ATHLETE

Fanny Blankers-Koen

1918 - 2004

Photo of Fanny Blankers-Koen

Icon of person Fanny Blankers-Koen

Francina Elsje "Fanny" Blankers-Koen (pronounced [frɑnˈsinaː ˈʔɛlɕə ˈfɑni ˈblɑŋkərs ˈkun] ; 26 April 1918 – 25 January 2004) was a Dutch track and field athlete, best known for winning four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She competed there as a 30-year-old mother of two, earning her the nickname "the Flying Housewife", and was the most successful athlete at the event. Having started competing in athletics in 1935, she took part in the 1936 Summer Olympics a year later. Although international competition was stopped 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. Read more on Wikipedia

Her biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Fanny Blankers-Koen is the 58th most popular athlete (down from 15th in 2019), the 266th most popular biography from Netherlands (down from 146th in 2019) and the most popular Dutch Athlete.

Fanny Blankers-Koen is most famous for being the only woman to win four gold medals in a single Olympic Games. She won the 100 meters, 200 meters, 80 meters hurdles, and 4x100 meter relay in the 1948 Olympics.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Fanny Blankers-Koen by language

Loading...

Among ATHLETES

Among athletes, Fanny Blankers-Koen ranks 58 out of 6,025. Before her are Barbara, Arthur Blake, Irena Szewińska, Lucas, John Woodruff, and Richard Sheldon. After her are Reggie Walker, Lasse Virén, Charles Bennett, Ville Ritola, Wallace, and Yuriy Sedykh.

Most Popular Athletes in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1918, Fanny Blankers-Koen ranks 85. Before her are B. K. S. Iyengar, Gabriel Axel, Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, Richard Winters, Fernando Peyroteo, and Archduke Carl Ludwig of Austria. After her are E. Howard Hunt, Cicely Saunders, Lucian Pulvermacher, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, Philip José Farmer, and Thomas Gordon. Among people deceased in 2004, Fanny Blankers-Koen ranks 71. Before her are Johnny Ramone, Elmer Bernstein, Richard Avedon, Roque Máspoli, Nikolai Chernykh, and Boris Trajkovski. After her are Miki Matsubara, Marika Rökk, Lennart Bernadotte, Serge Reggiani, Thanom Kittikachorn, and Sacha Distel.

Others Born in 1918

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 2004

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In Netherlands

Among people born in Netherlands, Fanny Blankers-Koen ranks 266 out of 1,646. Before her are Guido van Rossum (1956), Cornelis de Houtman (1565), Yolanda Hadid (1964), Adriaan Blaauw (1914), Wim Eijk (1953), and Tiësto (1969). After her are Geert Adriaans Boomgaard (1788), Pieter van Laer (1599), Sicco Mansholt (1908), Emanuel de Witte (1617), Jozef Israëls (1824), and Balthasar van der Ast (1593).

Others born in Netherlands

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among ATHLETES In Netherlands

Among athletes born in Netherlands, Fanny Blankers-Koen ranks 1. After her are Gerda van der Kade-Koudijs (1923), Netti Witziers-Timmer (1923), Tinus Osendarp (1916), Arie van Vliet (1916), Roelof Klein (1877), François Brandt (1874), Mia Gommers (1939), Harry Steevens (1945), Jopie Selbach (1918), Jan Wienese (1942), and Willem Slijkhuis (1923).

Dutch born Athletes

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous