Niels Holst-Sørensen

Niels Holst-Sørensen (19 December 1922 – 24 October 2023) was a Danish athlete and air force officer, and a centenarian. He served as the commander-in-chief of the Royal Danish Air Force from 1970 to 1982, and as Denmark's military representative to NATO from 1982 to 1986. He won gold and silver medals at the 1946 European Athletics Championships and served as a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1977 to 2002. He won a silver medal over 800 metres, finishing a tenth of a second behind the Swedish athlete Rune Gustafsson in a time of 1:51.1. and finished the final in ninth place in a time of 1:54.0.

Holst-Sørensen won a total of ten Danish championships over 400 and 800 metres, winning both events every year from 1943 to 1947. In 1943 in Stockholm he won the 800 metres in an international match against Sweden in a time of 1:48.9, the fastest time recorded in the world that year. A few days later, coming home to Denmark, he was arrested. As a lieutenant of the Danish army he was interned for a period, because the Danish government had finally broken with the German occupation authorities, while Holst-Sørensen was competing in Stockholm. Holst-Sørensen began his career running for Herning GF, but switched to Københavns Idræts Forening in 1944.