Niels Holst-Sørensen (born 19 December 1922) is a Danish former athlete and air force officer and centenarian. He served as the commander-in-chief of the

Royal Danish Air Force The Royal Danish Air Force ( da, Flyvevåbnet, lit=The Flying weapon) (RDAF) is the aerial warfare force of The Kingdom of Denmark and one of the four branches of the Danish Defence. Initially being components of the Army and the Navy, it was ...

in 1970–1982 and Denmark's military representative to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

in 1982–1986. He won gold and silver medals at the

1946 European Athletics Championships The 3rd European Athletics Championships were held from 22 August to 25 August 1946 in the Bislett Stadion in Oslo, Norway. For the first time it was a combined event for men and women, and for the first time a city in Scandinavia hosted the champ ...

and served as a member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

from 1977 to 2002.

Athletic career

Holst-Sørensen's first major international meeting was the 1946 European Championships, which took place in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

. Holst-Sørensen won the gold medal in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

with a time of 47.9 seconds. He won a silver medal over

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since t ...

, finishing a tenth of a second behind the Swedish athlete

Rune Gustafsson Rune Urban Gustafsson (25 August 1933 – 15 June 2012) was a Swedish jazz guitarist and composer. He performed with Arne Domnérus, Jan Johansson, and Zoot Sims among others. Life and career Rune Gustafsson was born in 1933 in Gothenburg. ...

in a time of 1:51.1. He was also a member of the Danish team which finished fourth in the 4 x 400 metres relay in a time of 3:15.4. Holst-Sørensen competed in the 800 metres at the 1948 Olympics in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He qualified for the final as no. three in a semifinal in a time of 1:52.4, and finished the final in ninth place in a time of 1:54.0. Holst-Sørensen won a total of ten Danish championships over 400 and 800 metres, winning both events every year from 1943 to 1947. In 1943 in Stockholm he won the 800 metres in an international match against Sweden in a time of 1:48.9, the fastest time recorded in the world that year. A few days later, coming home to Denmark, he was arrested. As a lieutenant of the Danish army he was interned for a period, because the Danish government had finally broken with the German occupation authorities, while Holst-Sørensen was competing in Stockholm. Holst-Sørensen began his career running for Herning GF, but switched to Københavns Idræts Forening in 1944. Holst-Sørensen joined to International Olympic committee in 1977 and served as a member until 2002. He served on the IOC's coordination committees for the

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

Albertville Albertville (; Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a subprefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France. It is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. In 2018, the commune had ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

in 1998 and

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. He was named as an honorary member of the IOC following his retirement in 2002. Holst-Sørensen also served as the president of the National Olympic Committee from 1981 to 1984.

Military career

Holst-Sørensen is a graduate of the

Royal Danish Army Officers Academy The Royal Danish Military Academy ( da, Hærens Officersskole) educates and commissions all officers for the Royal Danish Army. The Military Academy function was initiated in 1713 by request of King Frederick IV on inspiration from the Naval Aca ...

and was a serving

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in the

Royal Danish Army The Royal Danish Army ( da, Hæren, fo, Herurin, kl, Sakkutuut) is the land-based branch of the Danish Defence, together with the Danish Home Guard. For the last decade, the Royal Danish Army has undergone a massive transformation of structures ...

during his athletic career. He was transferred to the

at its foundation in 1950. He eventually rose to the rank of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

and served as the commander-in-chief of the Air Force from 1970 to 1982 and Denmark's military representative to

from 1982 to 1986. He retired from the Air Force in 1987.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holst-Sorensen, Niels 1922 births Living people People from Herning Municipality Danish male sprinters Danish male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Denmark Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics International Olympic Committee members Danish generals European Athletics Championships medalists Sportspeople from the Central Denmark Region