Adriaan Paulen
.jpg) Ad Paulen (1976) |
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| Medal record | ||
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| Men's athletics | ||
Representing the  Netherlands
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| World Student Games | ||
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1923 Paris | 400 metres |
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1923 Paris | 800 metres |
Adriaan "Adje" Paulen (12 October 1902, Haarlem – 9 May 1985, Eindhoven) was a Dutch athlete who competed from 1917 to 1931. During World War II, he was part of the Dutch resistance in the Netherlands. Following World War II, Paulen became a sports official, becoming president of the IAAF (then International Amateur Athletic Federation), serving from 1976 to 1981.
Competing in three Summer Olympics, Paulen earned his best finish of seventh in the 800 m event at Antwerp in 1920. In 1924, he became first of over forty world record breakers (up to his 1985 death) in athletics at Bislett stadion in Oslo, setting a record in 500 m, then an official distance. Besides competing at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, Paulen was also a member of the Organizing Committee.
Stepping down from his athletic career in 1931, Paulen also participated in the Monte Carlo Rally eight times and once competed in the Dutch TT MotoGP event. In his youth, Paulen competed in football (soccer) at an international level.
When Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, Paulen joined the Nederlandse Unie, an organisation that strived for co-operation with the German occupier. In August 1940 Paulen participated in fusion talks between the Nederlandse Unie and the fascistic Nationaal Front, which original name was Zwart Front (Black Front). Other participants for the Nederlandse Unie during these talks were Jan de Quay, after the war minister-president, Louis Einthoven, former head of the Rotterdam police and afterwar director of the BVD (secret service) and Hans Linthorst Homan, commissioner of the Queen in the province Groningen. For the Nationaal Front the infamous fascist Leader Arnold Meijer was head of a four men delegation. During these talks Jan de Quay, head of the delegation of the Nederlandse Unie, called himself a fascist, the Nederlandse Unie a fascistic organisation and said that he opposed democracy. The fusion talks failed.
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