Willem Frederik "Wim" Slijkhuis (13 January 1923 – 28 June 2003) was a Dutch

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

. During his career that lasted from 1939 to 1954 he was a world's top middle distance runner, excelling in distances from 1500 to 5000 metres.

Biography

Slijkhuis began his international sports career shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, having competed nationally since 1939. In 1946, he won a silver medal in the 5000 m at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

.Wim Slijkhuis
sports-reference.com Slijkhuis won the British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

title in the 3 miles event at the 1948 AAA Championships. Shortly aftewards he took part in the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...

in London, and was a favourite to win a medal. In the 5000 m he finished third, behind Belgian

Gaston Reiff Gaston Étienne Ghislaine Reiff (24 February 1921 – 6 May 1992) was a Belgian runner. He competed at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics in the 5000 m event and won it in 1948, defeating Emil Zátopek in the final and becoming the first Belgian track a ...

and the legendary

Emil Zátopek Emil Zátopek (; 19 September 1922 – 21 November 2000) was a Czech long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres runs, but his final ...

; nevertheless Slijkhuis was not satisfied. In the 1500 m, his second event, he could have done better, but started his final sprint to the finish line too late to catch the two leading

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

, who finished narrowly ahead of him. In spite of this, realising 3:50.4 he equalled his own Dutch record, set two years earlier. Slijkhuis' achievements were overshadowed, however, by the performances of compatriot

Fanny Blankers-Koen Francina Elsje "Fanny" Blankers-Koen (; 26 April 191825 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 ...

, who won four gold medals at the same Olympics. In 1950, Slijkhuis did win a major title: the 1500 m at the

European championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

held in

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, with a time of 3:47.2. His personal best at this distance had already been improved to 3:43.8, realised one year earlier in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

and only 0.8 s away from the existing

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 organizatio ...

at the time. During his career Willem Slijkhuis didn't just run almost everywhere in Europe, but also in New Zealand, South Africa and the United States. He was the first Dutchman who competed in the US Indoor circuit and the first non-American, who ever succeeded in obtaining the US title over one

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a imperial unit, British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of Unit of length, le ...

. Owing to his stubborn behaviour Slijkhuis sometimes clashed with officials of the Dutch Athletics Federation, who he accused of outrageous interference. On the track however he impressed experts and public with his smooth, steady running style. Especially the English were delighted about his beautiful running style, which they lyrically described as "The Poetry of motion". His second Olympic participation in the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

ended without any successes. Slijkhuis, who won eleven national titles – including eight in the men's 5000 metres – on track, seven in

Cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

and set thirty Dutch records, ended his career in 1954 due to injuries. He died on 28 June 2003 in

Badhoevedorp Badhoevedorp is a town in the Western Netherlands, located in the Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of Haarlemmermeer. It has a population of around 14.455. The A9 motorway (Netherlands), Rijksweg 9 passes near the town. From 8 Augu ...

References

Notes

* Weisscher, L. (1966) ''Wim Slijkhuis, een groot atleet.'' De Atletiekwereld nrs. 12 + 13: KNAU * Bijkerk, T. (2004) ''Olympisch Oranje.'' De Vrieseborch
ARRS site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slijkhuis, Willem 1923 births 2003 deaths Dutch male middle-distance runners Dutch male long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists Olympic athletes for the Netherlands Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Sportspeople from Leiden Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) 21st-century Dutch people 20th-century Dutch sportsmen