Fanny Blankers-Koen of The Netherlands in 1999 was voted the Female Athlete of the Century by the IAAF. At the 1948 London Games she won 4 gold medals. She won in the 100 meters, 200 meters, 80 meter hurdles and the 4X100 meter relay. Fanny at the time was 30 years old and a mother of two.They called her “The Flying Housewife” This is one of those great ‘what might have been’ questions. Fanny at the age of 18 was in the 1936 Berlin Games. She finished 5th in the high jump and 5th in the 4X100 meter relay. Due to World War II the 1940 and 1944 games were cancelled. One has to wonder-how many medals would Fanny Blankers-Koen won at the ages of 22 and 26 when she would have been in her prime? She may have won even more medals in the 1948 games but there was a rule that women could only compete in 4 events. She could have been in 7 events. During her career she set or tied 12 world records, her last world record was set at the age of 33. She retired from athletics in 1955. She died at the age of 85 in 2004.
slicethelife 
yes what could have been. only a name you know if you follow the olympics. one of those nicknames that could work back then – not sure that any athlete would want to be known as the flying housewife these days.
yes that is a name i can’t see them pinning on anyone today… i don’t know if you ever have seen the great bud greenspan’s documentaries on the olympics from the 1970s called the olympiad… i am looking all over to find them on dvd or even vhs..hard to find.. but when i saw those in the 1976 i fell in love with the olympics.. i remember the episode well on fanny blankers-koen… kind of like ted williams..bob feller..what might have been…
i have seen a few of the greenspan docs. always wanted to have a voice like that of the voiceover guy. try to imagine that voice describing as i did mundane tasks etc.
that was his brother in law.. he had amazing timing…that voice and the nfl voice of god john fesenda’s
oh wow did not know that – yeah that guy and facenda. holy cow. i think its funny that facenda did not like being the ‘voice’
i don’t think he even liked football..he was an announcer at a philly tv station.
he was. and interesting side note facenda was replaced by judd hambrick – the guy that does the scrabble games in the newspapers.