François "Frans" De Haes (28 July 1899 – 4 November 1923) was a Belgian weightlifter who won a gold medal at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. He set one world record in the clean and jerk in 1922. To escape the German occupation, his family fled from Antwerp to the Netherlands, where he started weightlifting at age 17. After the war he returned to Antwerp. While preparing for the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

, he caught

influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...

and died at age 28.

Wallechinsky, David David Wallechinsky (born David Wallace, February 5, 1948) is an American populist historian and television commentator, the president of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) and the founder and editor-in-chief of AllGov.com and ...

(2004). ''The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics'',

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

: Sport Classic Books.

References

External links

* 1899 births 1923 deaths Sportspeople from Antwerp Belgian male weightlifters Olympic weightlifters for Belgium Weightlifters at the 1920 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Belgium Deaths from influenza Olympic medalists in weightlifting Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics People associated with physical culture 20th-century Belgian people {{Belgium-weightlifting-bio-stub