Sjoukje Dijkstra

Sjoukje Dijkstra
Sjoukje Dijkstra in 1960
Personal information
Full name	Sjoukje Rosalinde Dijkstra
Country represented	Netherlands
Born	(1942-01-28) 28 January 1942 Akkrum, Netherlands
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Former coach	Arnold Gerschwiler
Medal record Competitor for  Netherlands Olympic Games Gold 1964 Innsbruck Singles Silver 1960 Squaw Valley Singles World Championships Gold 1964 Dortmund Singles Gold 1963 Cortina d'Ampezzo Singles Gold 1962 Prague Singles Silver 1960 Vancouver Singles Bronze 1959 Colorado Springs Singles European Championships Gold 1964 Grenoble Singles Gold 1963 Budapest Singles Gold 1962 Geneva Singles Gold 1961 Berlin Singles Gold 1960 Garmisch-Partenkirchen Singles Silver 1959 Davos Singles

Sjoukje Rosalinde Dijkstra (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌʃʌukjə ˈdɛikstra], born 28 January 1942) is a Dutch figure skater. She is the 1964 Olympic champion in ladies' singles, the 1960 Olympic silver medalist, a three-time World champion (1962–1964), five-time European champion (1960–1964), and the six-time Dutch national champion (1959–1964).^[1]

Career

Dijkstra became the dominant ladies' single skater following the retirement of Carol Heiss in 1960, who took gold medals in Winter Olympics and World Championships that year to Dijkstra's silver medals in both competitions. Dijkstra won all the World and European Championships held between 1961 and 1964 (1961 World Championships was cancelled after Sabena Flight 548 Crash). Her win at the 1964 Winter Olympics was the first gold for the Netherlands at the Winter Olympics.^[2] She is the last person to have won Olympic gold medal after winning a silver or bronze medal in a prior Olympic in Ladies Figure Skating. After 1964, she turned professional and toured with Holiday On Ice from 1964 to 1972.^[1] She became the advisor to the figure skating section of the Dutch Skating Federation in 1985.

In 2005, she was awarded the Fanny Blankers-Koen Trophy, for her contributions to Dutch sports.

On January 9, 2014, she was inducted into the International Figure Skating Hall of Fame, at Boston, Massachusetts, USA, at the U. S. Nationals competition.

During her competitive career, Dijkstra trained in Richmond, London with Arnold Gerschwiler. While her main strength was compulsory figures, she was also a very powerful and athletic free skater who could perform high-quality double axels and flying spins, and who skated with easy movement and strong flow.^[3][4] At 1.68 metres, she was fairly tall for a skater, and one magazine article noted that "she is much more slender in person than she appears on the ice".^[3]

Personal life

Dijkstra is the daughter of Lou Dijkstra, a speedskater who competed in the 1936 Winter Olympics.^[1]

Results

References

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