Loading AI tools
Surinamese middle-distance runner From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Siegfried Willem "Wim" Esajas[1] (16 April 1935 – 30 April 2005) was a Surinamese middle-distance runner who qualified for the athletics at the men's 800 m event at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy and was supposed to be the first Surinamese Olympian. Esajas missed the event, and it was alleged that he overslept it,[2] whereas he was simply given a wrong starting time by Fred Glans, the head of Suriname's Olympic delegation.[1][3]
.jpg) Wim Esajas in 1960 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 April 1935 |
| Died | 30 April 2005 (aged 70) Paramaribo, Suriname |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Running |
Esajas was a multiple national record holder in the 800 m, 1500 m and 3000 m events in the 1950s, and was selected as the Surinamese Sportman of the Year in 1956.[4] He retired from sport after the 1960 Olympics, graduated in horticulture from a college in Deventer, the Netherlands, and returned to Suriname to grow flowers.[5]
In 2005, Suriname's Olympic Committee presented Esajas with a plaque honoring him as Suriname's first Olympian and with a letter of apology for the mistake made by its official in 1960. Esajas died on 30 April 2005 of an undisclosed illness. He had a son, Werner.[3]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
