4][9] She was head finish judge at an invitational relay for women in Edwardsville, Illinois in 1965.[10] she later earned a bachelor's degree in interior design at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.[11]
Harriet Bland married professional golfer William W. Green in 1939.[12] They had a son, William C. Green, who subsequently had five sons, including Marshall Heard Bland Green of Wellsville, New York. She survived a stroke in 1974 and used a wheelchair after that. She was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.[4] She died from a heart attack at her son's home in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1991, aged 76 years.[11]
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