The biggest star of the 1948 Olympics was a 30-year-old mother of two who survived Nazi occupation and was thought to have missed her best chances at gold when two Olympics were canceled.
Francina “Fanny” Blankers-Koen of the Netherlands easily plowed through the muddy, red cinder running track at Wembley Stadium, leaving younger competitors behind and winning four gold medals. She was favored in two other events, but Olympic rules barred her from entering more than four.
During World War II, women built planes, ships and tanks, operated factories and offices, drove buses and fire engines, all while running households. Some were killed in combat or captured as prisoners of war.
FILE - In this Aug. 4, 1948, file photo, Fanny Blankers-Koen of Holland,, leaps the last hurdle in the women's Olympic Games 80-metres hurdles Final at Wembley Stadium in London. Blankers-Koen was 30, the oldest woman among the track and field entries and considered past her prime. But she won the 100 and 200 meters, the 80-meter hurdles and the 4x100-meter relay. She remains the only female track and field athlete to win four gold medals at a single Olympics. (AP PhotoFile)
But when the Olympics returned, women were still forbidden from equestrian, shooting, rowing and yachting. Women could compete in gymnastics only as a team, they could swim no farther than 400 meters, and run no farther than 200 meters.
The IOC even required women to produce medical certificates proving they were women.
Blankers-Koen was born into an athletic family with four brothers. She reached two Olympic finals at 18 at the 1936 Berlin Games. The highlight for her was an autograph from Jesse Owens.
FILE - In this July 31, 1948 file photo, Fanny Blankers-Koen of Holland, foreground, wins heat one of the women's 100-metres Olympic Games competition, at Wembley Stadium, London. Viola Myers from Canada, left, and B.L. McKinnon of Australia attempt to catch the leader. Women were limited in what they could do at the 1948 London Olympics so it was ironic that the biggest personality was a mother of two. Fanny Blankers-Koen was 30, the oldest woman among the track and field entries and considered past her prime. But she won the 100 and 200 meters, the 80-meter hurdles and the 4x100-meter relay. She remains the only female track and field athlete to win four gold medals at a single Olympics. (AP Photo, File)
Jan Blankers, a coach and former Olympic triple jumper, saw in Fanny an ultra-competitive perfectionist. He guided her training and she began achieving world records from 1938.
They married and sought races even as two Olympic Games were canceled in her prime and while life under Nazi Occupation was scary and impoverished.
She was not slowed by the arrival of a son, Jan, in 1941, and a daughter, Fanny, in 1946. New mothers were expected to stop athletics careers, but Blankers-Koen ran to training pushing a stroller.
FILE - In this Aug. 4, 1948 file photo, Fanny Blankers-Koen of Holland, second left, stands on the podium after she had receives the gold medal for the women's 80-metres Olympic Games Hurdles, at Wembley Stadium, , from J. Sigrid Edstroem, Swedish President of the International Olympic Committee, standing right. Britain's Maureen Gardner, left, came second and Australia' s Shirley Strickland, second right, came third. Women were limited in what they could do at the 1948 London Olympics so it was ironic that the biggest personality was a mother of two. Fanny Blankers-Koen was 30, the oldest woman among the track and field entries and considered past her prime. But she won the 100 and 200 meters, the 80-meter hurdles and the 4x100-meter relay. She remains the only female track and field athlete to win four gold medals at a single Olympics. (AP Photo, File)
The oldest woman competing in track at the London Games, Blankers-Koen went to London holding six world records.
She won the 100-meter final comfortably in the rain at Wembley. But the track was in worse condition for the 80-meter hurdles final.
She started late, clipped a hurdle and, in her own words, "staggered like a drunkard” home. The finish tape cut her neck, drawing blood. Her photo finish win in 11.2 seconds was a world and Olympic record.
“Well done, Fanny,” Jan said, “you aren't too old after all.”
After the race, she wanted to go home. She missed her children and pressure was mounting. After mulling it over, she decided to continue competing.
For the first Olympic women's 200-meter final, the track was spattered in puddles and the lines barely visible. But just 30 minutes after winning a 4x100-meter relay heat, she won her third gold by an astonishing seven meters.
A shopping expedition for a raincoat almost made Blankers-Koen miss the relay final. She didn’t have time to warm up. When she took the baton on the anchor leg, the Dutch were in third. But Blankers-Koen cut up the mud and won by a foot. Over eight days, she won all 11 of her races.
She remains the only woman to win four gold medals in track at a single Olympics.
If she hadn’t been restricted by the IOC to four events, she could have won two more golds. IOC rules forced her to drop two of her strongest events, the long jump and high jump, both of which she held the world record.
Even so, “my winning those medals was good propaganda for all women,” she wrote.
She was feted in an Amsterdam parade. Queen Juliana knighted her, and the city gave her a bicycle, saying she wouldn’t have to run so much.
But she kept running.
She almost repeated her Olympic four-gold feat at the 1950 European championships, slipping to silver in the relay.
At the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, she was hampered by a skin boil and side effects to penicillin and went home empty-handed.
She finished her career in 1955 with a 58th Dutch record. She went to three more Olympics as a coach.
Despite fame as the “Flying Housewife” who was depicted in two statues, Blankers-Koen didn't set out to be a social pioneer. She lived for sports and hated losing.
At a ceremony in 1999 when the governing body of track and field was going to name her greatest female athlete of the 20th century, Blankers-Koen asked, “Is it really me?” When it was confirmed, she whooped it up and did a little dance.
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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Patriots coach Mike Vrabel talked to his team about being prepared to bleed as New England entered its first playoff game since the 2021 season.
Then, shortly after Milton Williams sacked the Chargers' Justin Herbert on Sunday night to secure the Patriots' first playoff victory in seven years, Williams celebrated with a head-butt of Vrabel.
It knocked the first-year coach backward and bloodied his lip.
“The big dogs come out in January. I think Milt took that to heart,” Vrabel said. “He came over and got me pretty good. But that’s what happens.”
Drake Maye threw a touchdown pass to Hunter Henry in the fourth quarter, and New England's defense roughed up Herbert as the Patriots beat Los Angeles 16-3 in an AFC wild-card playoff game.
Andy Borregales kicked three field goals for the Patriots (15-3), who hadn't won in the postseason since their Super Bowl victory to cap the 2018 season. They’ll host the winner of Monday night’s game between Pittsburgh and Houston in the divisional round.
In his playoff debut, Maye completed 17 of 29 passes for 268 yards and ran for a team-high 66 yards.
“We made plays when we had to do it,” Maye said.
He also threw an interception and lost a fumble, but the Chargers (11-7) couldn't capitalize on those turnovers.
New England held Los Angeles to 207 yards of offense and sacked Herbert six times, with one of those resulting in a lost fumble that set up the Patriots' TD.
“It's on us, what we do. I've been saying that all season,” Williams said. “We can control the game. If we do what we need to do up front, we're going to win.”
This is the second straight season in which the Chargers have lost in the wild-card round. Herbert finished 19 of 31 for 159 yards and was his team's leading rusher with 57 yards as he fell to 0-3 in the playoffs.
Herbert was just over a month removed from surgery to repair a broken bone in his nonthrowing hand.
“There was no issue,” Herbert said. “I just have to do a better job holding on to the ball.”
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said his quarterback wasn't 100 percent.
“He’s a warrior. He just gives it everything he has, all the time,” Harbaugh said, acknowledging that Herbert was limited by his hand injury. “It’s an issue, but he doesn’t flinch, like a warrior would.”
The last time the Chargers failed to score a TD in the playoffs was their 21-12 AFC championship game loss to the Patriots during the 2007 season.
The Patriots drove into the red zone on their first possession of the third quarter, but the drive ended when Maye was strip-sacked by Odafe Oweh and De'Shawn Hand recovered for the Chargers.
After Los Angeles punted, Maye connected on a pass to Kayshon Boutte that went for 42 yards to set the Patriots up on the Chargers 27. But New England settled for a 39-yard field goal that stretched their lead to 9-3.
Early in the fourth quarter, Maye used a 16-yard pass to Boutte and a 13-yard burst by Rhamondre Stevenson to set up his precise 28-yard TD toss to Henry that put the Patriots in front 16-3.
The Chargers picked up back-to-back first downs to open their ensuing drive. But when Herbert dropped back to pass on the next play, linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson strip-sacked him and fell on loose ball.
Los Angeles had one final possession, but it ended with Herbert getting sacked by Williams on fourth down.
“It’s playoff football. It’s going to get ugly. It’s going to get nasty. But you’ve got to keep going,” Williams said.
The opening quarter had lots of action, but it took until early in the second quarter for the Patriots to end a scoreless stalemate.
With New England pinned inside its own 10 after a Chargers punt, Maye had a pass intended for Austin Hooper tipped by Teair Tart and intercepted by Daiyan Henley.
Los Angeles started with the ball on the Patriots 10 but was stopped on fourth-and-2 when Herbert misfired a pass to Keenan Allen.
The Patriots took over and got some breathing room via a 48-yard catch-and-run by Stevenson.
Thirteen plays and a fourth-down conversion later, the drive ended with Borregales' 23-yard field goal.
Patriots: CB Carlton Davis left in the first half with a toe injury but returned. ... CB Christian Gonzalez left in the second half with a head injury.
Chargers: End of season.
Patriots: Host either Houston or Pittsburgh next Sunday.
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New England Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss celebrates after recovering a fumble by Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert in the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New England Patriots tight end Hunter Henry, left, catches a pass next to Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. (3) and carries it in for a touchdown in the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
New England Patriots defensive end Milton Williams (97), linebacker Christian Elliss (53) and linebacker Robert Spillane (14) celebrate Williams' sack of Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) in the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, left, avoids a tackle by Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Khalil Mack (52) in the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) passes in the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the New England Patriots, in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
New England Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings (33) celebrates a tackle in the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) is sacked by New England Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings, rear, in the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) avoids a tackle by Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Khalil Mack (52) in the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
