Niels Holst-Sørensen

Medal record
Men's athletics
Competitor for  Denmark
European Championships
Gold	1946 Oslo	400 m
Silver	1946 Oslo	800 m

Niels Holst-Sørensen (born 19 December 1922) is a former Danish athlete and air force officer. He served as the commander-in-chief of the Royal Danish Air Force from 1970-1982 and Denmark's military representative to NATO from 1982-1986.^[1] He won gold and silver medals at the 1946 European Athletics Championships and served as a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1977-2002.^[1]

Athletic career

Holst-Sørensen's first major international meeting was the 1946 European Championships, which took place in Oslo. Holst-Sørensen won the gold medal in the 400 metres with a time of 47.9 seconds.^[2] He won a silver medal over 800 metres, finishing a tenth of a second behind the Swedish athlete Rune Gustafsson in a time of 1:51.1.^[2] He was also a member of the Danish team which finished fourth in the 4 x 400 metres relay in a time of 3:15.4.

Holst-Sørensen competed in the 800 metres at the 1948 Olympics in London. He qualified for the final in a time of 1:52.4,^[3] but finished the final in eighth place in a time of 1:53.4.^[1]

Holst-Sørensen won a total of ten Danish championships over 400 and 800 metres, winning both events every year from 1943 to 1947.^[4] In 1943 he won the 800 metres in a time of 1:48.9, the fastest time recorded in the world that year.^[5] Holst-Sørensen began his career running for Herning GF, but switched to Københavns Idræts Forening in 1944.^[4]

Holst-Sørensen joined to International Olympic committee in 1977 and served as a member until 2002.^[1] He served on the IOC's coordination committees for the Winter Olympic Games in Albertville in 1992, Lillehammer in 1994, Nagano in 1998 and Salt Lake City in 2002.^[1] He was named as an honorary member of the IOC following his retirement in 2002.^[1] Holst-Sørensen also served as the president of the National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark from 1981 to 1984.^[1]

Military career

Holst-Sørensen is a graduate of the Royal Danish Army Officers Academy and was a serving Lieutenant in the Royal Danish Army during his athletic career.^[1] He was transferred to the Royal Danish Air Force at its foundation in 1950. He eventually rose to the rank of Major General and served as the commander-in-chief of the Air Force from 1970 to 1982 and Denmark's military representative to NATO from 1982 to 1986.^[1] He retired from the Air Force in 1987.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} "Mr Niels HOLST-SØRENSEN". olympic.org. http://www.olympic.org/en/content/The-IOC/Members/Mr-Niels-HOLST-SORENSEN/. Retrieved 7 December 2009. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "European Championships (Men)". GBRAthletics.com. 2007. http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/ec.htm. Retrieved 7 December 2009. 
3. ^ "Athletics at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's 800 metres Semi-Finals". sports-reference.com. http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1948/ATH/mens-800-metres-semi-finals.html. Retrieved 7 December 2009. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Niels Holst Sørensen". dafital.dk. http://www.dafital.dk/profil.asp?id=3956. Retrieved 7 December 2009. 
5. ^ "Index of Who's Who in Running". runtheplanet.com. http://www.runtheplanet.com/resources/historical/whoswhoinrunning.asp. Retrieved 7 December 2009. 

Persondata
Name	Holst-Sorensen, Niels
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	19 December 1922
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death