Alfons Brydenbach

Alfons "Fons" Brydenbach (born October 12, 1954 in Vorselaar ; † May 8, 2009 ) was a Belgian athlete who twice reached the Olympic final in the 400-meter run .

In 1973 Brydenbach switched from the short sprint to the 400-meter route and won the European Junior Championships in Duisburg in 45.86 seconds. In 1974 he won the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg in 46.60 seconds after he had run an indoor world best in 45.9 seconds in Sofia shortly before. At the European Open Air Championships in Rome in 1974 , he was eliminated as fifth in his semi-finals in 45.43 seconds. At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Brydenbach managed to qualify for the final in the semifinals as second behind the eventual Olympic champion Alberto Juantorena . There he ran the Belgian national record in 45.04 seconds and missed the bronze medal in fourth place by nine hundredths of a second. In 1977 Brydenbach won his second big title at the European Indoor Championships in San Sebastian in 46.53 seconds. In the 1977 outdoor season he won the Universiade . After two weaker years, Brydenbach reached the final again at the 1980 Olympic Games ; fifth in 45.10 seconds, he was one hundredth of a second behind Juantorena, who was fourth this time.

In 1981 Brydenbach set a new Belgian national record with three teammates in 3: 03.68 minutes. This record was only improved in 2008 after 27 years, a member of this season, Cédric Van Branteghem , had also undercut Brydenbach's record over 400 meters after 27 years.

At the age of 28, Brydenbach ended his athletic career after persistent Achilles tendon complaints. With a height of 1.85 meters, his competition weight was 77 kilograms.

Brydenbach had studied at the Catholic University of Leuven during his career and initially worked as a teacher. He later changed industry and worked in the PR department at Janssen Pharmaceutica . In 2005, Brydenbach fell ill with prostate cancer . In 2009 he succumbed to this disease.

literature

• Gustav Schwenk: Mourning for Fons Brydenbach. In: Athletics. No. 19, May 13, 2009, p. 3

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Fons Brydenbach overleden , nieuwsblad.be. May 8, 2009. 

Web links

• Alfons Brydenbach in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Alfons Brydenbach in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )