Alfred Van Landeghem
Van Landeghem at the 1909 Henley Royal Regatta | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 26 October 1891 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 19 October 1914 (aged 22) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 51 kg (112 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Rowing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Royal Club Nautique de Gand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Alfred Van Landeghem (26 October 1891–10 October 1914)[1] was a Belgian coxswain[2] who won silver medals in men's eight at the 1900 Summer Olympics and again in men's eight at the 1908 Summer Olympics as part of the Royal Club Nautique de Gand team.[3][4][5][6]
According to Olympic historian Hilary Evans, birth registers in Ghent indicate that Van Landeghem was born in 1891, which would have made him just over eight years old when he competed in the 1900 Olympics. This makes Van Landeghem the youngest Olympian in history as well as the youngest Olympic medalist in history. Evans also noted that Van Landeghem died soon before his twenty-third birthday and may have been killed at the First Battle of Ypres, although his name is not found in lists of Belgian deaths in the first World War.[1] Evans speculated, on the basis of visual resemblance, that Van Landeghem may have actually been the "unknown French boy" that won the 1900 Olympic men's coxed pair rowing competition with the Dutch team, although he admitted that the evidence supporting this hypothesis was "circumstantial at best".[7]
References
- ^ a b Evans, Hilary (12 August 2014). "Did an eight year old compete and win a medal at the Olympics?". OlympStats. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
- ^ "Alfred Van Landeghem". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alfred Van Landeghem". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
- ^ "Alfred Van Landeghem". databaseOlympics.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
- ^ John Nauright; Charles Parrish (2012). Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. p. 139. ISBN 978-1-59884-300-2. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
- ^ Bill Mallon; Ian Buchanan (2000). The 1908 Olympic Games: Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. McFarland. p. 217. ISBN 978-1-4766-0952-2.
- ^ Prewitt, Alex (5 August 2021). "The Youngest Olympic Medalist in History Remains a Mystery". SI. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2025.