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Sjoukje Dijkstra

{{Short description|Dutch figure skater (1942–2024)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}

{{Infobox figure skater

| name = Sjoukje Dijkstra

| image = Sjoukje Dijkstra c1965.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Dijkstra in 1965

| fullname = Sjoukje Rosalinde Dijkstra

| altname = Sjoukje Kossmayer

| country = Netherlands

| birth_date = {{birth date|1942|1|28|df=y}}

| birth_place = Akkrum, Netherlands

| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|5|2|1942|1|28|df=y}}

| death_place = Someren, Netherlands

| hometown =

| residence =

| height = {{convert|1.69|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

| formercoach = Arnold Gerschwiler

| formerchoreographer =

| former skating club =

| formertraininglocations = Richmond, London

| beganskating =

| retired = 1964

| show-medals = yes

| medaltemplates = {{MedalCountry | {{NED}}}}

{{MedalCompetition|Olympic Games}}

{{MedalGold|1964 Innsbruck|Singles}}

{{MedalSilver|1960 Squaw Valley|Singles}}

{{MedalCompetition|World Championships}}

{{MedalGold|1964 Dortmund|Singles}}

{{MedalGold|1963 Cortina d'Ampezzo|Singles}}

{{MedalGold|1962 Prague|Singles}}

{{MedalSilver|1960 Vancouver|Singles}}

{{MedalBronze|1959 Colorado Springs|Singles}}

{{MedalCompetition|European Championships}}

{{MedalGold|1964 Grenoble|Singles}}

{{MedalGold|1963 Budapest|Singles}}

{{MedalGold|1962 Geneva|Singles}}

{{MedalGold|1961 Berlin|Singles}}

{{MedalGold|1960 Garmisch-Partenkirchen|Singles}}

{{MedalSilver|1959 Davos|Singles}}

}}

Sjoukje Rosalinde Dijkstra ({{IPA|nl|ˈɕʌukjə ˈdɛikstraː}}; 28 January 1942 – 2 May 2024) was a Dutch competitive figure skater. She was 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). She was the first Dutch athlete to win a Winter Olympics gold medal.{{cite news |title=Dutch gold medalist figure skater Sjoukje Dijkstra dies at 82 |access-date=7 May 2024 |agency=The Associated Press |work=ESPN |date=3 May 2024 |url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/figureskating/story/_/id/40073899/dutch-gold-medal-winning-figure-skater-sjoukje-dijkstra-dies-82}}

Personal life

Sjoukje Rosalinde Dijkstra was born on 28 January 1942 in Akkrum, Netherlands. She was the daughter of Lou Dijkstra, a speed skater who competed in the 1936 Winter Olympics. She married Karl Kossmayer, with whom she has two daughters, Rosalie and Katja.

Dijkstra died on 2 May 2024, at the age of 82.{{Cite web |title=Kunstschaatsicoon Sjoukje Dijkstra (82) overleden |url=https://www.telegraaf.nl/sport/1810065072/kunstschaatsicoon-sjoukje-dijkstra-82-overleden |url-access=subscription |website=De Telegraaf |language=nl-NL}}

Career

During the 1953–54 season, Dijkstra was awarded her first senior national medal, bronze behind Nellie Maas and Joan Haanappel,{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} and was assigned to her first ISU Championship, the 1954 Europeans in Bolzano, where she placed 19th.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} She finished 12th at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

After four seasons ranked second to Haanappel, Dijkstra defeated her for the Dutch national title in the 1958–59 season.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} She also stood on ISU Championship podiums for the first time, taking silver at the 1959 Europeans and bronze at the 1959 Worlds.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Dijkstra won silver behind Carol Heiss at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California and at the 1960 World Championships in Vancouver.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} She became the dominant ladies' single skater after Heiss retired from competition.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

Dijkstra won all the World and European Championships held between 1961 and 1964 (except the 1961 World Championships, which were cancelled following the Sabena Flight 548 crash). After taking her sixth consecutive national title, she went on to win gold at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. It was the first gold for the Netherlands at the Winter Olympics. She is the last person to have won Olympic gold in ladies' figure skating after winning a silver or bronze medal at a prior Olympics.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}

During her competitive career, Dijkstra was coached by Arnold Gerschwiler in Richmond, London. While her main strength was compulsory figures, she was also a very powerful and athletic free skater who could perform high-quality double Axel jumps and flying spins, and who skated with easy movement and strong flow. 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".

After 1964, Dijkstra turned professional and toured with Holiday On Ice from 1964 to 1972. 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 9 January 2014, she was inducted into the International Figure Skating Hall of Fame at a ceremony during the 2014 U.S. Championships in Boston, Massachusetts.

Dijkstra appeared as herself on 13 September 1965 episode of To Tell the Truth, receiving three of the four possible votes.{{cite web |title=To Tell the Truth |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSb2M935-Xs |website=CBS |access-date=10 July 2022}}

File:Eiskunstlauf-Weltmeisterschaft 1964 916-1135.jpg, ladies' singles medalists (left to right: Regine Heitzer, Sjoukje Dijkstra, Petra Burka)]]

Results

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
style="background-color: #ffdead; " colspan=12 align=center | International
Event

! {{tooltip|53–54|1953–54}}

! 54–55

! 55–56

! 56–57

! 57–58

! 58–59

! 59–60

! 60–61

! 61–62

! 62–63

! 63–64

align=left | Olympics12thbgcolor=silver | 2ndbgcolor=gold | 1st
align=left | World Champ.21st16th12th16thbgcolor=cc9966 | 3rdbgcolor=silver | 2ndbgcolor=gold | 1stbgcolor=gold | 1stbgcolor=gold | 1st
align=left | European Champ.19th7th6thbgcolor=silver | 2ndbgcolor=gold | 1stbgcolor=gold | 1stbgcolor=gold | 1stbgcolor=gold | 1stbgcolor=gold | 1st
align=left | Richmond Trophybgcolor=silver | 2ndbgcolor=cc9966 | 3rdbgcolor=gold | 1stbgcolor=gold | 1stbgcolor=gold | 1st
style="background-color: #ffdead; " colspan=12 align=center | National
align=left | Dutch Champ.bgcolor=cc9966 | 3rdbgcolor=silver | 2ndbgcolor=silver | 2ndbgcolor=silver | 2ndbgcolor=silver | 2ndbgcolor=gold | 1stbgcolor=gold | 1stbgcolor=gold | 1stbgcolor=gold | 1stbgcolor=gold | 1stbgcolor=gold | 1st

References

{{Commons category}}

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite news |url= http://krant.telegraaf.nl/krant/archief/20010530/teksten/bin.sjoukje.karl.zegt.rosalie.html |title= Sjoukje Dijkstra nu achter de kassa |language= Dutch |trans-title=Sjoukje Dijkstra |work= De Telegraaf |date= 30 May 2001 |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20150405182034/http://krant.telegraaf.nl/krant/archief/20010530/teksten/bin.sjoukje.karl.zegt.rosalie.html |archivedate= 5 April 2015 |url-status= live }}

{{cite web |url= http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-148236-165452-56215-0-file,00.pdf |title= World Figure Skating Championships Results: Ladies |publisher= International Skating Union |format=PDF |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110603230816/http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-148236-165452-56215-0-file,00.pdf |archivedate= 3 June 2011 }}

{{cite web |url= http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-147123-164339-54461-0-file,00.pdf |title= European Figure Skating Championships Results: Ladies |publisher= International Skating Union |format=PDF |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110603230925/http://www.isu.org/vsite/vfile/page/fileurl/0,11040,4844-147123-164339-54461-0-file,00.pdf |archivedate= 3 June 2011 }}

{{citation |title= Europe's World Champions... 1962 |work= Skating magazine |date= June 1962 }}

{{citation |title= Lady Champion of the World |work= Skating magazine |date= June 1963 }}

{{cite web |url= https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/di/sjoukje-dijkstra-1.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200417231825/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/di/sjoukje-dijkstra-1.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 17 April 2020 |title= Sjoukje Dijkstra |publisher= Sports Reference }}

{{cite web |url= http://i.nbcolympics.com/nations/nation=ned/olympic-tradition.html |title= Netherlands: Olympic Tradition |work= NBC |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20140226223332/http://i.nbcolympics.com/nations/nation=ned/olympic-tradition.html |archivedate= 26 February 2014 }}

}}

External links

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{{succession box|title=Dutch Sportswoman of the Year|before=Gerrit Schulte|after=Ada Kok|years=1959 to 1964}}

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Category:1942 births

Category:2024 deaths

Category:Dutch female single skaters

Category:Figure skaters at the 1956 Winter Olympics

Category:Figure skaters at the 1960 Winter Olympics

Category:Figure skaters at the 1964 Winter Olympics

Category:Olympic figure skaters for the Netherlands

Category:Olympic gold medalists for the Netherlands

Category:Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands

Category:People from Boarnsterhim

Category:Sportspeople from Friesland

Category:Olympic medalists in figure skating

Category:World Figure Skating Championships medalists

Category:European Figure Skating Championships medalists

Category:Medalists at the 1960 Winter Olympics

Category:Medalists at the 1964 Winter Olympics

Category:20th-century Dutch sportswomen