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

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Sjoukje Dijkstra, the figure skater who in 1964 became the first Dutch athlete to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics, has died at the age of 82.

Dijkstra’s daughter, Katja Kossmayer Dijkstra, said in a Facebook post that her mother “passed away peacefully at home” on Thursday. The post did 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, touring with the Holiday on Ice show.

“She won everything, besides Olympic gold: three world championships, five European titles and six times she was the Dutch champion,” Herman de Haan, director of the Dutch skating association, said in a statement.