Belgium’s Pre, Ivo Van Damme Continues To Inspire (From the Archives, August 2014)

The Allianz Meeting Van Damme Memorial is one of the most important meets of the season. I loved going to King Badouin Stadium and enjoying the atmosphere and the crowd. I wanted people to remember who the meet honors, and that is the late Ivo Van Damme, one of Europe’s most promising athletes.

So, I went into the archives and pulled this gem by David Hunter, senior writer, on the late Ivo Van Damme. I hope you enjoy it. 

And realize that 39 World Champs gold medalists will be in Brussels for the meeting on 2 September 2022 as part of the legacy of the silver medalist at 800m and 1,500m from Montreal 1976. 

Reposted August 30, 2022 

Reposted September 1, 2017 

Updated December 29, 2016

Forty years ago today, Ivo Van Damme was killed in an auto accident. He was the hero of a nation, and his silver medals in Montreal in the 800 meters and 1,500 meters made the tall, strong, gutty Belgian an athlete on the cusp of stardom. Here is the piece done by David Hunter on this fine athlete.

For Belgium, Van Damme’s premature death in an auto accident in December 1976 extinguished a budding legacy for Belgian middle-distance running at the time. The Van Damme Memorial, managed by friends of the late athlete, is a fitting tribute to a fine athlete. David Hunter got it right: for Belgium, Ivo Van Damme was their equivalent of Steve Prefontaine.

Ivo Van Damme was a brilliant Belgian runner whose life was cut short a year after the death of Steve Prefontaine. Van Damme, as one will find out, was not the “usual Belgian”. Van Damme was the silver medalist in the 800 meters and 1,500 meters in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. His death, in the Christmas season of 1976, was a shock to his countrymen.

Dave Hunter wrote this piece after his visit to the Van Damme Memorial, a meet established in the honor of the fallen Belgian runner.

Belgium’s Pre
Ivo Van Damme Continues To Inspire

October 5th, 2014

In the mid-70s, America’s track & field community lost Steve Prefontaine – a beloved and fearless runner who had captured the imagination of those who love the sport. The Olympian died far too young, the victim of a tragic car accident that took his life well before his time. The nation in general – and track & field fans in particular – mourned his premature passing. His reputation in death – perhaps surpassing his reputation in life – has been burnished over nearly forty years. His accomplishments have continued to inspire future…