Max Houben

Max Isidore Marie Jules Houben (5 May 1898 – 10 February 1949) was a Belgian versatile athlete who competed from the early 1920s until his death at the 1949 FIBT World Championships. He won a silver medal in the four-man bobsled event at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, and was the oldest medalist at the Winter Olympics (48 years, 278 days) until Canadian Russ Howard won a gold medal in men's curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin (50 years, 7 days).

Athletics career Houben was the national champion in the 100 m. He also made it to the quarterfinals of the 200 m event and the semifinals of the 4 × 100 m relay at the 1920 Summer Olympics. Houben later switched to bobsleigh, in which he competed at the 1928–1948 Winter Olympics, becoming the first Belgian to take part in both Winter and Summer Olympics.

Death Houben died during a practice run at the 1949 FIBT World Championships in Lake Placid, New York, when his two-man sledge catapulted off of "shady" corner at the bobsleigh track. Houben was killed instantly, while his partner Jacques Mouvet survived with a broken skull and a serious back injury. The Belgian team withdrew as a result.