alt SEBASTIAN COE has unveiled a statue in Hengelo in memory of Fanny Blankers-Koen, the Dutchwoman who won a record four Olympic gold medals the last time London staged the Games in 1948.

 

Blankers-Koen died on January 25 2004, at the age of 85, and will be chiefly remembered for her performances in London.

 

Blankers-Koen, won the 80 metres Hurdles, the 100m, the 200m and the 4x100m at the 1948 Games in London.

Upon her return to Amsterdam, Blankers-Koen was treated to a large parade in Amsterdam.
 
Seated with her husband in an open coach drawn by four white horses, she was mildly bemused by the general excitement.
 
She kept saying: "All I did was win some foot races."
 
During her career, which spanned nearly two decades, Blankers-Koen set a range of world records covering flat sprint and hurdles, high jump and long jump, as well as the pentathlon.
 
She also won five European titles.
 
The two-metres high bronze statue which depicts Blankers-Koen hurdling was made by Antoinette Ruiter, a local artist, and was unveiled by Fanny’s son Jan Blankers and Coe, a two-time Olympic 1500 metres champion and multiple world record breaker, who, besides being the chairman of London 2012, is now also an International Association of Athletics Federations council member.