Wim Esajas

Wim Esajas

Wim Essajas in 1960
Personal information
Born 16 April 1935
Died 30 April 2005 (aged 70)
Paramaribo, Suriname
Sport
Sport Running

Siegfried Willem "Wim" Esajas[1] (16 April 1935 – 30 April 2005) was a middle-distance runner from Suriname, who qualified for the 800 m event at the 1960 Olympics 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]

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 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 two weeks later of an uncertain illness. He was survived by his son Werner.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 Stutgard, Ricky W. (1990) De eerste Surinaamse sportencyclopedie (1893–1988). Alberga, Paramaribo. ISBN 9991494936. p. 131
  2. ↑ Maraniss, David (2008). Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the World. Simon and Schuster. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-4391-0267-1.
  3. 1 2 Eerste Surinaamse olympiër overlijdt kort na rehabilitatie. volkskrant.nl. 2 May 2005
  4. ↑ Stutgard, Ricky W. (1990) De eerste Surinaamse sportencyclopedie (1893–1988). Alberga, Paramaribo. ISBN 9991494936. pp. 19–20
  5. ↑ Jamaludin, Rihana (23 January 2010) Van het verdriet van een atleet naar succesvolle sitcom.
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