Ronald Desruelles (14 February 1955 – 1 November 2015) was a Belgian athlete. He started as a

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

er, and achieved a personal best of 8.08 in 1979, a national record that stood for 17 years. He then concentrated on the short sprints, and won numerous

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

s in

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior ath ...

. With 6.57 seconds in 1986 he was ranked third on the indoor top performers list that season. He lost a gold medal at the 1980 European Indoor Championships, however, because of a doping offense. Desruelles won the Belgian

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

championships 7 times. He also won the

200 __NOTOC__ Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 ''Ab ur ...

in 1985. In the 1986 European championships in Stuttgart he reached the 100 m semi-final. Desruelles was born in Antwerp. His brother

Patrick Desruelles Patrick Desruelles (born 24 April 1957) is a Belgian athlete. He competed in the men's pole vault at the 1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1 ...

competed in the men's

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

. Ronald was found dead in a hotel in Thailand on 1 November 2015, having committed suicide after the failure of his business.Ronald Desruelles' obituary

Achievements

Notes: *Desruelles was the original winner of the long jump at the 1980 European Indoor Championship before being disqualified for a doping violation. *Desruelles won his first round heat at the 1984 Olympics but withdrew from the second round.

References

External links

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1955 births 2015 suicides 2015 deaths Belgian male sprinters Belgian male long jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Belgium World Athletics Championships athletes for Belgium World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Sportspeople from Antwerp Doping cases in athletics Belgian sportspeople in doping cases Suicides by hanging in Thailand {{Belgium-athletics-bio-stub