Max Houben

Medal record
Bobsleigh
Olympic Games
Silver	1948 St. Moritz	Four-man
World Championships
Silver	1947 St. Moritz	Four-man
Bronze	1947 St. Moritz	Two-man

Max Houben (5 May 1898 – 10 February 1949) was a Belgian athlete and bobsledder who competed from the early 1920s to the late 1940s. He won a silver medal in the four-man event at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz and was the oldest medalist at the Winter Olympics (49 years, 278 days) until Canadian Russ Howard won a gold medal in men's curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin (50 years, 7 days).

Athletics career

As an athlete, Houben was national champion in the 100 m for Belgium. He also made it to the quarterfinals of the 200 m event and the semifinals of the 4 x 100 m relay at the 1920 Summer Olympics. Houben later switched to bobsleigh in the 1920s where he would compete in four Winter Olympics (1928–1948).

Bobsleigh career

At the Winter Olympics, Houben would earn his best finish prior to World War II of fifth in the four-man event at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. After World War II ended, Houben earned two medals at the 1947 FIBT World Championships in St. Moritz with a silver in the four-man and a bronze in the two-man event. He would earn his only Winter Olympic medal in the four-man event the following year, also in St. Moritz.

Other sports

Houben was also an active football (soccer) player and also competed in the 24 hours of Francochamps endurance race in auto racing.

Death

Houben died during a practice run at the 1949 FIBT World Championships in Lake Placid, New York in the United States when his sled catapulted off of "Shady" corner at the bobsleigh track. Houben was killed instantly, and the Belgian team withdrew as a result.

References

• 1932 bobsleigh two-man results
• 1936 bobsleigh two-man results
• 1936 bobsleigh four-man results
• Bobsleigh four-man Olympic medalists for 1924, 1932–56, and since 1964
• Bobsleigh two-man world championship medalists since 1931
• Bobsleigh four-man world championship medalists since 1930
• DatabaseOlympics.com profile
• Humo magazine article on Houben – accessed 29 July 2007 (Dutch)
• "The Secret of Shady Corner". Time Magazine. 7 March 1949. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,853670-1,00.html. Retrieved 14 August 2008.  – Accessed 29 July 2007.
• Sports-reference.com profile
• Wallenchinsky, David. (1984). "Bobsled". In The Complete Book the Olympics: 1896–1980. New York: Penguin Books. pp. 558–60.

Persondata
Name	Houben, Max
Alternative names
Short description	athlete
Date of birth	5 May 1898
Place of birth
Date of death	10 February 1949
Place of death	Lake Placid, New York, United States