Bertha BROUWER

After her 200 m silver medal in 1952, Puck Brouwer had to bear the burden of being the expected successor to Fanny Blankers-Koen. She did win two European Championship medals (with the relay team in 1950 and in the 100 m in 1954), but had her sights set on the 1956 Olympics. Although she married in 1953, she chose to wait with children until after the Melbourne Games. Van Duyne-Brouwer travelled there, but shortly before the Olympics she had to return home. The Dutch Olympic Committee had decided to boycott the Olympics following the Soviet invasion in Hungary, and withdrew its team. Disappointed, she quit athletics immediately.

Personal Bests: 100 – 11.5 (1956); 200 – 24.0 (1955).