Léon Schots (born 11 June 1952) is 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 language ...

former

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who competed in

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

competitions. His greatest achievement was a gold medal at the

1977 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1977 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Düsseldorf, West Germany, at the Galopprennbahn Düsseldorf-Grafenberg on March 20, 1977. A report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald. Complete results for men, junior m ...

, where he also led Belgium to the team title. He was an eleven time national champion, with victories from

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

on the track in addition to three Belgian cross country titles. He twice represented Belgium at the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

(1974 and 1978). He also placed fourth at the

1980 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1980 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Paris, France, at the Hippodrome de Longchamp on March 9, 1980. A report on the event was given in the Evening Times. Complete results for men, junior men, women, medallists, ...

, sharing in the team bronze, and was a three-time champion at the

World Military Cross Country Championships The World Military Cross Country Championships is an international biennial cross country running competition organised by the International Military Sports Council (CISM). The competition is typically held in late February or early March. First hel ...

Career

Born in

Halen Halen (), formerly Haelen ( li, Hôle), is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg, to the west of Hasselt. On January 1, 2018, Halen had a ...

,Lemmens, Nic (1977). "Leon Schots, een grote onder de groten" . ''De Atletiekwereld'' (no. 8: KNAU). he began training with the

R.F.C. de Liège "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

running club and made his first appearance at the

International Cross Country Championships The International Cross Country Championships was an annual international competition in cross country running. It was created in 1903 by the International Cross Country Union (ICCU) and it marked the first time that an annual international champ ...

in 1971, coming 32nd in the junior category. He returned the following year and placed sixteenth. At the

1973 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1973 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Waregem, Belgium, at the Hippodroom Waregem on March 17, 1973. A report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald. Complete results for men, junior men, women, medallists, ...

(the debut of the IAAF event) he won his first international medal in the form of the junior

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

. In his first year as a senior athlete he won a double at the Belgian Championships, taking the

and

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

national titles. Later that year he competed at the

1974 European Athletics Championships The 11th European Athletics Championships of 1974 were held from 2 September to 8 September in Italy, at Rome's Stadio Olimpico. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald. Men's results Complete results were pu ...

in the longer event, but failed to finish the race. Schots repeated his Belgian double the following year.Belgian Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2013-09-02. He endured a groin injury in early 1976, which interrupted his training. He hoped to make the team for the 1976 Olympic Games, but his injury and the presence of many other top quality Belgian long-distance runners meant he did not make the team. The 1970s was a historic high point for Belgian men's athletics, with

Ivo Van Damme 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 ...

Karel Lismont Karel Lismont (; born 8 March 1949) is a former Belgian long-distance runner. He competed at the 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics in the marathon and 10,000 m events. He won two marathon medals: a silver in 1972 and a bronze in 1976, finishing ...

and

Emiel Puttemans Emiel Adrien "Miel" Puttemans (born 8 October 1947) is a retired middle- and long-distance runner, who set world records for 3000 metres (7 minutes 37.6 seconds) in 1972, for 2 miles (8 minutes 17.8 seconds) in 1971, and for 5000 metres (13 ...

all winning Olympic medals and

Erik De Beck Erik De Beck (born 6 June 1951) is a Belgian former long-distance runner who specialised in cross country running. His greatest performance was a gold medal at the 1974 IAAF World Cross Country Championships. He shared in the team title at that ...

becoming the world champion in cross country. Despite missing the Olympics, he returned in top form in the next year and won the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

at the

, leading the Belgians to the team title in the process. He did not return to defend his title in 1978 but instead focused on the track, where he claimed a 5000/

double at the national championships. He could only managed twelfth place in the latter event at the

1978 European Athletics Championships The 12th European Athletics Championships were held from 29 August to 3 September 1978 in the Stadion Evžena Rošického in Prague, the capital city of Czechoslovakia (present-day Czech Republic). Contemporaneous reports on the event were given i ...

, however. The

1979 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1979 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Limerick, Ireland, at the Greenpark Racecourse on 25 March 1979. A report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald. Complete results for men, junior men, women, medallists, ...

saw him attempt to win a second title and he held the lead briefly, before being overtaken by eventual winner

John Treacy John Treacy (born 4 June 1957 in Villierstown, County Waterford) is an Irish Olympian and former athlete, now a sporting administrator. Athletic career Treacy attended St Anne's Post-Primary School in Cappoquin, County Waterford, Ireland ...

and ending up in fifth overall. Having entered as the national champion, he was the best of the Belgian team that year, which came fifth in the rankings. He retained his 10,000 m national title with a personal best run of 27:47.01 minutes. His career best came later that season in the IAAF Golden 10,000 m hosted at 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 L ...

. Schots ran 27:41.34 minutes to place third behind Britain's Mike McLeod and

Brendan Foster Sir Brendan Foster (born 12 January 1948) is a British former long-distance runner, athletics commentator and road race organiser, who founded the Great North Run, one of the sport's most high profile half-marathon races. As an athlete, he wo ...

. Schots performed well on the cross country circuit at the start of 1980. He came fourth at the

and led Belgium to the team bronze medals. He won the

European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country The European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition between the European running clubs that are the reigning national champions for their country. It is often abbreviated to the name ECCC Cross Country. It i ...

title that year, with R.F.C. Liège beating

Sporting Lisbon Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

to the title. An Achilles injury that season again ruled him out of Olympic competition, as he missed the 1980 Moscow Games.Leon Schots?
Skynet. Retrieved on 2013-09-02. He only returned from injury after 1981 and he entered the 1982 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, but finished way down the field in 109th place. He did, however, manage to take the Belgian cross country and 10,000 metres titles that year. The

Lotto Cross Cup The Lotto Cross Cup is an annual series of international cross country running competitions in Belgium. The inaugural season was in 1982–1983. The series comprises Belgium's foremost cross country competitions, including the IAAF permit meeting in ...

debuted in Belgium that year and a series of good performances at Belgian cross country races saw him crowned the inaugural champion of the event. Schot's win at the 1983 Belgian Cross Country Championships was the last of the eleven national titles that he won over the course of his career. He attempted to make the team for the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

but injury again (this time his heel) thwarted his chances. Among his other accolades were three short course titles at the

from 1978 to 1980. He won both the

Campaccio The Campaccio is an annual cross country running competition which takes place in early January in San Giorgio su Legnano, Italy. Organised by the ''Unione Sportiva Sangiorgese'' (Sangiorgese Sports Association), the event attracts participation fr ...

and the

Trofeo Alasport The Trofeo Alasport, also known as the Cross di Alà dei Sardi, is an annual cross country running competition which takes place in March in Alà dei Sardi on the Italy, Italian island of Sardinia. Unusually for a high-profile cross country event, ...

cross country races in 1983 and was a two-time winner of the

Cinque Mulini The Cinque Mulini is an annual cross country running race in San Vittore Olona, Italy. First held in 1933, the course is unusual in that it revolves around a number of water mills along Olona river, which lend the competition its name – meaning ' ...

(1979 and 1980).Cinque Mulini
ARRS. Retrieved on 2013-09-02.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schots, Leon Living people 1952 births Belgian male long-distance runners Sportspeople from Limburg (Belgium) World Athletics Cross Country Championships winners 20th-century Belgian people