Herman Jan "John" Semmelink (December 17, 1938 – February 7, 1959) was an alpine ski racer from

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. Born in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

, China, he was the eldest son of Richard Herman Semmelink and Margaretha Catharina Visser of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

.Herman Jan (John) Semmelink
Geneagraphie. (2013, August 19). His father had held positions at

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and the Java-China-Japan Line. During

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, the Semmelink family was interned in the

Santo Tomas Internment Camp Santo Tomas Internment Camp, also known as the Manila Internment Camp, was the largest of several camps in the Philippines in which the Japanese interned enemy civilians, mostly Americans, in World War II. The campus of the University of Santo ...

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. The family relocated to Canada in 1950 and he became a naturalized citizen at age 18 in 1957. Semmelink was enrolled at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

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for a year. He won the Commonwealth ski championship in St. Moritz in January 1958, and competed at the

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1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

at Bad Gastein,

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Death and legacy

The following year, Semmelink entered the Arlberg-Kandahar

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race on the Kreuzeck at

Garmisch Garmisch-Partenkirchen (; Bavarian: ''Garmasch-Partakurch''), nicknamed Ga-Pa, is an Alpine ski town in Bavaria, southern Germany. It is the seat of government of the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (abbreviated ''GAP''), in the Ob ...

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. Held on an icy course in challenging conditions of fog and flat light, Semmerlink was the 44th racer on the

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course. At a lower section named ''Himmelreich'' (heaven) just from the finish, witnesses said one of his bindings opened and he crashed into a rock-filled gully. Semmerlink had a serious head injury and was taken by

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

helicopter to a nearby U.S. military dispensary, but died of his 89 starters, 39 did not finish At the request of his parents, Semmelink's body remained in West Germany and he was buried at Garmisch-Partenkirchen. His father stated, "My son loved the mountains above everything and he shall find his last rest here in the mountains."

Memorial award

The annual John Semmelink Memorial Award was initiated by the Canadian Amateur Ski Association in November 1961 to recognize the athlete who, "through sportsmanship, conduct, and ability, best represents Canada in international competition." The first recipient was alpine racer Anne Heggtveit of

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, Olympic gold medalist in the women's slalom in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

. The award is made of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

from

Mont Tremblant Mont may refer to: Places * Mont., an abbreviation for Montana, a U.S. state * Mont, Belgium (disambiguation), several places in Belgium * Mont, Hautes-Pyrénées, a commune in France * Mont, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, a commune in France * Mont, ...

, "a mountain that he loved and skied so well on." The Canadian Snowsports Association currently presents the award.

Helmets

During his final race, Semmelink wore a leather helmet, which was more protection than many racers used at the time. The

U.S. Ski Team The U.S. Ski Team, operating under the auspices of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, develops and supports men's and women's athletes in the sports of alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, cross-country, ski jumping, and Nordic combined. Since 1974 the team and ...

first wore crash helmets at the 1956 Winter Olympics, but most of the Europeans went without. Following Semmelink's death, crash helmets became mandatory in the downhill event, beginning with the 1960 Winter Olympics.

World Championship results

: At the

from 1954 through 1980, the combined was a "paper race" using the results of the three events (DH, GS, SL).

References

External links

Geneagraphie.com
− John Semmelink
YouTube
– 1959 Arlberg-Kandahar race {{DEFAULTSORT:Semmelink, John 1938 births 1959 deaths Sportspeople from Shanghai Canadian male alpine skiers Dutch emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Skiing deaths Sport deaths in Germany