Fanny Blankers-Koen biography
Fanny Blankers-Koen, née Francina Elsje Koen, (born April 26, 1918, close to Baarn, Netherlands—died January 25, 2004, Amsterdam), versatile Dutch track-and-field athlete who, on the 1948 Olympics in London, turned the primary girl to win 4 gold medals at a single Games. During her profession, she set world data in eight totally different occasions.
She first achieved success as a young person, profitable a Dutch nationwide championship within the 800-metre run in 1935; the subsequent yr, at age 17, she positioned sixth within the excessive leap and competed within the 4 × 100-metre relay on the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Her time of 11.0 sec within the 100-yard sprint in Amsterdam in 1938 tied a world document. She married her coach, former Olympic triple jumper Jan Blankers, in 1940. In 1942 and 1943 she set world data within the 80-metre hurdles (11.0 sec), excessive leap (1.71 metres [5.61 feet]), and lengthy leap (6.25 metres [20.51 feet]).
Prior to the 1948 Olympics in London, some specialists thought Blankers-Koen, who was 30, was too outdated to be an Olympic dash champion, and others denounced her for not attending to her duties as a spouse and mom of two. In addition, she usually educated solely twice every week for 2 hours, along with her youngsters in tow. Olympic guidelines restricted Blankers-Koen to collaborating in solely three particular person occasions on the 1948 Games. Despite her leaping data, she most popular observe occasions and made them her focus. She gained the 100-metre dash by a snug margin, however within the 80-metre hurdles she needed to overcome each a gradual begin and a bumped hurdle with a purpose to safe a slim victory. Despite profitable gold in her first two occasions, an emotionally spent Blankers-Koen was not assured going into the 200-metre occasion. Feeling each pressured to win and reviled for even collaborating, she burst into tears and advised her husband that she needed to withdraw. She reconsidered, nonetheless, and went on to win the ultimate by a decisive margin, regardless of muddy situations. In her final occasion, the 4 × 100 relay, she acquired the baton in fourth place and caught the lead runner on the end line. Nicknamed the “Flying Housewife” by the press, Blankers-Koen acquired a hero’s welcome when she returned to the Netherlands. It was later revealed that she had been pregnant in the course of the Games.
In 1951, after the pentathlon had been modified to include the shot put, excessive leap, 200-metre dash, 80-metre hurdles, and lengthy leap, Blankers-Koen set the primary trendy pentathlon document, with 4,692 factors. She didn't earn a medal in her closing Olympic look in Helsinki in 1952. Blankers-Koen subsequently retired, having set world data 16 instances in eight totally different occasions, together with the pentathlon in 1951. She had gained 5 European titles between 1946 and 1950 and captured 58 Dutch nationwide championship titles. In 1999 she was named the highest feminine athlete of the twentieth century by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF; later known as the International Association of Athletics Federations).