Nelli Cooman

Nelli Cooman

Nelli Cooman (actually: Antoinette Hariette Cooman , temporarily also Cooman-Fiere ; born June 6, 1964 in Paramaribo ) is a former Dutch sprinter who was particularly successful in the 60 and 100 meter races in the 1980s .

Life

Nelli Cooman grew up in Suriname . When she was eight, she moved to Rotterdam with her parents and five siblings. She played soccer and was only discovered for athletics at a school sports festival when she was sixteen . In 1981 she was seventh at the European Junior Championships. At the European Athletics Indoor Championships in 1984 in Gothenburg she won bronze in 7.23 s behind the Briton Beverly Kinch and the Bulgarian Anelija Nunewa .

In 1985 she won the European Indoor Championships in Piraeus with 7.10 seconds ahead of Marlies Göhr in 7.13 seconds. Fourth was Silke Gladisch , who had won the Indoor World Games in 7.20 seconds six weeks earlier. At the European Indoor Championships in Madrid in 1986, she won in 7.00 s ahead of Göhr and Gladisch. Her time was an indoor world record and was only beaten in 1992 by Merlene Ottey and Irina Priwalowa . In the summer of 1986 she won bronze over 100 m at the European Championships in Stuttgart behind Göhr and Nunewa and set a Dutch record with 11.08 seconds. In the 4 x 100 meter relay she came in seventh place with the Dutch team. In 1986 the sports press in the Netherlands voted her Sportswoman of the Year .

In 1987 she won gold at the European Indoor Championships in Liévin in 7.01 s before Nunewa and Göhr and two weeks later at the World Indoor Championships in Indianapolis in 7.08 s before Nunewa and the Canadian Angela Bailey . At the World Championships in Rome , she reached the semi-finals. The following year she won her fourth title in a row at the European Indoor Championships in Budapest . In 7.04 s she was just ahead of the GDR runners Silke Möller-Gladisch and Marlies Göhr. At the Olympic Games in Seoul she was eliminated in the semifinals with a time of 11.13 s. Also in the season she could not qualify for the final.

In 1989 she won the fifth title at the European Indoor Championships in The Hague . It was 7.15 seconds to defeat the French Laurence Bily . At the World Indoor Championships in Budapest she won in 7.05 s before Gwen Torrence and Merlene Ottey. In 1990 she was at the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow in 7.14 s third behind the Germans Ulrike Sarvari and Laurence Bily.

After losing in the quarter-finals over 100 m at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, ​​Cooman again reached the final at the World Indoor Championships in Toronto in 1993 , but was only seventh in 7.29 s. In 1994 she won the European Indoor Championships in Paris in 7.17 s before the German Melanie Paschke and was fifth at the European Championships in Helsinki in 11.40 s, in 1995 she was sixth in 7.17 s at the World Indoor Championships in Barcelona .

She was Dutch champion over 100 m seven times (1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990-1992). In the hall she won the national title over 60 m and once over 200 m seven times .

Nelli Cooman is 1.59 m and weighed 60 kg during her active time. In 1986 she married her trainer Hans Fiere; the marriage was later divorced.

Appreciation

The little sprinter with the great ability to accelerate was the most successful runner in the 60-meter run. Her six titles in the same competition surpassed only the shot putter Helena Fibingerová with eight titles at the European Indoor Championships .

The Dutch record over 60 meters in the hall from 1986 still exists after twenty years. Only Dafne Schippers was faster than 100 meters outdoors in 2015.

Since 1997 the Nelli Cooman Games have been held annually in her honor and under her patronage in Stadskanaal .

Personal bests

• 50 m (indoor): 6.19 s, January 31, 1987, Ottawa (national record)
• 60 m (hall): 7.00 s, February 23, 1986, Madrid (national record, former world record)
• 100 m: 11.08 s, August 27, 1986, Stuttgart (former national record)
• 200 m : 23.44 s, June 4, 1986, Schwechat
  • Halle: 23.92 s, February 17, 1990, The Hague

literature

• Peter Matthews (Ed.): Athletics 1990. London 1990, ISBN 1-871396-02-6 .
• Ekkehard zur Megede : The Modern Olympic Century, 1896–1996. Track and Field Athletics. Berlin 1999.

Web links

Commons : Nelli Cooman  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Nelli Cooman in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Nelli Cooman in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Footnotes

1. ↑ gbrathletics: Dutch Championships
2. ↑ gbrathletics: Dutch Indoor Championships
3. ^ Website of the Nelli Cooman Games