Ivo Van Damme (21 February 1954 – 29 December 1976) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

middle-distance runner. Van Damme played football until he was 16, but then switched to

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

. His breakthrough came in 1973, when he placed fourth in the 800 m at the European Junior Championships.Biografie Ivo Van Damme
sport.be He suffered from

mononucleosis Infectious mononucleosis (IM, mono), also known as glandular fever, is an infection usually caused by the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). Most people are infected by the virus as children, when the disease produces few or no symptoms. In young adult ...

the following season, but returned strong beating

Roger Moens Roger Moens (born 26 April 1930) is a Belgian former middle-distance runner. In 1955 he broke Rudolf Harbig's long-standing world record over 800 meters. At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome he won a silver medal in the 800 m. Biography On 3 Augu ...

'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 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. He eventually ended up second in both the 800 and 1500 m, finishing behind

Alberto Juantorena Alberto Juantorena (born 3 December 1950) is a Cuban former runner. He is the only athlete to win both the 400 and 800 m Olympic titles, which he achieved in 1976. He was ranked as world's best runner in the 400 m in 1974 and 1976–1978, a ...

and John Walker, respectively.Ivo Van Damme
. sports-reference.com These were his last successes, as Van Damme was killed in a car accident later that year while travelling home from

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

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 The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now the final event of the Diamond Le ...

,'' which is now the championship final for selected disciplines of the '' Diamond League'' athletics tour.

References

External links

Official Website Memorial van Damme
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Damme, Ivo 1954 births 1976 deaths People from Dendermonde Belgian male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Belgium Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Road incident deaths in France Sportspeople from East Flanders Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Belgium Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field)