With the news that Edinburgh Accies are considering flying a player in by helicopter for Saturdays Cup Final one remembers one of sports finest headlines recently recalled by Herald correspondent Doug Gillon
It of course applied to the legendary Dutch athlete Fann-Blankers-Koen when she competed in the Edinburgh Highland Games which at that time were held at Murrayfield

Francina Elsje (Fanny) Blankers-Koen (Lage Vuursche, 26 April 1918–Hoofddorp, 25 January 2004) was a Dutch athlete, best known for winning four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She accomplished this as a mother of two, during a time when many disregarded women's athletics. Her background and performances earned her the nickname "the Flying Housewife."

Having started competing in athletics in 1935, she took part in the 1936 Summer Olympics a year later. Although international competition was hampered by World War II, Blankers-Koen set several world records during that period, in events as diverse as the long jump, the high jump, and sprint and hurdling events.

Apart from her four Olympic titles, she won five European titles and 58 Dutch championships, and set or tied 12 world records - the last, pentathlon, in 1951 aged 33. She retired from athletics in 1955, after which she became leader of the Dutch female track and field team. In 1999, she was voted "Female Athlete of the Century" by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF

This article was originally posted on 3-May-2007, 07:38 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 3-May-2007, 07:41.