Willem Slijkhuis

Willem Slijkhuis

Hans Harting and Wim Slijkhuis (right) in 1951
Personal information
Born	13 January 1923 Leiden, the Netherlands
Died	28 June 2003 (aged 80) Badhoevedorp, the Netherlands
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	62 kg (137 lb)
Sport
Sport	Middle-distance running
Club	AAC, Amsterdam
Medal record Representing the  Netherlands Olympic Games 1948 London 1500 metres 1948 London 5000 metres European Championships 1950 Brussels 1500 m 1946 Oslo 5000 m

Willem Frederik "Wim" Slijkhuis (13 January 1923 – 28 June 2003) was a Dutch athlete. During his career that lasted from 1939 to 1954 he was a world’s top middle distance runner, excelling in distances from 1500 to 5000 metres.

Slijkhuis began his international sports career shortly after World War II, having competed nationally since 1939. In 1946, he won a silver medal in the 5000 m at the European Championships in Oslo.

Two years later he took part in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, and was a favourite to win a medal. In the 5000 m he finished third, behind Belgian Gaston Reiff and the legendary Emil Zátopek; nevertheless Slijkhuis was not satisfied. In the 1500 m, his second event, he could have done better, but started his final sprint to the finish line too late to catch the two leading Swedes, who finished narrowly ahead of him. In spite of this, realising 3:50.4 he equalled his own Dutch record, set two years earlier. Slijkhuis' achievements were overshadowed, however, by the performances of compatriot Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four gold medals at the same Olympics.

In 1950, Slijkhuis did win a major title: the 1500 m at the European championships held in Brussels, with a time of 3:47.2. His personal best at this distance had already been improved to 3:43.8, realised one year earlier in Antwerp and only 0.8 s away from the existing world record at the time.