Luc Van Lierde

Infobox Person

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image_size = 150px
name = Luc Van Lierde
image_size =
caption =
birth_date = birth date and age|1969|4|14
birth_place = flagicon|BEL Bruges, Belgium
occupation = Triathlete

Luc Van Lierde (born April 14, 1969 in Bruges) is an athlete from Belgium, who has been competing in triathlon since 1990. He twice won the Hawaii Ironman competition, the most prestigious triathlon event, and became world champion, having won every other title in his discipline, only a gold medal from the Summer Olympics eludes him.

Van Lierde's international career started in 1990 when he came fourth in the World Olympic Distance Triathlon Championships. In the full-length Ironman triathlon, which involves swimming 3.8 km, cycling 180 km and running a 42.2 km marathon, he was ranked among the first ten in the European Championships three times between 1990 and 1995. 1995 was a decisive year for Luc Van Lierde, when he became World Vice Champion in the triathlon event and came second in the European Olympic Distance Triathlon Championships.

His reputation as one of the best in the discipline was established in 1996. He won the European Championships and came second in the World Championships in the Olympic Distance Triathlon, won the Nice Triathlon and became World Long Course Triathlon Champion. But above all, he won his most glorious title in Hawaii. Luc Van Lierde became the first European ever to win Ironman, the most prestigious Triathlon event in the world, beating the existing record by three minutes.

Luc Van Lierde went on to clock the fastest Ironman Triathlon ever in 1997, doing 7:50:27 (0:44, 4:28, 2:36, plus transition) in Ironman Europe. Absent from the Ironman 1998 after undergoing an operation, he nevertheless won the Flemish Sports Personality of the Year trophy. In 1999 he once again won Ironman, outrunning the second placed competitor by six minutes. During that same year, he received the Giant of Flanders trophy awarded by the two Flanders section of the Association of Professional Journalists.

Van Lierde has in recent years been hampered by an achilles tendon injury, which has particularly affected his running.

Major achievements

* 1995: Silver medal at the World Championships
* 1996: European Champion
* 1996: Silver medal at the World Championships in the Quarter Triathlon
* 1996: Silver medal at the World Championships
* 1996: Winner Ironman (new record)
* 1997: World Record for Ironman event (7:50:27)
* 1999: Winner Ironman