Ivo Van Damme

Ivo Van Damme (21 February 1954 – 29 December 1976) was a Belgian middle-distance runner.

Ivo Van Damme

Personal information
Born	21 February 1954 Brussels, Belgium[1]
Died	29 December 1976 (aged 22) Orange, Vaucluse, France
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	76 kg (168 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	800 m, 1500 m
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	800 m – 1:43.86 (1976) 1500 m – 3:36.26 (1976)
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Belgium Olympic Games 1976 Montreal 800 m 1976 Montreal 1,500 m European Indoor Championships 1976 Munich 800 m 1975 Katowice 800 m

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 European Junior Championships.^[2]

He suffered from mononucleosis the following season, but returned strong beating Roger Moens's 1955 national 800 m record. The record stood for 48 years and was finally bettered by Eliott Crestan in 2024.^[3] 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 in Montreal. He eventually ended up second in both the 800 and 1500 m, finishing behind Alberto Juantorena and John Walker, respectively.^[4]

These were his last successes, as Van Damme was killed in a car accident later that year while travelling home from Marseille in southern France.^[4] He was to marry Rita Thijs in 1977.^[1] Since 1977, a memorial competition has been held in Brussels to remember him, the Memorial Van Damme, which is now the championship final for selected disciplines of the Diamond League athletics tour.