London, Wembley, 4 August 1948: medal ceremony for the 80m hurdles event: Francina BLANKERS-KOEN from Netherlands, 1st, Maureen GARDNER from Great Britain, 2nd, and Shirley STRICKLAND-DE LA HUNTY from Australia, 3rd. Credit: IOC Olympic Museum Collections

Other names: BLANKERS-KOEN, Francina Elsje, BLANKERS-KOEN, Francina

KOEN, Francina, KOEN, Fanny

Born: 26 April 1918

Deceased: 25 January 2004

Birthplace: Baarn (Netherlands)

Nationality: Netherlands

Sport: Athletics

ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Berlin 1936

London 1948

Helsinki 1952

AWARDS

Olympic medals:

Gold: 4

Other results:

European Championships

Gold: 5 (46,50)

Silver: 1 (50)

Bronze: 2 (38)

Mother Lode

Francina "Fanny" Blankers-Koen was an outstanding all-around athlete who made her Olympic début as a high jumper in 1936 for the Netherlands, as Fanny Koen. World War II deprived her of the opportunity of making further Olympic appearances until 1948 when, at the age of 30 and the mother of two, she was the star of the London Games when she won four gold medals. She won the 100m, 200m, 80m hurdles and ran the anchor leg on the winning relay team.

She was deprived of more championships by a rule limiting women to three individual events in track & field athletics, at a time when Blankers-Koen was also the world record holder in the high jump and long jump. She set 16 world records at eight different events - 100 yards, 100m, 200m, high hurdles, high jump, long jump, pentathlon, and 4x110 yard relay.

Blankers-Koen also won five European titles between 1946 and 1950 and she won 58 national championships in the Netherlands. For her sporting feats, a statue was erected in her honor in her native Amsterdam. She married