Alfred Van Landeghem
Belgian coxswain (1891–1914
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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]
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Van Landeghem at the 1909 Henley Royal Regatta | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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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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]
