Jetze DOORMAN

Jetze Doorman ranks as one of the best Dutch fencers of all time. In 1907, he won the European title in the sabre. As this required the Dutch to organize the next tournament, this prompted the establishment of a fencing federation in the Netherlands. At the Olympic Games, he won four bronze medals with the Dutch team, three of them in the sabre. Remarkably, Doorman only won one Dutch Championship, the inaugural sabre title. Doorman entered the first Olympic modern pentathlon competition, but withdrew after the first event. In 1914, Doorman was stationed in Albania, as part of a Dutch mission to establish a police force there. He was also a decent speed skater, and in 1912 he competed in the Elfstedentocht, a 200 km race over the lakes and canals of Friesland. He rescued two competitors who had fallen through the ice, but eventually was forced to give up because of hypothermia.