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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 21 February 1954 Brussels, Belgium[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 29 December 1976 (aged 22) Orange, Vaucluse, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 76 kg (168 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 800 m, 1500 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 800 m – 1:43.86 (1976) 1500 m – 3:36.26 (1976) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Ivo Van Damme (21 February 1954 – 29 December 1976) was a Belgian middle-distance runner.
Van Damme played football until he was 16, but then switched to athletics. His breakthrough came in 1973, when he placed fourth in the 800 m at the European Junior Championships.[2]
He suffered from mononucleosis the following season, but returned strong beating Roger Moens's 1955 national 800 m record. The record stood for 48 years and was finally bettered by Eliott Crestan in 2024.[3] In 1976, he won the European indoor title over this distance, and was one of the favourites for a medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. He eventually ended up second in both the 800 and 1500 m, finishing behind Alberto Juantorena and John Walker, respectively.[4]
These were his last successes, as Van Damme was killed in a car accident later that year while travelling home from Marseille in southern France.[4] He was to marry Rita Thijs in 1977.[1] Since 1977, a memorial competition has been held in Brussels to remember him, the Memorial Van Damme, which is now the championship final for selected disciplines of the Diamond League athletics tour.
- ^ a b "À 22 ans, Ivo est entré dans l'Olympe". Le Soir. 30 August 2006.
- ^ Biografie Ivo Van Damme. sport.be
- ^ "Eliott Crestan verpulvert Belgisch record van Ivo van Damme op de 800 meter: "Nooit in mijn leven verwacht"". Sporza (in Dutch). 7 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ a b Ivo Van Damme Archived 22 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine. sports-reference.com