Evelyn Pearl Furtsch (later ''Ojeda'', April 17, 1914 – March 5, 2015) was an American sprint runner. Furtsch won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

in the 4×100 m relay with teammates Mary Carew,

Annette Rogers Annette Rogers (later ''Kelly'', October 22, 1913 – November 8, 2006) was an American sprinter and high jumper. She competed in the individual 100 m, 4×100 m relay and high jump at the 1932 and 1936 Olympics and won two gold medals in the rela ...

and

Wilhelmina von Bremen Wilhelmina "Billie" von Bremen (August 13, 1909 – July 16, 1976) was an American sprint runner. At the 1932 Summer Olympics, she won an individual bronze medal in the 100 meters and a gold medal in the 4×100 meters relay.

at the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Biography

Furtsch was born in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in 1914.Many sources report her date of birth: ''August 16, 1911'', but the Hodak interview reports ''April 17, 1914'', which is right according to the California Birth Index. She and her family moved to

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

when she was 8 years old. During her Junior year at

Tustin High School Tustin High School is a public high school in Tustin, California, United States. It is part of the Tustin Unified School District. It was established in 1921 as the Tustin Union High School. History Founded in 1921, Tustin High School was ori ...

, a gym teacher noticed that she ran very fast. It 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 Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) is a privately owned athletic club and social club in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1880, the club is today best known for its John R. Wooden Award presented to the outstanding men's and ...

, who were at the time, training girls for the 1932 Olympics. In 1931, Furtsch placed in an AAU championship for the only time, when she finished second in the 100 yards.Olympic Bio of the Day: Evelyn Furtsch
Olympstats.com (April 17, 2014). Retrieved on 2017-07-24. At the 1932 Olympics, the American women's 4×100 m 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. After the Olympics Furtsch studied for two years at

Santa Ana College Santa Ana College is a public community college in Santa Ana, California. History In 1915, Santa Ana Junior College opened its doors to 25 students as a department of Santa Ana High School. It was the second community college founded in Orange ...

. There was no track team at the college at the time, so she ended her sports career. She married Joe Ojeda, and together with him ran a real estate brokerage company in Santa Ana, California. Furtsch was the first woman from Orange County to win an Olympic gold medal. She received the Ralph Clark Distinguished Citizen Award in Santa Ana in 1984, and was elected into the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. She also received the Ralph Clark Distinguished Citizen Award in Santa Ana. Furtsch was the last surviving member of the 1932 American 4×100 meter relay team. She turned 100 in April 2014, thus becoming the first female Olympic champion in athletics to live for a century and the first female American Olympic gold medalist to do so. She and

Godfrey Rampling Godfrey Lionel Rampling (14 May 1909 – 20 June 2009) was an English athlete and army officer who competed for Great Britain in the 1932 Summer Olympics and in the 1936 Summer Olympics. He turned 100 on 14 May 2009 and was the ol ...

are the only Olympic track and field gold medalists to live for a century.

References

External links

Hodak interview 1987
{{DEFAULTSORT:Furtsch, Evelyn 1914 births 2015 deaths American centenarians American female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Medalists at the 1932 Summer Olympics Track and field athletes from San Diego Women centenarians Olympic female sprinters 21st-century American women Sportspeople from Orange County, California Tustin High School alumni