Sjoukje Dijkstra

At a glance

Born 1942-01-28; died 2024-05-02.

Known as: figure skater and athlete. Citizenship: Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Listed as: human.

Who they were

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 . [ 1 ] She married Karl Kossmayer, with whom she has two daughters, Rosalie and Katja. [ 2 ] Dijkstra died on 2 May 2024, at the age of 82 from cancer in the kidney and heart failure. [ 3 ] ^ Cite error: The named reference r1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page ).

Sjoukje Rosalinde Dijkstra 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.

Path and career

Awards / honours: Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau and Dutch Sportswoman of the year.

Career During the 1953–54 season, Dijkstra was awarded her first senior national medal, bronze behind Nellie Maas and Joan Haanappel , [ citation needed ] and was assigned to her first ISU Championship , the 1954 Europeans in Bolzano , where she placed 19th. [ citation needed ] 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 ]

Why this date

Sjoukje Dijkstra appears on our May 2 calendar for 2024 as a death entry.