The Dutch multi-event athlete had just won her first-ever major championship medal, a bronze at the 2011 European Championships in Paris. The tall Fransen tallied a total of 4,665 points in the Pentathlon en route to her 2nd-runner up finish.
The 25-year old notched an impressive array of personal bests in the two-day competition. Fransen remarkably broke her best marks in all five disciplines. She even set a Dutch national record in the high jump, with her 1.92m leap (an unsurprising feat considering the fact that she’s built like the stereotypical high jumper!).
Prior to her breakout 2011 season, Fransen’s best performance was a heptathlon gold at the European Cup Combined Events 1st League, second tier continental competition, where she set a personal best of 5,993 points in the heptathlon.
With her surprise European Indoor bronze, Fransen’s confidence must be at an all-time high. Expect the talented Dutchwoman to contend for future continental titles – and to at least finish within the top echelons come the 2012 London Olympics.
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