Robert Van de Walle

Robert Van de Walle
8th Dan

Personal information

Nationality

Belgium

Born

May 20, 1954 (age 57)
Ostend, Belgium

Height

1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)

Weight

95 kg (210 lb; 15.0 st)

Medal record

Competitor for Belgium
Men's Judo
Olympic Games
Gold	1980 Moscow	-95 kg
Bronze	1988 Seoul	-95 kg
World Championships
Silver	1979 Paris	-95 kg
Silver	1981 Maastricht	-95 kg
Bronze	1981 Maastricht	Open
Bronze	1983 Moscow	-95 kg
Bronze	1983 Moscow	Open
Bronze	1985 Seoul	-95 kg
Bronze	1989 Belgrade	-95 kg
European Championships
Silver	1976 Kiev	-93 kg
Silver	1977 Ludwigshafen	-95 kg
Bronze	1977 Ludwigshafen	Open
Bronze	1978 Helsinki	-95 kg
Silver	1979 Brussels	-95 kg
Bronze	1979 Brussels	Open
Bronze	1980 Vienna	-95 kg
Gold	1980 Vienna	Open
Bronze	1981 Debrecen	-95 kg
Bronze	1983 Paris	-95 kg
Silver	1983 Paris	Open
Silver	1984 Liege	-95 kg
Bronze	1984 Liege	Open
Gold	1985 Hamar	-95 kg
Gold	1986 Belgrade	-95 kg
Bronze	1987 Paris	-95 kg
Bronze	1988 Pamplona	-95 kg

Robert Van de Walle (born 20 May 1954) is a Belgian judoka. He was the first judoka to ever compete at five Olympics.

He was born in Ostend.

At the 1980 Summer Olympics he won the gold medal in the men's half-heavyweight category and in 1988, at the relatively late age of thirty-four, he won a second medal: a bronze one in the same category. He competed in his fifth and final Olympics in 1992 at age 38, reaching the quarter finals.

He continued competing successfully at the highest level of competition for several years after that. During his career Van de Walle also captured three European titles: in 1980, 1985 and 1986. Together with Ingrid Berghmans he was the face of Belgian judo in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Bibliography

(1993) "Pick-ups" Judo Masterclass Techniques Ippon Books

References

Judo Legends

Belgian Sportsperson of the Year

Men	1967 Ferdinand Bracke 1968 Serge Reding 1969–1974 Eddy Merckx 1975 Bruno Brokken 1976 Ivo Van Damme 1977 Michel Pollentier 1978 Raymond Ceulemans 1979–1980 Robert Van de Walle 1981 Freddy Maertens 1982 Jacky Ickx 1983 Eddy Annys 1984 Claude Criquielion 1985 Gaston Rahier & Vincent Rousseau 1986 William Van Dijck 1987 Georges Jobé 1988 Eric Geboers 1989 Thierry Boutsen 1990 Rudy Dhaenens 1991 Jean-Michel Saive 1992 Georges Jobé 1993 Vincent Rousseau 1994 Jean-Michel Saive 1995–1996 Fred Deburghgraeve 1997 Luc Van Lierde 1998 Fred Deburghgraeve 1999 Luc Van Lierde 2000 Joël Smets 2001–2004 Stefan Everts 2005 Tom Boonen 2006 Stefan Everts 2007 Tom Boonen 2008 Sven Nys 2009–2011 Philippe Gilbert

Women	1975 Carine Verbauwen 1976–1977 Anne-Marie Pira 1978–1979 Carine Verbauwen 1980 Ingrid Berghmans 1981 Annie Lambrechts 1982–1986 Ingrid Berghmans 1987 Ingrid Lempereur 1988–1989 Ingrid Berghmans 1990–1991 Sabine Appelmans 1992 Annelies Bredael 1993 Gella Vandecaveye 1994–1995 Brigitte Becue 1996 Ulla Werbrouck 1997 Gella Vandecaveye 1998 Dominique Monami 1999–2002 Kim Clijsters 2003–2004 Justine Henin-Hardenne 2005 Kim Clijsters 2006–2007 Justine Henin-Hardenne 2008 Tia Hellebaut 2009–2011 Kim Clijsters

Team	1997 Noliko Maaseik 1998 Belgian Motorcross team 1999 Davis Cup team 2000 Anderlecht 2001 Fed Cup team 2002 La Villette 2003 Belgian Motorcross team 2004 Women's 4×100 metres relay 2005 Under-21 football team 2006 Fed Cup team 2007–2008 Women's 4×100 metres relay 2009–2011 Men's 4×400 metres relay

Talent	1998 Kim Clijsters 1999 Bart Wellens 2000 Bart Aernouts 2001 Jurgen Van Den Broeck 2002 Thomas Buffel 2003 Kirsten Flipkens 2004 Aagje Vanwalleghem 2005 Niels Albert 2006 Yoris Grandjean 2007 Dominique Cornu 2008 Elise Matthysen 2009 Romelu Lukaku 2010 Luca Brecel 2011 Thomas Van der Plaetsen

Paralimpic	2010 Sven Decaesstecker 2011 Wim Decleir

Coach	2011 Jacques Borlée

Persondata
Name	Van de Walle, Robert
Alternative names
Short description	judoka
Date of birth	20 May 1954
Place of birth	Ostend, Belgium
Date of death
Place of death