Mgiyuk

26th April 2018, 3:27 pm == SHE was the trailblazing Dutch track star whose achievements at the 1948 London Olympics made a mockery of stereotypes about female athletes. Now Fanny Blankers-Koen is being commemorated with a Google Doodle on what would have been her 100th birthday – here is what you need to know about her... PA:Empics Sport Fanny Blankers-Koen crushed sexist stereotypes with her athletic achievements Who was Fanny Blankers-Koen? Fanny Blankers-Koen was born Francina Elsje Koen on April 26, 1918, in Lage Vuursche, a small village in the Netherlands. The daughter of a government official who competed in the discus and shot put, she was an athletic teenager who excelled in tennis, swimming and gymnastics. However, it was as a runner that Blankers-Koen made the biggest impression, and she set a national 800m record in just her third race. At the age of 18, she appeared in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, coming joint-sixth in the high jump and fifth in the 4x100m relay. Times ...