Gerard Bosch van Drakestein

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Gerard Bosch van Drakestein Road cycling
Bosch van Drakestein (1928)
Bosch van Drakestein (1928)
To person
Full name Jonkheer Gérard Dagobert
Henri Bosch van Drakestein
Date of birth July 24, 1887
date of death March 20, 1972
nation NetherlandsNetherlands Netherlands
discipline Road / train
Last updated: May 10, 2020

Jonkheer Gérard Dagobert Henri "Gerard" Bosch van Drakestein (born July 24, 1887 in Mechelen , † March 20, 1972 in The Hague ) was a Dutch track cyclist , cycling official and sports journalist.

biography

Athletic career

Gerard Bosch van Drakestein came from a wealthy noble family, which is why he drove races under the pseudonyms Rudge Withwort , Ulysses , John Green or Bismarck as a youth , as this was considered improper in his social class. This is one of the reasons why he remained an amateur throughout his career . He won a total of 16 Dutch championship titles in the course of his sports career.

In 1914 Bosch van Drakestein took part in the World Railroad Championships in Copenhagen and, after the outstanding English sprinter William Bailey stepped over to the pros, had justified hopes for the world title. However, because of the outbreak of World War I , the World Track Championship was canceled when Bosch van Drakestein had already reached the final. At the UCI track world championships in Zurich in 1923 , he took third place in the sprint .

Bosch van Drakestein took part in the Olympic Games three times, in 1908 , 1924 and 1928 . In 1908 in London, the Dutch team finished fourth in the team pursuit with Bosch van Drakestein in its ranks ; In 1924 in Paris he won the bronze medal in the tandem race with Maurice Peeters , and in 1928 in Amsterdam the silver medal in the single pursuit . He could not start in the team pursuit because of flu, Janus Braspennincx stood in for him. Bosch van Drakestein then ended his active career at the age of 42.

After cycling

Gerard Bosch van Drakestein wrote articles for the Bredasche Courant during his early years as a cyclist . In 1913 he moved to The Hague and worked for various car dealerships. From 1932 until his retirement he was the Rijksinkoopbureau ( Reich purchasing office operates).

In 1928 he was one of the co-founders of the Dutch cycling association Koninklijke Nederlandsche Wielren Unie (KNWU) and was editor of the association's organ Sport Echo until 1936 . In the 1930s, the "born troublemaker" fell out with his colleagues and founded his own association without success. After speaking out against the participation of Dutch athletes in the Olympic Games in Berlin because of the Nazi regime's Jewish policy , he later turned politically to the National Socialist Movement (NSB). In letters to the anti-Semitic magazine De Misthoorn , Bosch van Drakestein launched a character assassination campaign against his former friend Barend Swaab de Beer , who was of Jewish origin. Swaab de Beer finally emigrated to Switzerland. After the war there were legal disputes over these incidents, which, however, came to nothing.

Bosch van Drakestein did not experience any disadvantages because of his behavior after World War II . He lived in The Hague , where he was considered a "sight" because he rode a suit every day to work in a ministry on a racing bike. Until his death he wrote columns for De Kampioen .

successes

1923
1924
1928

literature

  • Fred van Slogteren: Wielerhelden van Oranje , Nieuwegein 2003, ISBN 90-77072-42-X , p. 20ff.

Web links

Commons : Gerard Bosch van Drakestein  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c E.J. Lammers: Bosch van Drakestein, yr. Gerard Dagobert Hendrik (1887-1972). Biographical Woordenboek van Nederland, November 12, 2012, accessed January 1, 2015 (Dutch).
  2. ↑ van Slogteren, p. 20
  3. ↑ Swaab de Beer, on the other hand, spoke out in favor of the participation of Dutch athletes in Berlin and was sharply criticized for this. The left-wing Dutch newspaper De Tribune wrote: "The Jew Swaab de Beer offers the Olympic salute to the murderers of his brothers." Quoted from: The Nazi Olympics. Sports, Politics, and Appeasement in 1930s . Edited by Arnd Krüger and William Murray. 2003, p. 219 (engl.)
personal data
SURNAME Bosch van Drakestein, Gerard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jonkheer Bosch van Drakestein, Gérard Dagobert Henri
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH July 24, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Mechelen
DATE OF DEATH March 20, 1972
Place of death The hague