Biography of Famous Olympic Track and Field Athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen

About the biography of the famous olympic track and field athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen, history and information.

Fanny Blankers-Koen

She has been called the greatest all-around female track and field performer in history. In between training and competing in the high jump, long jump, 100-m. and 200-m. sprints and 80-m. hurdles, she somehow found time to marry and have 2 children.

Fanny Blankers-Koen was born in 1918 in Amsterdam. By the time she reached the 1948 Olympic Games in London, she was a slim matron of 30 who had broken world records in the high jump and long jump. But since Olympic performers are limited to 3 individual events, she chose to enter the 100-m. and 200-m. sprints and the 80-m. hurdles.

For starters, Mrs. Blankers-Koen blazed to an 11.9 100-m. for her 1st gold medal. Then she won the hurdles prize at 11.2. This brought her 2 distinctions: It was the 1st double victory for a woman since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1932--and it set a new world record for women. She continued with another gold medal for her 24.4 200-m. run, then anchored the Dutch 400-m. relay team to 1st place to become the only female winner of 4 gold medals in Olympic history.

At various times, this amazing woman held world records in the 100-yd., 100-m., 220-yd., 80-m. hurdles, high jump, and pentatholn. In European championships, she totaled 5 gold medals

Her all-time best times and distances: 100-yd. (10.8), 100-m. (11.5), 220-yd. (24.2), 80-m. hurdles (11.0), long jump (20'6"), high jump (5'7 1/4"), pentathlon (4,692 pts.).