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

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

. 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. Slijkhuis began his international sports career shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, having competed nationally since 1939. In 1946, he won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the 5000 m at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

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.Wim Slijkhuis
sports-reference.com Two years later he took part in the

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

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

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

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 m ...

; 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

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, 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 "Fanny" Elsje Blankers-Koen (26 April 1918 – 25 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, earn ...

, who won four

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

s at the same Olympics. In 1950, Slijkhuis did win a major title: the 1500 m at the

European championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

held in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, 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 (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

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 organization ...

at the time. During his career Willem Slijkhuis didn't just run almost everywhere in Europe, but also in

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and the

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. 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 British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

. 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

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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 ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

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 earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

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 municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It lies next to the Ringvaart around Haarlemmermeer, the canal around the former Lake Haarlem, at the side of the polder bordering Amsterda ...

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 of 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) 20th-century Dutch people 21st-century Dutch people