Fanny Blankers-Koen
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Francina Elsje "Fanny" Blankers-Koen was a Dutch track and field athlete, best known for winning four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She competed there as a 30-year-old mother of t
Fanny Blankers-Koen in 1949
Fanny with her husband Jan Blankers after the war in 1948.
Blankers-Koen won the 80 m hurdles at the 1947 Dutch Championships in Amsterdam.
Blankers winning the 100 m final at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Foekje Dillema
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Foekje Dillema was a Dutch track and field athlete. She competed in sprinting where she was a rival of Fanny Blankers-Koen. When she refused a sex verification test at age 24, she was banned from comp
Fanny Blankers-Koen
…Coliseum Relays. In 1950, a controversial episode involving one of Blankers-Koen's competitors occurred. A year earlier, a new Dutch sprint talent, Foekje Dillema had made her breakthrough. In 1950, she broke the national record in the 200 m, and some journalists already dubbed her as the "new Fanny". That year…
Foekje Dillema in 1949
Dillema (second from the right) at the start of the 200 metres in Amsterdam on 18 June 1950.
Dillema during a sprint in Groningen on 12 July 1950.
Sculpture in honor of Dillema by Ids Willemsma from 2014.