Josephus ("Jos") Maria Melchior Hermens (born 8 January 1950 in

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the country. With a total area of of which is water, it is the largest province of the Netherlands by land area, and second by ...

) is a former Dutch

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

. Subsequently, he also became well-known for his later career as a sports manager as the founder and CEO of

Global Sports Communication Global Sports Communication (GSC) is a sports management company based in Nijmegen, Netherlands. It primarily manages elite track-and-field athletes and distance runners, specializing in sprint events, middle-distance events, field events, and roa ...

, which manages many Olympian athletes.

Running career

Hermens is a three-time national champion in the men's 5,000 metres, and collected his first title on 14 July 1973 in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. He was named Dutch Sportsman of the Year in 1975. He was a 10,000 metres finalist at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

and set the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

for the

hour run An hour (symbol: h; also abbreviated hr) is a unit of time conventionally reckoned as of a day and scientifically reckoned between 3,599 and 3,601 seconds, depending on the speed of Earth's rotation. There are 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hou ...

the same year. Hermens twice improved the world hour record, on the Papendal track. In September 1975, with Gerard Tebroke as a pacemaker, he ran 20,907 meters. In May 1976, without a pacemaker, he ran an additional 37 meters. This record held until 1991. Hermens had withdrawn from the 1972 Olympic Games following the

Munich massacre The Munich massacre was a terrorist attack carried out during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, by eight members of the Palestinian militant organization Black September, who infiltrated the Olympic Village, killed two members ...

. "It's quite simple," he said. "We were invited to a party, and if someone comes to the party and shoots people, how can you stay?"

Sports management career

After his athletic career was cut short by injuries, Hermens worked for Nike, leaving it in 1985 to start his management company, Global Sports Communications. Hermens' company manages in excess of 100 athletes; his current and former clients include

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie ( am, ኀይሌ ገብረ ሥላሴ, ''haylē gebre silassē''; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian retired long-distance track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Champions ...

, Eliud Kipchoge, Kenenisa Bekele,

Gabriela Szabo Gabriela Szabo (, hu, Szabó Gabriella; born 14 November 1975) is a retired Romanian runner. She competed in the 1500 m and 5000 m events at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics and won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal. Szabo is a three-time world c ...

, Nils Schumann, and

Hezekiél Sepeng Hezekiél Sello Sepeng (born 30 June 1974), is a South African middle distance runner who won silver in the Olympic 800 metres final in Atlanta 1996 (behind Vebjørn Rodal), the 1998 Commonwealth Games (behind Japheth Kimutai) and the World C ...

.Focus on Athletes - Hezekiel Sepeng
IAAF (2004-09-14), retrieved 2011-11-21.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hermens, Jos Living people 1950 births Dutch male long-distance runners Dutch athletics coaches Dutch sports executives and administrators Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics World record setters in athletics (track and field) Olympic athletes of the Netherlands Sportspeople from Nijmegen 20th-century Dutch people 21st-century Dutch people