Fanny Blankers-Koen
Encyclopedia
Francina "Fanny" Elsje Blankers-Koen (26 April 1918 – ) was a Dutch
athlete, best known for winning four gold medal
s at the 1948 Summer Olympics
in London
. She accomplished this as a 30 year old mother of two, during a time when many disregarded women's athletics. Her background and performances earned her the nickname "the Flying Housewife." She was the most successful athlete at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
Having started competing in athletics in 1935, she took part in the 1936 Summer Olympics
a year later. Although international competition was hampered by World War II
, Blankers-Koen set several world record
s during that period, in events as diverse as the long jump
, the high jump
, and sprint and hurdling
events.
Apart from her four Olympic titles, she won five European titles
and 58 Dutch championships, and set or tied 12 world records – the last, pentathlon
, in 1951 aged 33. She retired from athletics in 1955, after which she became captain of the Dutch female track and field team. In 1999, she was voted "Female Athlete of the Century" by the International Association of Athletics Federations
(IAAF).
(near Baarn
) to Arnoldus and Helena Koen. Her father was a government official who competed in the shot put
and discus
. She had five brothers. As a teenager, she enjoyed tennis
, swimming
, gymnastics
, ice skating
, fencing
and running
. Standing 5 in 6 in (1.68 m), she was a natural athlete. It soon became clear she was a sports talent, but she could not decide which sport to pick. A swimming coach advised her to do track because there were already several top swimmers in the Netherlands at that time (such as Rie Mastenbroek
), and she would have a better chance to qualify for the Olympics in a track event.
Her first appearance in the sport was in 1935, aged 17. Her first competition was a disappointment, but in her third race, she set a national record in the 800 m. Fanny Koen soon made the Dutch team, although as a sprinter, not a middle distance runner. At that time, 800 m was generally considered too physically demanding for female contestants, and had been removed from the Olympic programme after 1928. The following year, her coach and future husband, Jan Blankers, a former Olympic triple-jumper, encouraged her to enter the trials for the 1936 Olympics
in Berlin
. Only eighteen years old, she was selected to compete in the high jump
and the 4 × 100 m relay
.
At the Berlin Olympics, the high jump
and the 4 × 100 m relay
competitions were held on the same day. In the high jump, she took fifth place (shared with two other jumpers) while the Dutch relay team came in fifth in the final (the sixth team in the final, Germany
, was disqualified). She also gained the autograph
of American
athlete Jesse Owens
; it became her most treasured possession.
Slowly, Koen rose to the top. In 1938, she ran her first world record (11.0 seconds in the 100 yards), and she also won her first international medals. At the European Championships in Vienna
, she won the bronze in both the 100 and 200 m, which were both won by Stanisława Walasiewicz. Many observers, and Koen herself, expected her to do well at the upcoming Olympics
, which were due to be held in Helsinki
in July 1940.
However, the outbreak of World War II
put a stop to the preparations. The Olympics were formally cancelled on 2 May 1940, a week before the Netherlands was invaded
.
er (participant in the 1928 Olympics
) was a sports journalist and the coach of the Dutch women's athletics team, even though he originally thought women should not compete in sports—not an unusual opinion at the time. However, his attitude towards female athletes changed after he fell in love with Koen, who was fifteen years younger than he was.
When Blankers-Koen gave birth to her first child Jan Junior in 1941, Dutch media automatically assumed her career would be over. Top female athletes who were married were rare at the time, and it was considered inconceivable that a mother would be an athlete. Blankers-Koen and her husband had other plans, and she resumed training only weeks after her son's birth.
During war time, Blankers-Koen would set six new world records. The first came in 1942, when she improved the world mark in the 80 m hurdles
. The following year, she did even better. First, she improved the high jump record by an unequalled 5 cm from 1.66 m to 1.71 m in a specially arranged competition in Amsterdam on 30 May. Then, she tied the 100 m world record
, but this was never recognised officially, as she competed against men when setting the record. She closed out the season with a new world record in the long jump
, 6.25 m on 19 September 1943. The latter record would last until 1954.
Circumstances were not easy, and it got more difficult to get enough food, especially for an athlete in training. Despite this, Blankers-Koen managed to break the 100 yd (91.4 m) world record in May 1944. At the same meet, she ran with the relay team that broke the 4 × 110 yd (100.6 m) world record. The German press was excited, as the record had previously been owned by an English team. Months later, she helped break the 4 × 200 m record, which was held by Germany. In an act of defiance, the women wore outfits with national symbols while setting the record.
The winter of 1944–1945, known as the Hongerwinter
(hunger winter), was severe, and there was a great lack of food, especially in the big cities. Sport was the last thing on people's minds, and the Blankers family, living in Amsterdam
, was happy to make it through the war in good health.
The first major international event after the war were the 1946 European Championships
, held in Oslo
, Norway
. Six weeks before the Championships, Blankers-Koen gave birth to Fanny Junior, but this had not stopped her from resuming training shortly afterwards. The Championships were a slight disappointment. In the 100 m semi-finals, held during the high jump final, she fell and failed to qualify for the final. She ended the high jump competition in fourth, with bruises from the fall. The second day was more successful, as she won the 80 m hurdles event, and led the Dutch relay team to victory in the 4 × 100 m.
As the leading athlete in the Netherlands—in 1947 she won national titles in 6 events—Blankers-Koen was assured of a place on the Dutch team for the first post-war Olympics
, held at Wembley Stadium in west London
. After her experience in Oslo, she decided not to take part in all events, but limit herself to four: she dropped the high jump and long jump to concentrate on the 100 m, the 200 m, the 80 m hurdles, and the 4 × 100 m relay (competition rules also prevented an athlete from competing in more than three individual track and field events). Although she displayed her form two months before the Games by beating her own 80 m hurdles world record—one of the six world records that she held at that time—some journalists questioned her, suggesting 30 years was too old for a woman to be an athlete. The British
athletics team's manager, Jack Crump, claimed that she was "too old to make the grade." Many in the Netherlands also said that she should stay at home to look after her children, not compete in athletics events.
Her first competition was the 100 m, and she qualified easily for the semi-finals, in which she set the fastest time. The final (2 August) was held on a muddy track and in rainy conditions. Blankers-Koen sped to the finish line in 11.9, easily beating her opponents Dorothy Manley
and Shirley Strickland
, who took second and third.
Fanny Blankers-Koen thereby became the first Dutch athlete to win an Olympic title in athletics, but she was more concerned with her next event, the 80 m hurdles. Her chief opponent was Maureen Gardner
, also coached by Blankers-Koen's husband and who had equalled Blankers's world record prior to the Games, and would be running for her home crowd. Both athletes made the final, in which Blankers-Koen got off to a bad start (she would later claim she thought there had been a false start). She picked up the pace quickly, but was unable to shake off Gardner, who kept close until the finish line, and the two finished almost simultaneously. When the British national anthem was played, the crowd in Wembley Stadium cheered, and Blankers-Koen briefly thought she had been beaten. However, the anthem was played in honour of the British royal family, which entered the stadium at that time. Examination of the finish photo clearly showed that not Gardner, but Blankers-Koen had won, although both received the same time (11.2).
In spite of her successes, Blankers-Koen nearly failed to start in the semi-finals of the 200 m, held the day after hurdles final. Shortly before the semi-final, she broke down because of home-sickness. After a long talk by her husband, she decided to run anyway, and qualified for the final with great ease. The final, on 6 August, was again held in the pouring rain, but Blankers-Koen completed the inaugural Olympic 200 m for women in 24.4, seven tenths of a second ahead of runner-up Audrey Williamson
—still the largest margin of victory in an Olympic 200 m final. Audrey Patterson
, the first African American
woman to win an Olympic medal placed in third, although a finish photo discovered decades later indicates Shirley Strickland should have won the bronze.
The 4 × 100 m final was held on the final day of the track and field competitions. The Dutch team, consisting of Xenia Stad-de Jong
, Netty Witziers-Timmer
, Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs
and Blankers-Koen qualified for the final, but just before the final, Blankers-Koen was missing. She had gone out to shop for a rain coat, and arrived just in time for the race. As the last runner, she took over the baton in third place, some five meters behind Australia
and Canada
. In spite of a careful and slow exchange, she caught up with the leaders, crossing the line a tenth before the Australian women. Both her 200 metre victory and her relay performance are documented in this youtube video.
Fanny Blankers-Koen won four of the nine women's events at the 1948 Olympics, competing in 11 heats and finals in 8 days. She was the first woman to win four Olympic gold medals, and the first one to do so in a single Olympics. As of 2007, no other track and field athlete has won more gold medals in a single Olympics, although Alvin Kraenzlein
(1900), Jesse Owens
(1936) and Carl Lewis
(1984) have also won four gold medals in one Olympics. Dubbed the "Flying Housewife", and "Amazing Fanny" by the international press, she was welcomed back home in Amsterdam by an immense crowd. After a ride through the city, pulled by four white horses, she received a lot of praise and gifts. From the city of Amsterdam, she received a new bicycle: "to go through life at a slower pace" and "so she need not run so much". Queen Juliana made her a knight of the Order of Orange Nassau.
. It later became clear that she had competed in London while pregnant when her third child was born in early 1949.
A darker episode in Blankers-Koen's life occurred in 1950. 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". With four other girls Foekje was sent to a gynecologist and Dillema was expelled from athletics for the rest of her life. She never spoke publicly on the subject. Dillema died in December 2007. The results of the medical examination were never published. Most of the other women on the team at the time suspect it was an attempt by Jan and Fanny Blankers to eliminate an opponent, although this has never been confirmed.
The same year, she almost repeated her Olympic performance at the European Championships
in Brussels
. She won the titles in the 100 m, 200 m and 80 m hurdles all with large margins of victory (four tenths or more), but narrowly missed out on a fourth win in the relay, which was won by the British team.
At age 34, she took part in her third Olympics
, which were held in Helsinki
. Although she was in good shape, she was severely hampered by a skin boil. She qualified for the 100 m semi-finals, but forfeited a start to save herself for the hurdles race. She reached the final in that event, but after knocking over the second hurdle, she abandoned the race. It was her last major competition. On 7 August 1955, Fanny Blankers-Koen was victorious for the last time, winning the national title in the shot put
, her 58th Dutch title.
to the 1968 Summer Olympics
.
In 1977, her husband Jan died. It forced her, often dependent on Jan Blankers, to become more independent. Some years after his death, she moved back to her old hometown Hoofddorp
. In 1981, the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games an international athletics event, were established. They are still held annually in Hengelo
.
Fanny Blankers-Koen's last moment of glory came in 1999. At a gala in Monaco
, organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations
(IAAF), she was declared the "Female Athlete of the Century". She was very surprised to have won, audibly asking "You mean it is me who has won?"
In the years prior to her death, she suffered from Alzheimer's disease
and lived in a psychiatric nursing home. She was also deaf. She died at age 85 in Hoofddorp on 25 January 2004.
A year before her death, the first biography of Blankers-Koen was published, Een koningin met mannenbenen (A Queen with men's legs) by journalist Kees Kooman. Through many interviews with relatives, friends and contemporary athletes, it paints a previously unknown picture of her. During her successful years, Dutch and international media portrayed her as the perfect mother (hence her nickname "The Flying Housewife"), who was very modest about her own achievements. Kooman's book portrays Fanny Blankers-Koen in a different light, a woman who found it difficult to show affection and most of all always wanted to win. Blankers-Koen and her husband had also written an autobiography in 1949.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
athlete, best known for winning four gold medal
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the 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...
s at the 1948 Summer Olympics
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, England, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. She accomplished this as a 30 year old mother of two, during a time when many disregarded women's athletics. Her background and performances earned her the nickname "the Flying Housewife." She was the most successful athlete at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
Having started competing in athletics in 1935, she took part in the 1936 Summer Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
a year later. Although international competition was hampered by World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Blankers-Koen set several world record
World record
A world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...
s during that period, in events as diverse as the long jump
Long jump
The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point...
, the high jump
High jump
The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....
, and sprint and hurdling
Hurdling
Hurdling is a type of track and field race.- Distances :There are sprint hurdle races and long hurdle races. The standard sprint hurdle race is 110 meters for men and 100 meters for women. The standard long hurdle race is 400 meters for both men and women...
events.
Apart from her four Olympic titles, she won five European titles
European Championships in Athletics
The European Athletics Championships is an event organized by the European Athletic Association. It is organised every four years, the same year as the Commonwealth Games and between the Summer Olympic Games cycle. After the 2010 Championships in Barcelona, the European Championships will take...
and 58 Dutch championships, and set or tied 12 world records – the last, pentathlon
Pentathlon
A pentathlon is a contest featuring five different events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words pente and -athlon . The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Ancient Olympic Games...
, in 1951 aged 33. She retired from athletics in 1955, after which she became captain of the Dutch female track and field team. In 1999, she was voted "Female Athlete of the Century" by the International Association of Athletics Federations
International Association of Athletics Federations
The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded in 1912 at its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation...
(IAAF).
Early life
Blankers-Koen was born Francina Elsje Koen on 26 April 1918 in Lage VuurscheLage Vuursche
Lage Vuursche is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Baarn, and lies about 5 km west of Soest, in the middle of the forest. Drakestein, the former residence of Queen Beatrix, is situated just east of the village.In 2001, the village of Lage-Vuursche...
(near Baarn
Baarn
Baarn is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht.-The municipality Baarn :The municipality of Baarn consists of the following towns: Baarn, Eembrugge, Lage Vuursche.- The town Baarn :...
) to Arnoldus and Helena Koen. Her father was a government official who competed in the shot put
Shot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....
and discus
Discus
Discus, "disk" in Latin, may refer to:* Discus , a progressive rock band from Indonesia* Discus , a fictional character from the Marvel Comics Universe and enemy of Luke Cage* Discus , a freshwater fish popular with aquarium keepers...
. She had five brothers. As a teenager, she enjoyed tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
, ice skating
Ice skating
Ice skating is moving on ice by using ice skates. It can be done for a variety of reasons, including leisure, traveling, and various sports. Ice skating occurs both on specially prepared indoor and outdoor tracks, as well as on naturally occurring bodies of frozen water, such as lakes and...
, fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
and running
Running
Running is a means of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. It is simply defined in athletics terms as a gait in which at regular points during the running cycle both feet are off the ground...
. Standing 5 in 6 in (1.68 m), she was a natural athlete. It soon became clear she was a sports talent, but she could not decide which sport to pick. A swimming coach advised her to do track because there were already several top swimmers in the Netherlands at that time (such as Rie Mastenbroek
Rie Mastenbroek
Hendrika "Rie" Wilhelmina Mastenbroek was a Dutch swimmer and a triple Olympic champion.-Biography:...
), and she would have a better chance to qualify for the Olympics in a track event.
Her first appearance in the sport was in 1935, aged 17. Her first competition was a disappointment, but in her third race, she set a national record in the 800 m. Fanny Koen soon made the Dutch team, although as a sprinter, not a middle distance runner. At that time, 800 m was generally considered too physically demanding for female contestants, and had been removed from the Olympic programme after 1928. The following year, her coach and future husband, Jan Blankers, a former Olympic triple-jumper, encouraged her to enter the trials for the 1936 Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Only eighteen years old, she was selected to compete in the high jump
High jump
The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....
and the 4 × 100 m relay
Relay race
During a relay race, members of a team take turns running, orienteering, swimming, cross-country skiing, biathlon, or ice skating parts of a circuit or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games...
.
At the Berlin Olympics, the high jump
High jump
The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....
and the 4 × 100 m relay
Relay race
During a relay race, members of a team take turns running, orienteering, swimming, cross-country skiing, biathlon, or ice skating parts of a circuit or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games...
competitions were held on the same day. In the high jump, she took fifth place (shared with two other jumpers) while the Dutch relay team came in fifth in the final (the sixth team in the final, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, was disqualified). She also gained the autograph
Autograph
An autograph is a document transcribed entirely in the handwriting of its author, as opposed to a typeset document or one written by an amanuensis or a copyist; the meaning overlaps with that of the word holograph.Autograph also refers to a person's artistic signature...
of American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
athlete Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the...
; it became her most treasured possession.
Slowly, Koen rose to the top. In 1938, she ran her first world record (11.0 seconds in the 100 yards), and she also won her first international medals. At the European Championships in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, she won the bronze in both the 100 and 200 m, which were both won by Stanisława Walasiewicz. Many observers, and Koen herself, expected her to do well at the upcoming Olympics
1940 Summer Olympics
The anticipated 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad and originally scheduled to be held from September 21 to October 6, 1940, in Tokyo, Japan, were cancelled due to the outbreak of World War II...
, which were due to be held in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
in July 1940.
However, the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
put a stop to the preparations. The Olympics were formally cancelled on 2 May 1940, a week before the Netherlands was invaded
Battle of the Netherlands
The Battle of the Netherlands was part of Case Yellow , the German invasion of the Low Countries and France during World War II. The battle lasted from 10 May 1940 until 14 May 1940 when the main Dutch forces surrendered...
.
World War II
Just prior to the invasion, Koen had become engaged, and on 29 August 1940, she married Jan Blankers, thereby changing her name to Blankers-Koen. Blankers, a former triple jumpTriple jump
The triple jump is a track and field sport, similar to the long jump, but involving a “hop, bound and jump” routine, whereby the competitor runs down the track and performs a hop, a bound and then a jump into the sand pit.The triple jump has its origins in the Ancient Olympics and has been a...
er (participant in the 1928 Olympics
1928 Summer Olympics
The 1928 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Amsterdam had bid for the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, but had to give way to war-victim Antwerp, Belgium, and Pierre de...
) was a sports journalist and the coach of the Dutch women's athletics team, even though he originally thought women should not compete in sports—not an unusual opinion at the time. However, his attitude towards female athletes changed after he fell in love with Koen, who was fifteen years younger than he was.
When Blankers-Koen gave birth to her first child Jan Junior in 1941, Dutch media automatically assumed her career would be over. Top female athletes who were married were rare at the time, and it was considered inconceivable that a mother would be an athlete. Blankers-Koen and her husband had other plans, and she resumed training only weeks after her son's birth.
During war time, Blankers-Koen would set six new world records. The first came in 1942, when she improved the world mark in the 80 m hurdles
Hurdling
Hurdling is a type of track and field race.- Distances :There are sprint hurdle races and long hurdle races. The standard sprint hurdle race is 110 meters for men and 100 meters for women. The standard long hurdle race is 400 meters for both men and women...
. The following year, she did even better. First, she improved the high jump record by an unequalled 5 cm from 1.66 m to 1.71 m in a specially arranged competition in Amsterdam on 30 May. Then, she tied the 100 m world record
World record progression 100 m women
The first world record in the 100 metres sprint for women was recognised by the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale in 1922. The FSFI was absorbed by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1936...
, but this was never recognised officially, as she competed against men when setting the record. She closed out the season with a new world record in the long jump
Long jump
The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point...
, 6.25 m on 19 September 1943. The latter record would last until 1954.
Circumstances were not easy, and it got more difficult to get enough food, especially for an athlete in training. Despite this, Blankers-Koen managed to break the 100 yd (91.4 m) world record in May 1944. At the same meet, she ran with the relay team that broke the 4 × 110 yd (100.6 m) world record. The German press was excited, as the record had previously been owned by an English team. Months later, she helped break the 4 × 200 m record, which was held by Germany. In an act of defiance, the women wore outfits with national symbols while setting the record.
The winter of 1944–1945, known as the Hongerwinter
Dutch famine of 1944
The Dutch famine of 1944, known as the Hongerwinter in Dutch, was a famine that took place in the German-occupied part of the Netherlands, especially in the densely populated western provinces above the great rivers, during the winter of 1944-1945, near the end of World War II. A German blockade...
(hunger winter), was severe, and there was a great lack of food, especially in the big cities. Sport was the last thing on people's minds, and the Blankers family, living in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, was happy to make it through the war in good health.
"The Flying Housewife"
1946 European Championships in Athletics
The 3rd European Athletics Championships were held from 22 August to 25 August 1946 in the Bislett Stadion in Oslo, Norway . For the first time it was a combined event for men and women, and for the first time a city in Scandinavia hosted the championships....
, held in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Six weeks before the Championships, Blankers-Koen gave birth to Fanny Junior, but this had not stopped her from resuming training shortly afterwards. The Championships were a slight disappointment. In the 100 m semi-finals, held during the high jump final, she fell and failed to qualify for the final. She ended the high jump competition in fourth, with bruises from the fall. The second day was more successful, as she won the 80 m hurdles event, and led the Dutch relay team to victory in the 4 × 100 m.
As the leading athlete in the Netherlands—in 1947 she won national titles in 6 events—Blankers-Koen was assured of a place on the Dutch team for the first post-war Olympics
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, England, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin...
, held at Wembley Stadium in west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. After her experience in Oslo, she decided not to take part in all events, but limit herself to four: she dropped the high jump and long jump to concentrate on the 100 m, the 200 m, the 80 m hurdles, and the 4 × 100 m relay (competition rules also prevented an athlete from competing in more than three individual track and field events). Although she displayed her form two months before the Games by beating her own 80 m hurdles world record—one of the six world records that she held at that time—some journalists questioned her, suggesting 30 years was too old for a woman to be an athlete. The British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
athletics team's manager, Jack Crump, claimed that she was "too old to make the grade." Many in the Netherlands also said that she should stay at home to look after her children, not compete in athletics events.
Her first competition was the 100 m, and she qualified easily for the semi-finals, in which she set the fastest time. The final (2 August) was held on a muddy track and in rainy conditions. Blankers-Koen sped to the finish line in 11.9, easily beating her opponents Dorothy Manley
Dorothy Manley
Dorothy Gladys Manley Dorothy Gladys Manley (later Hall, then Partlett) Dorothy Gladys Manley (later Hall, then Partlett) (born is a British athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres.She competed for Great Britain in the 1948 Summer Olympics held in London, United Kingdom in the 100 metres...
and Shirley Strickland
Shirley Strickland
Shirley Barbara Strickland AO, MBE , later Shirley de la Hunty, was an Australian athlete. She won more Olympic medals than any other Australian in running sports.-Family:...
, who took second and third.
Fanny Blankers-Koen thereby became the first Dutch athlete to win an Olympic title in athletics, but she was more concerned with her next event, the 80 m hurdles. Her chief opponent was Maureen Gardner
Maureen Gardner
Maureen Angela Jane Gardner was a British champion hurdler who at age 19 was a silver medallist in the 80-metre hurdles at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She narrowly missed the gold medal to Dutch housewife Fanny Blankers-Koen, with an identical recorded time of 11.2 seconds...
, also coached by Blankers-Koen's husband and who had equalled Blankers's world record prior to the Games, and would be running for her home crowd. Both athletes made the final, in which Blankers-Koen got off to a bad start (she would later claim she thought there had been a false start). She picked up the pace quickly, but was unable to shake off Gardner, who kept close until the finish line, and the two finished almost simultaneously. When the British national anthem was played, the crowd in Wembley Stadium cheered, and Blankers-Koen briefly thought she had been beaten. However, the anthem was played in honour of the British royal family, which entered the stadium at that time. Examination of the finish photo clearly showed that not Gardner, but Blankers-Koen had won, although both received the same time (11.2).
In spite of her successes, Blankers-Koen nearly failed to start in the semi-finals of the 200 m, held the day after hurdles final. Shortly before the semi-final, she broke down because of home-sickness. After a long talk by her husband, she decided to run anyway, and qualified for the final with great ease. The final, on 6 August, was again held in the pouring rain, but Blankers-Koen completed the inaugural Olympic 200 m for women in 24.4, seven tenths of a second ahead of runner-up Audrey Williamson
Audrey Williamson
Audrey Doreen Swayne Williamson was a British athlete who competed mainly in the 200 metres....
—still the largest margin of victory in an Olympic 200 m final. Audrey Patterson
Audrey Patterson
Audrey Patterson is the first African-American woman to win an Olympic medal; she won a bronze medal in the 200-meter dash at the 1948 Olympic Games in London.-Biography:...
, the first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
woman to win an Olympic medal placed in third, although a finish photo discovered decades later indicates Shirley Strickland should have won the bronze.
The 4 × 100 m final was held on the final day of the track and field competitions. The Dutch team, consisting of Xenia Stad-de Jong
Xenia Stad-de Jong
Xenia Stad-de Jong is a former Dutch athlete.Born Xenia de Jong in Semarang , her greatest success was winning the gold medal as the first runner in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1948 Summer Olympics, together with Netty Witziers-Timmer, Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs and Fanny Blankers-Koen...
, Netty Witziers-Timmer
Netty Witziers-Timmer
Jeannette Josephina Maria Witziers-Timmer was a Dutch athlete.Born Jeannette Josephina Maria Timmer in Amsterdam her greatest success was when she won the gold medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1948 Summer Olympics, together with Xenia Stad-de Jong, Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs and Fanny...
, Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs
Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs
Gerda Johanna Marie van der Kade-Koudijs is a former Dutch athlete.Born Gerda Koudijs in Rotterdam, her greatest success was winning the gold medal in the 4 x 100 m relay at the 1948 Summer Olympics, together with Xenia Stad-de Jong, Netty Witziers-Timmer, and Fanny Blankers-Koen...
and Blankers-Koen qualified for the final, but just before the final, Blankers-Koen was missing. She had gone out to shop for a rain coat, and arrived just in time for the race. As the last runner, she took over the baton in third place, some five meters behind Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In spite of a careful and slow exchange, she caught up with the leaders, crossing the line a tenth before the Australian women. Both her 200 metre victory and her relay performance are documented in this youtube video.
Fanny Blankers-Koen won four of the nine women's events at the 1948 Olympics, competing in 11 heats and finals in 8 days. She was the first woman to win four Olympic gold medals, and the first one to do so in a single Olympics. As of 2007, no other track and field athlete has won more gold medals in a single Olympics, although Alvin Kraenzlein
Alvin Kraenzlein
Alvin Christian Kraenzlein was an American athlete. He was the first sportsman to win four Olympic titles in a single Olympic Games...
(1900), Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the...
(1936) and Carl Lewis
Carl Lewis
Frederick Carlton "Carl" Lewis is an American former track and field athlete, who won 10 Olympic medals including 9 gold, and 10 World Championships medals, of which 8 were gold. His career spanned from 1979 when he first achieved a world ranking to 1996 when he last won an Olympic title and...
(1984) have also won four gold medals in one Olympics. Dubbed the "Flying Housewife", and "Amazing Fanny" by the international press, she was welcomed back home in Amsterdam by an immense crowd. After a ride through the city, pulled by four white horses, she received a lot of praise and gifts. From the city of Amsterdam, she received a new bicycle: "to go through life at a slower pace" and "so she need not run so much". Queen Juliana made her a knight of the Order of Orange Nassau.
After London
Now known all over the world, Blankers-Koen received many offers for endorsements, advertisements, publicity stunts and the like. Because of the strict amateurism rules in force at the time, she had to turn most offers down. However, in 1949, she travelled abroad to promote women's athletics, flying to Australia and the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It later became clear that she had competed in London while pregnant when her third child was born in early 1949.
A darker episode in Blankers-Koen's life occurred in 1950. A year earlier, a new Dutch sprint talent, Foekje Dillema
Foekje Dillema
On Foekje Dillema, was a Dutch track and field athlete.Dillema was named "athlete of the match" in 1949 after winning the 100 metres and 200 metres race during a tournament in London...
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". With four other girls Foekje was sent to a gynecologist and Dillema was expelled from athletics for the rest of her life. She never spoke publicly on the subject. Dillema died in December 2007. The results of the medical examination were never published. Most of the other women on the team at the time suspect it was an attempt by Jan and Fanny Blankers to eliminate an opponent, although this has never been confirmed.
The same year, she almost repeated her Olympic performance at the European Championships
1950 European Championships in Athletics
The 4th European Athletics Championships were held from 23 August to 27 August 1950 in the Heysel Stadium of the Belgian capital Brussels.-Track:-Field:-Track:-Field:-Medals table:- External links :* *...
in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. She won the titles in the 100 m, 200 m and 80 m hurdles all with large margins of victory (four tenths or more), but narrowly missed out on a fourth win in the relay, which was won by the British team.
At age 34, she took part in her third Olympics
1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...
, which were held in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
. Although she was in good shape, she was severely hampered by a skin boil. She qualified for the 100 m semi-finals, but forfeited a start to save herself for the hurdles race. She reached the final in that event, but after knocking over the second hurdle, she abandoned the race. It was her last major competition. On 7 August 1955, Fanny Blankers-Koen was victorious for the last time, winning the national title in the shot put
Shot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....
, her 58th Dutch title.
Later life
After her athletic career, Blankers-Koen served as the team leader of the Dutch athletics team, from the 1958 European Championships1958 European Championships in Athletics
The 6th European Athletics Championships were held from 19 August to 24 August 1958 in the Olympic Stadium of Stockholm, Sweden.-Men's results:-Women's results:-Medal table:-References:*...
to the 1968 Summer Olympics
1968 Summer Olympics
The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...
.
In 1977, her husband Jan died. It forced her, often dependent on Jan Blankers, to become more independent. Some years after his death, she moved back to her old hometown Hoofddorp
Hoofddorp
Hoofddorp is the main town of the Haarlemmermeer municipality in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. In 2009, the population was just over 73,000...
. In 1981, the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games an international athletics event, were established. They are still held annually in Hengelo
Hengelo
Hengelo is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the International Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service.-Traffic and transport:...
.
Fanny Blankers-Koen's last moment of glory came in 1999. At a gala in Monaco
Monaco
Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...
, organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations
International Association of Athletics Federations
The International Association of Athletics Federations is the international governing body for the sport of athletics. It was founded in 1912 at its first congress in Stockholm, Sweden by representatives from 17 national athletics federations as the International Amateur Athletics Federation...
(IAAF), she was declared the "Female Athlete of the Century". She was very surprised to have won, audibly asking "You mean it is me who has won?"
In the years prior to her death, she suffered from Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
and lived in a psychiatric nursing home. She was also deaf. She died at age 85 in Hoofddorp on 25 January 2004.
A year before her death, the first biography of Blankers-Koen was published, Een koningin met mannenbenen (A Queen with men's legs) by journalist Kees Kooman. Through many interviews with relatives, friends and contemporary athletes, it paints a previously unknown picture of her. During her successful years, Dutch and international media portrayed her as the perfect mother (hence her nickname "The Flying Housewife"), who was very modest about her own achievements. Kooman's book portrays Fanny Blankers-Koen in a different light, a woman who found it difficult to show affection and most of all always wanted to win. Blankers-Koen and her husband had also written an autobiography in 1949.
External links
- Site of the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games
- Short biography from the Olympic Movement