Born on April 16, 1927, Catherine Bourkel, known as “Triny,” becomes a well-known athlete in Dudelange. In 1946, she finishes sixth in the high jump at the European Championships in Oslo. Using the widely practiced "Fosbury Flop," she clears the bar at 1.60 meters. Triny Bourkel, lying in the sand, can already hear the applause of the spectators, but the bar wobbles and ultimately falls. This result could have earned her the title of Vice-European Champion. Her jump of 1.57 meters remains the Luxembourg record until 1970.
In 1948, the delegation from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg at the Olympic Games in London includes 3 women and 49 men. Among them is Triny Bourkel, accompanied by her friends Milly Ludwig and Tilly Decker, all competing in athletics. These Olympic Games, the first after World War II, embody a spirit of renewal and rebuilding, yet reflect the difficulties of the post-war period. The three Luxembourgish athletes are left without a coach and stay in a house at Victoria Station. The barracks housing the training facilities are about an hour's drive from the Olympic Village. “We always walked to the stadium,” remembers Triny Bourkel.
Of the three companions, Triny is the first to stop competing. “I got married, and I had to stop,” she recalls unemotionally. She adds, “What could we have done? There were neither clubs nor training opportunities for women. Female athletes only resumed training from 1965 onwards."
Initially, she focuses entirely on her role as a wife and mother of her two children, Marianne and Fernand. However, at the age of 35, she decides to give it another try and quickly earns the gold sports badge. Shortly thereafter, she becomes a coach at the Cercle Athlétique Dudelange (CAD) and supports the young girls of the city.
The athlete passed away on February 21, 2019.