Aurèle Vandendriessche

Aurèle Vandendriessche (4 July 1932 – 17 October 2023) was a Belgian marathon runner, who won silver medals at the 1962 and 1966 European Championships. He competed at the 1956, 1960, and 1964 Summer Olympics with the best result of seventh place in 1964.

At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Abebe Bikila, followed barefoot at the rear of the lead pack, which was moving at a scorching pace and included Arthur Keily, Bakir Benaïssa, Rhadi Ben Abdesselam who was the reigning world cross-country champion, Bertie Messitt, the marathon world record holder Sergey Popov, and Vandendriessche. Bikila won, setting a world record at 2:15:16.2. After they dispatched the rest of the field by 25 kilometers, Abdesselam stayed with Bikila until the final 500 meters, finishing second in 2:15:41.6. Vandendriessche abandoned the race. He placed seventh at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where Bikila won again with a new world record.

The 1960 lead pack near the mark, Abebe (#11), following Messitt (#58), Benaïssa (white headband), Keily (#46) who faded to 25th, Vandendriessche (#36), and ben Abdesselam (#185).

Achievements