Bland nearly qualified for the1932 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 theSt. 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 coachDee Boeckmann, in the individual 100 m and4 × 100 m relay. She won a gold medal in the relay, withBetty Robinson,Annette Rogers, andHelen 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 inEdwardsville, Illinois in 1965.[10] she later earned a bachelor's degree in interior design at theSam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts atWashington 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 ofWellsville, New York. She survived astroke in 1974 and used a wheelchair after that. She was inducted into theMissouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.[4] She died from a heart attack at her son's home inFort Worth, Texas, in 1991, aged 76 years.[11]
