Niels Holst-Sørensen

Niels Holst-Sørensen

Niels Holst-Sørensen (born December 19, 1922 in Sønder Felding , Jutland ) is a former Danish athlete . After his sporting career he was an officer in the Danish Air Force . He was a full member from 1977 and an honorary member of the IOC since 2002 .

Athletic career

In 1946 the first European championships took place in Oslo after the Second World War . In the 400-meter run , Niels Holst-Sørensen won in 47.9 seconds. In the 800 meter run , he finished second behind Sweden's Rune Gustafsson in 1: 51.1 minutes . With the Danish 4 x 400 meter relay , he finished fourth in 3: 15.4 minutes.

At the Olympic Games in London in 1948 , Niels Holst-Sørensen qualified in 1: 52.4 min for the final, in which he was eighth in 1: 53.4 min.

Niels Holst-Sørensen won 18 Danish championship titles over 400 and 800 meters. In 1943 he was world best of the year in the 800 meter run with a time of 1: 48.9 min. He started for Herning GF until 1943 and from 1944 for Københavns Idræts Forening . With a height of 1.78 m, his competition weight was 70 kg.

From 1981 to 1984 Niels Holst-Sørensen was President of the National Olympic Committee. In 1977 Niels Holst-Sørensen was accepted into the International Olympic Committee, of which he was a member until 2002. From 1992 to 2002 he was on the coordination committee for the implementation of the Olympic Winter Games four times. He has been an honorary member of the IOC since 2002.

Military career

During his sporting career, Niels Holst-Sørensen was a lieutenant in the Royal Danish Army. In 1950 he moved to the Royal Danish Air Force. In 1970 he became Major General and Commander in Chief of the Air Force. From 1982 to 1986 Niels Holst-Sørensen represented Denmark at NATO . In 1987 he retired.

literature

• Volker Kluge : Summer Olympic Games. The Chronicle. Volume 2: London 1948 - Tokyo 1964. Sportverlag, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-328-00740-7 .
• Ekkehard zur Megede: The Modern Olympic Century 1896-1996 Track and Field Athletics , Berlin 1999, published by the German Society for Athletics Documentation eV