 Van Lierde at theKnokke triathlon, 2 September 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1969-04-14)14 April 1969 (age 56) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country | Belgium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Luc Van Lierde (born 14 April 1969 inBruges) is a formerathlete fromBelgium, who has been competing intriathlon since 1990 and who has been a professional triathlon coach since 2009.[1]
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 involvesswimming 3.8 km,cycling 180 km andrunning 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 took second place at theITU World Championships, and came second in the European Olympic Distance Triathlon Championships.[2]
In 1996 he won the European Championships and came second in the World Championships in the Olympic Distance Triathlon. He won the Nice Triathlon and became World Long Course Triathlon Champion. Luc Van Lierde became the firstEuropean ever to win theIronman World Championship, beating the existing record by three minutes.[3]
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 theFlemish Sports Personality of the Year trophy. In 1999, he once again won theIronman World Championship in Hawaii, 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.
In 2009, after more than 20 years as a professional triathlete, Van Lierde began a career as a triathlon coach.Frederik Van Lierde (not related) approached Van Lierde with the request to coach him. One year later he managed to coach Frederik Van Lierde to a third place at the2012 Ironman World Championship. In 2013, he coached Frederik to the2013 Ironman World Championship.
Van Lierde has successfully coached several other professional athletes, includingMarino Vanhoenacker,Iván Raña,Will Clarke,Michelle Vesterby, andSaleta Castro.[4]
