Wilhelmina Catharina Maria Martina "Wilma" van Gool (née van den Berg. born 11 August 1947), commonly known as Wilma van den Berg, is a Dutch former sprinter, two-time Olympian, silver medalist in the European Championships and Universiade, Dutch national champion, and 1969 Dutch Female Athlete of the Year.

Biography

Van den Berg won the Dutch national championship in both the 100 m event and the 200 m in 1967, 1969–72, and 1976; she also won the 100 m event in 1974. She won a silver medal at the 1969 European Championships in the 100 m event, and a bronze medal at the 1970 European Indoor Championships in the 60 m. At the

1970 Summer Universiade The 1970 Summer Universiade, also known as the VI Summer Universiade, took place in Turin, Italy. After the city of Lisbon, Portugal failed to host the 1969 Summer Universiade, the games were assigned to Turin to be held next year. Sports at t ...

she won a silver medal in the 100 m event, and a bronze medal in the

200 m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

. She competed at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

and

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

in the 100 m and 200 m sprint and 4 × 100 m relay. She finished in fourth place in the relay in 1968; individually, she did not reach the finals. She had qualified for the semifinals in the 200 m sprints at the Munich Olympics, and the 23.22 that she ran in the quarterfinals was faster than the time in the quarterfinals of the eventual gold medal winner,

Renate Stecher Renate Stecher (, ; née Meißner, born 12 May 1950) is a German (former East German) sprint runner and a triple Olympic champion. She held 34 world records and was the first woman to run 100 metres within 11 seconds. Biography Born as Renate ...

of East Germany. However, after the killing of 11 Israeli athletes in the Munich Massacre, and the Olympics not being cancelled, she withdrew from the competition in sympathy with the Israeli victims. She said that she was leaving in protest of the "obscene" decision to continue with the Olympic Games.John Bale (2004)
''Running Cultures; Racing in Time and Space''
/ref> The organizers of the

1973 Maccabiah Games The 9th Maccabiah Games, which were held from July 9 to 19, 1973, were opened in Ramat Gan Stadium, Israel. Spain and Costa Rica made their debuts in the Games. A total of 1,800 athletes competed on behalf of 27 countries in 20 branches of sport, i ...

in Israel invited her to join, and she ran as a pacer—not as a competitor. In 1969 she was selected as the Dutch Female Athlete of the Year. Her personal bests were 11.1 seconds in the 100 m (1972), and 23.22 seconds in the 200 m (1972).

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* * * 1947 births Living people Dutch female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for the Netherlands Sportspeople from Uden Athletes from North Brabant European Athletics Championships medalists Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games silver medalists for the Netherlands FISU World University Games bronze medalists for the Netherlands Medalists at the 1970 Summer Universiade Olympic female sprinters 20th-century Dutch sportswomen {{Netherlands-athletics-bio-stub

Biography

See also

References

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