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Ivo Van Damme

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Sport
  
Athletics

Height
  
1.91 m

Role
  
Olympic athlete


Name
  
Ivo Damme

Event(s)
  
800 m, 1500 m

Weight
  
76 kg

Ivo Van Damme Belgium39s Pre Ivo Van Damme Continues To Inspire by Dave

Born
  
21 February 1954
Dendermonde, Belgium

Personal best(s)
  
800 m – 1:43.86 (1976)1500 m – 3:36.26 (1976)

Died
  
December 29, 1976, Bollene, France

Olympic medals
  
Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres

Similar People
  

1979 steve ovett 1500m 3 32 11 with interview ivo van damme memorial


Ivo Van Damme (21 February 1954 – 29 December 1976) was a Belgian middle-distance runner.

Contents

Ivo Van Damme Avengers in Time 1976 Deaths Ivo Van Damme

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.

Ivo Van Damme Ivo VAN DAMME 800m amp 1500m silve rmedals at 1976 Olympic

He suffered from mononucleosis the following season, but returned strong beating Roger Moens's 1955 national 800 m record. 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.

Ivo Van Damme httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumb6

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. He was to marry Rita Thijs in 1977. Since 1977, a memorial competition has been held in Brussels to remember him, the Memorial Van Damme. It has become one of the major track and field meetings of the season.

After his death, Belgian athletics entered a long period without athletes with international fame. Together with the athletics event named after him, this turned Van Damme into a national icon and a reminder of a glorious past and missed opportunity. It was not until the 2000s with the arrival of Kim Gevaert and Tia Hellebaut that Belgian athletics got a boost again.

Steve ovett mile 3 51 56 1980 ivo van damme memorial brussels


References

Ivo Van Damme Wikipedia


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