50 stunning Olympic moments: Fanny Blankers-Koen's quadruple gold medal triumph – in pictures

The opening ceremony of the 1948 Olympic Games at Wembley Stadium which Fanny Blankers-Koen did not take part in because her husband and coach, Jan Blankers, had refused her permission to walk with the Netherlands team as he deemed it "too tiring". Prior to the games starting the 30-year-old had faced criticism that she was too old to make the grade and that she was acting selfishly by not retiring to devote herself solely to motherhood. Photograph: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Due to a pre-Games stipulation athletes could only enter a maximum of 3 individual events, Blankers-Koen elected for the 100m, 200m and 80m hurdles. Her first event was the 100m and she easily qualified for the final. The final itself was equally as emphatic, with her surging ahead of Dorothy Manley in the final stages and crossing the line 3 yards ahead of the British runner. Fanny won gold with a time of 11.9 seconds, 0.3 seconds ahead of Manley and Australia's Shirley Strickland took bronze Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

Fanny receives a kiss of congratulations from her Jan after she stormed home to win the 200m final. She beat second placed Audrey Williamson by 0.7 seconds. Photograph: AP

Her next event, the 800m hurdles, proved to be a much closer affair. Blankers-Koen started poorly and hit the fifth hurdle but she powered on and took gold from Maureen Gardner by a whisker Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images

Her final event at the Games was the 4x100m relay where she was running the anchor leg. She received the baton in fourth place and with 50m to go she started to catch the runners ahead of her, she continued to accelerate and took the lead a couple of metres from the line to take gold for the Netherlands Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images

The quadruple gold medal winner waves goodbye before her train departs from Liverpool Street Station, on the way to Harwich and then the journey home to Amsterdam. Photograph: Dennis-Lee Royle/AP

Over in the Dutch capital a rousing reception, of the kind usually reserved for royalty, awaits "The Flying Dutchmam". She is shown leaving the town hall with delegation of farmers from her birthplace, Hoofddorp, dressed in their native costume, as well as her two children, Jantje and Fanneke. Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

A proud Blankers-Koen shows off three of her four Gold Medals, which is still the greatest individual haul by a woman track and field athlete at a single Olympic Games Photograph: Popperfoto/Getty Images

In 1999 she received her last honour when the IAAF named her the female athlete of the century Photograph: John Gichigi/Allsport/Getty Images