Sjoukje Rosalinde Dijkstra (Dutch pronunciation: [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.
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Sjoukje Dijkstra in the context of Netherlands at the Olympics
The Netherlands first sent athletes to the Olympic Games in 1900, and has participated in almost all Games since then, except for the 1904 Games in St. Louis, which were attended by only a handful of countries due to travel difficulties and limited international participation. Netherlands boycotted the main events of the 1956 Summer Olympics held in Melbourne, joining several other nations in protest of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Hungary, due the Hungarian Uprising. However, one Dutch rider did take part in the equestrian events , which were held earlier that year in Stockholm, Sweden, due to Australian quarantine laws.
The first individual gold medal at the Summer Games was earned by Maurice Peeters in cycling at the 1920 Summer Olympics, in the men's 1000 metres sprint event. The first gold medal at the Winter Games was earned by Sjoukje Dijkstra in ladies' figure skating at the 1964 Winter Olympics.
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