Josephus Maria Melchior Hermens (born January 8, 1950 in Nijmegen, Gelderland

Gelderland

Gelderland is the largest province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country. The capital city is Arnhem. The two other major cities, Nijmegen and Apeldoorn have more inhabitants. Other major regional centers in Gelderland are Ede, Doetinchem, Zutphen, Tiel, Wijchen,...

) is a former Dutch

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...

 long-distance runner, also known for his latter career as a sports manager.

Hermens is a three-time national champion in the men's 5,000 metres, and collected his first title on July 14, 1973 in The Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

. He was named Dutch Sportsman of the Year in 1975. He was a 10,000 metres finalist at the 1976 Summer Olympics

1976 Summer Olympics

The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...

 and set the world record for the hour run

Hour run

The one hour run is an athletics event in which competitors try to cover as much distance as possible within one hour. While officially recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations as a track event, it is rarely contested apart from occasional world record attempts.The event...

 the same year.

Hermens twice improved the world hour record, on the Papendal track. In September 1975, with Gerard Tebroke as a pacemaker, he ran 20,907 meters. In May 1976, without a pacemaker, he ran an additional 37 meters. This record held until 1991.

After his athletic career was cut short by injuries, Hermens worked for Nike

Nike, Inc.

Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

, leaving it in 1985 to start his management company, Global Sports Communications. Hermens' company manages in excess of 100 athletes; his current and former clients include Haile Gebrselassie

Haile Gebrselassie

Haile Gebrselassie is an Ethiopian long-distance track and road running athlete. He won two Olympic gold medals over 10,000 metres and four World Championship titles in the event. He won the Berlin Marathon four times consecutively and also had three straight wins at the Dubai Marathon...

, Kenenisa Bekele

Kenenisa Bekele

Kenenisa Bekele is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who holds the world record and Olympic record in both the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres events...

, Gabriela Szabo

Gabriela Szabo

Gabriela Szabo is a Romanian track and field athlete, winner of the gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics in 5000 m and winner of bronze and silver medals in 1996 Summer Olympics and 2000 Summer Olympics in 1500 m, respectively....

, Nils Schumann

Nils Schumann

Nils Schumann is a former German athlete, winner of the 800 m at the 2000 Summer Olympics, who retired in 2009...

 and Hezekiél Sepeng

Hezekiél Sepeng

Hezekiél Sello Sepeng , is a South African middle distance runner who came second in the Olympic 800 metres final in Atlanta 1996 , the 1998 Commonwealth Games and the World Championships' final in Seville 1999...

.

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