Ivo Van Damme
Ivo Van Damme (born February 21, 1954 in Brussels , † December 29, 1976 in Orange (Vaucluse) ) was a Belgian middle-distance runner .
Van Damme played football at Racing White until he was 16 , but then switched to athletics . His breakthrough came in 1973 when he finished fourth in the 800 m at the European Junior Championships .
In 1974 Van Damme contracted Pfeiffer glandular fever . After recovering from illness, he won silver over 800 m at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Katowice .
In 1976 he won the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Munich over 800 m and traveled as one of the favorites to the Olympic Games in Montreal . There he won two silver medals over 800 m and 1500 m . In the 800m race he lost to Cuban Alberto Juantorena in 1: 43.86 minutes . This time is still the current Belgian record for this route. Over 1500 m he was defeated by the New Zealander John Walker .
These two medals were his last great successes. Five months after the Olympic Games, Van Damme had a fatal accident in his car on the way back from a training camp in the south of France.
A year later, an athletics meeting was held for the first time in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, renamed the King Baudouin Stadium since 1995 , in memory of Van Damme. The Van Damme Memorial , which has been held annually since then, has developed into one of the most renowned sports festivals and is part of the IAAF Diamond League series.
Personal bests
- 800 m: 1: 43.86 min, July 25, 1976, Montreal
- 1000 m : 2: 15.5 min, July 14th 1976, Namur
- 1500 m: 3: 36.26 min, July 9, 1976, Zurich
Web links
- Ivo Van Damme, biography on the Memorial Van Damme website
- Ivo Van Damme in the database of World Athletics (English)
- Ivo Van Damme in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ivo Van Damme died 40 years ago: Black day for Belgian sport. In: ostbelgiendirekt.be. December 29, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2018 .
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Van Damme, Ivo |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Belgian middle distance runner |
DATE OF BIRTH | February 21, 1954 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Brussels |
DATE OF DEATH | December 29, 1976 |
Place of death | Orange (Vaucluse) |