Foekje Dillema
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Foekje Dillema, (Burum, September 18, 1926 – Kollum, December 5, 2007) was a Dutch athlete.
Dillema was named "athlete of the match" in 1949 after winning the 200-meter during a tournament in London. She was an important competitor for another Dutch athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four golden medals during the 1948 Summer Olympics and was voted "Female Athlete of the Century" by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1999.
In 1950 Dillema was expelled for life by the Dutch National Athletics Federations. Dillema's testosterone level was determined as unnaturally high and they claimed she was a man instead of a woman. Her national record of 24.1 seconds on the 200 meters was erased. This highly controversial decision is still being discussed in the Netherlands. After she was thrown out of a competition in France in 1950 she returned to Friesland. She did not leave her house for at least one year and lived a quiet life in her home town.
Currently it is thought (although by no means proven) that the main reason for her being expelled was the threat she may have been to Blankers-Koen, then the Golden Girl of Dutch athletics. Dillema showed some potential to exceed her.
[edit] External links
- (Dutch) Article
- (Dutch) Foekje Dillema tribute