Gerda Kraan

Who is Gerda Kraan?

Gerarda Maria Kraan is a retired female middle distance runner from the Netherlands, who twice represented her native country at the Summer Olympics: 1960 and 1964. In 1962 she won the gold medal in the women's 800 metres race at the 1962 European Championships in Belgrade.

Kraan is the oldest sibling in a family of 14 children. Initially she trained in handball, while working as a police officer, and changed to athletics only in 1954, aged 21. At her first major race in 1958 she improved the Dutch record in the 800 m to 2,16.6. She shaved another 8 seconds from it the next year, and in 1960 qualified for the Olympics, where she was eliminated in a preliminary round. After that she worked hard to improve her running technique and fitness, winning five national titles and setting nine national 800 m records between 1958 and 1963. During that period she also competed in 400 m, 440 yd and 880 yd races. In 1962 she won the 800 m European title with a new European record of 2,02.8. At the next Olympics in 1964 she was an obvious favourite, but finished in a mere seventh place.