Karel Lismont

Karel Lismont (born 8 March 1949 in Borgloon ) is a former Belgian long-distance runner and two-time medalist at the Olympic Games. At a height of 1.68 m his competition weight was 55 kg.

When the lanky Belgian age of 22 took on 15 of August in Helsinki at the European Championships in 1971 in the marathon, he was largely unknown. He had five days earlier occupied with 28:31,2 16th place in the 10,000 -meter run. But in the marathon he ran in 2:13:09,0 his famous compatriot Gaston Roelants and the favored British Trevor Wright and Ron Hill. After his victory Lismont was no longer a stranger, and in the next few years he was able to emphatically prove that his success was no fluke.

At the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972 he won the silver medal behind 2:14:31,8 Frank Shorter of the United States. Four years later, at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, he won with his personal best of 2:11:12,6 bronze behind Waldemar Cierpinski and Frank Shorter.

At the European Championships 1978 in Prague, he won bronze in 2:12:07,7, just four years later at the European Championships in 1982 in Athens. At the world championships in cross-country running, he won in 1974 and 1978, two bronze medals in the individual results. In the team competition, he won the Belgian team in 1973, 1974 and 1977 gold, 1976 silver and 1980 bronze.

At the first World Athletics Championships 1983 in Helsinki, he managed one last time to stay under 2:12, but even though he only than minute remained 2:11:24 behind the winner Robert De Castella, it was enough only for 9th place. During the same year he won the Berlin Marathon, and 1986 and 1987 he won the first two editions of the Hamburg Marathon for themselves.

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