Luc Van Lierde

Luc Van Lierde

Van Lierde at the Knokke triathlon, 2 September 2008
Personal information
Born	(1969-04-14) 14 April 1969 (age 48) Bruges, Belgium
Sport
Country	Belgium
Medal record Representing  Belgium Men's triathlon ITU Triathlon World Championships 1996 Cleveland Elite men's race ITU Long Distance World Championships 1997 Nice Elite men's race 1998 Sado Island Elite men's race 1995 Nice Elite men's race 1996 Muncie Elite men's race Ironman World Championship 1996 Men's race 1999 Men's race 1998 Men's race

Luc Van Lierde (born 14 April 1969 in Bruges) is a former athlete from Belgium, who has been competing in triathlon since 1990 and who is now professional triathlon coach since 2009.

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 took second place at the ITU World Championships, and came second in the European Olympic Distance Triathlon Championships.

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 first European ever to win the Ironman World Championship, 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 the Ironman 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 the 2012 Ironman World Championship. In 2013, he coached Frederik to the 2013 Ironman World Championship. By doing so Van Lierde became the first male to win the Ironman World Championship as an athlete and as a coach.