Margriet Prajoux-Bouma

Margriet "Grietje" Prajoux-Bouma (also Marguerite; 19 June 1912 – 17 December 2005)[4] was a Dutch alpine skier living in France. She competed for the Netherlands in the women's giant slalom at the 1952 Winter Olympics.[2]

Margriet Prajoux-Bouma
Personal information
NationalityDutch
Born(1912-06-19)19 June 1912
Franeker? [1][note 1]
Died17 December 2005(2005-12-17) (aged 93)
Sport
SportAlpine skiing

Allegedly hailing from Franeker,[note 1] she moved to France, where between 1936 (in Megève) and 1951 she participated in French skiing competitions.[1] In May 1938, as a Dutch citizen and aged 25, she took a trip to the United States, accompanied by the 51-year-old hotel manager (Eugène Vincent) Emile Prajoux.[3] The couple married 12 April 1940 in Paris.[5][note 2] Emile Prajoux died before 1951 and Bouma became a Dutch citizenship again, though she remained in Paris.[1] She won the 1951 and 1952 Dutch combined skiing competition,[6] the latter apparently as sole competitor,[1] and was selected as the female Dutch skiing participant in the 1952 Winter Olympics.[1] At nearly 40 years old she has been the oldest Dutch Winter Olympics competitor.[7]

On February 14, 1952, she competed in the women's giant slalom. She finished 40th and last in 3:31 minutes, 33 seconds behind the next competitor and 84 seconds behind the winner.[8] She then withdrew from participation in the slalom and downhill races.[9] Partially because of her poor results, the Dutch Olympic committee decided to tighten selection criteria for participation.[10]

Notes

edit
  1. ^ a b The birth place Prajoux-Bouma provided registering for the Olympics was "Hauswernich, Germany",[2] while for the United States customs on her 1938 trip she wrote "Virnick, Holland".[3] Neither match known locations. She told reporters in Oslo in 1952 that she originated from Franeker.[1]
  2. ^ The Bouma and Prajoux families have a shared gravesite at the Passy Cemetery in Paris that appears to predate their marriage.

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f "Een Friezinnetje in Oslo". Nieuwsblad van het Noorden. 12 February 1952. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Margriet Prajoux-Bouma Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  3. ^ a b Marguerite Bouma and Emile Prajoux on the passenger list of the New York sailing from Cherbourg to New York on 30 May 1938
  4. ^ "Margriet Prajoux-Bouma". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  5. ^ Prajoux, A. "Emile Prajoux genealogy". Geneanet.org. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  6. ^ N(J)K Alpineskiën 2014 programmaboek. 11 February 2014. p. 29. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  7. ^ "Alleen Prajoux-Bouma ouder dan Kleibeuker". Algemeen Dagblad. 19 February 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  8. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alpine Skiing at the 1952 Oslo Winter Games: Women's Giant Slalom] at Sports-Reference.com". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Mevr. Prajoux-Bouma trekt zich terug". Nieuwe Schiedamsche Courant. 12 February 1952. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Nederlandse prestaties worden geroemd". 21 February 1952. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
edit