Luc Van Lierde

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 has been a professional triathlon coach since 2009.

Athletic career 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.

Triathlon coach 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.

Van Lierde has successfully coached several other professional athletes, including Marino Vanhoenacker, Iván Raña, Will Clarke, Michelle Vesterby, and Saleta Castro.

Notable achievements 1995: Silver medal at the World Triathlon Long Distance Championships, Nice 1995: Silver medal at the Europe Triathlon Championships, Stockholm 1996: Winner Ironman World Championship, Hawaii (new record; 8:04.08) 1996: Winner European Triathlon Championship, Szombathely 1996: Winner Triathlon International de Nice 1996: Silver medal at the World Triathlon Long Distance Championships, Muncie 1996: Silver medal at the World Championships in the Quarter Triathlon 1997: Gold medal at the World Triathlon Long Distance Championships, Nice 1997: Winner Ironman Europe, Nice (7:50:27, world record for Ironman event) 1998: Gold medal at the World Triathlon Long Distance Championships, Sado Island 1998: Second at the Ironman World Championship, Hawaii 1999: Winner Ironman World Championship, Hawaii (8:17.17) 2000: Winner St. Croix Triathlon (2k/55k/12k) 2000: Winner Superman Triatlon, Flanders 2003: Winner Ironman Malaysia (8:31.16) 2004: Winner Ironman Malaysia (8:48.02) 2006: 3rd at the Ironman 70.3 Monaco 2007: 2nd at the Ironman Lanzarote 2007: 8th Ironman Hawaii 2008: 2nd at the IronMan 70.3 Antwerp 2009: Winner Vienna City Triathlon

Honors and awards

Flemish Sportsjewel: 1996 Vlaamse Reus: 1996, 1997, 1999 Belgian Sportsman of the Year: 1997, 1999 Belgian National Sports Merit Award: 1997 Belgian Sports Personality of the Year: 1999 Honorary citizen of Menen: 2013