Sjoukje Dijkstra, the first Dutch athlete to win a gold medal at Winter Olympics, dies at 82


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THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Sjoukje Dijkstra, the figure skater who in 1964 became the first Dutch athlete to win a Winter Olympics gold medal, has died at the age of 82. Dijkstra's daughter, Katja Kossmayer Dijkstra, says in a Facebook post that her mother "passed away peacefully at home" on Thursday. The post does not reveal a cause of death. Dijkstra skated at three Winter Olympics, finishing 12th in Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1956 before winning a silver medal at Squaw Valley in 1960. Four years later she crowned her career with the gold medal at the Innsbruck Olympics. She then turned professional and toured with the Holiday on Ice show.

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