Robert Rinchard (29 May 1931 – 20 July 2024) was a Belgian race walker who excelled over long, and ultra long distances. He won the Paris-Strasburg ultra long-distance race three times, in 1973, 1974 and 1976, after which he retired from competitive sport. Rinchard died in

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

on 20 July 2024, at the age of 93.

Race walking career

In the 1950s Rinchard became a journalist covering local news, and especially sports in his home region of

. By the 1960s he had become a champion race walker. Rinchard was the Belgian champion of the

20 km race walk The 20 kilometre race walk is an Olympic athletics event that is competed by both men and women. The racewalking event is competed as a road race. Athletes must always keep in contact with the ground and the supporting leg must remain straight ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

and 1969. He was the Belgian champion of the 50 km race walk in 1966, 1969 and 1971. In 1972 he became the Belgian champion in the 100 kilometer race walk. At the

1969 European Athletics Championships The 1969 European Athletics Championships were the ninth European Athletics Championships which were held from 16–21 September 1969 at the Karaiskakis Stadium, Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, Greece. New at these championships were the w ...

in Athens, he finished 19th in the 20 km walk and 13th in the Men's 50 kilometres walk. Later, he focused on ultra-long distances. He won the

Paris-Colmar Paris-Colmar is an annual racewalking competition covering about 445 kilometers for men, and 300 kilometers for women and for men who participate for the first time. The competition began in 1926 as race from Strasbourg to Paris. The contest fo ...

three times, in 1973 (493 km), 1974 (523 km) and 1976 (533 km). In 1976, he set a record hourly average of 7.709 km. In 1974 he set a personal best for the 200 km race walk at 21 hours, 56 minutes and 39 seconds during the Les 28 heures de Roubaix. It is the 28th fastest time for this distance. He would win the Les 28 heures de Roubaix in both 1974 and 1975, covering 255 km and 239 km respectively. In 1974 he received the Sports Merit of the province of Namur. In 1975, he won the first edition of the 24-hour walking race in

Château-Thierry Château-Thierry (; Picard: ''Catieu-Thierry'') is a French commune situated in the department of the Aisne, in the administrative region of Hauts-de-France, and in the historic Province of Champagne. The origin of the name of the town is u ...

, a qualifier for the Strasbourg-Paris race walk. He walked 205 km over 24 hours, 6 minutes and 38 seconds. After winning his third

in 1976, Rinchard quit competition, later becoming a civil servant at the Belgian Ministry of Finance.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rinchard, Robert 1931 births 2024 deaths Belgian male race walkers People from Walloon Brabant People from Namur (province) 1969 European Athletics Championships 20th-century Belgian sportsmen