Francina “Fanny” Elsje Blankers-Koen was a Dutch athlete, best known for winning four gold medals 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.
Google Celebrates Fanny Blankers-Koen’s 100th Birthday with doodle on April 26, 2018.
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 eliminated by World War II, Blankers-Koen set several world records 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.
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