Yves C. Vanlandewijck International Faculty
Biography
Yves C. Vanlandewijck is Professor in Rehabilitation Sciences at the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences of the University of Leuven (KU Leuven, Belgium) and the Department of Physiology, Nutrition and Biomechanics of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH, Stockholm, Sweden). His research interests include exercise physiology, biomechanics and ergonomics, applied to individuals with locomotor, sensory or intellectual impairment, in a rehabilitation to elite sports continuum. His main research applications focus on the development of evidence-based classification systems in Para-sports to ensure fairness in athletic competition categories. This line of research resulted in two position statements on classification of athletes with physical respectively intellectual impairments. In 2002, Prof. Vanlandewijck composed an international research group developing the concept of Generic Sport Intelligence, the central pillar of the current classification system of athletes with intellectual impairment. This new classification approach resulted in the re-instatement of athletes with intellectual impairment at the IPC general assembly in 2009, and their participation in the London 2012 Paralympic Games. In recognition of his scientific contributions, Prof. Vanlandewijck’s research unit became accredited by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as the Research & Development Centre for Classification in Athletes with Intellectual Impairment.
From 1995 to 2023, Prof. Vanlandewijck was a member of the IPC Sport Science Committee, currently the IPC Science & Research Working Group. As the chairperson of the committee from 2003 to 2018, he put sport science high on the agenda of the IPC. The VISTA conference became a bi-annual congress, with increasing quality and attendance. Together with his ‘brother’ Prof. Walt Thompson, he oversaw all research projects conducted at the Paralympic Summer and Winter Games from 1996 to 2018. Much of the outcome of these projects was bundled in the IOC Series Books “The Paralympic Athlete” (2011) and “Training & Coaching the Paralympic Athlete” (2016), both edited by Yves Vanlandewijck and Walt Thompson. Prof. Yves Vanlandewijck delivered keynotes on Para-sport topics from a biomedical, social and human sciences perspective in leading sport congresses all over the globe. In 2017, Prof. Vanlandewijck was honored to deliver the Joseph B. Wolffe Memorial Lecture, opening the American College of Sport Medicine Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado. In 2019, Prof. Vanlandewijck received the IPC Scientific Award in recognition of his contribution to Science in the Paralympic Movement.
In 2001, Prof. Vanlandewijck was invited by the Athens 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee (ATHOC2004) to direct the development of the Paralympic Educational Material for elementary and secondary school. From this material, Prof. Vanlandewijck deducted the concept of the Paralympic School Day and developed with a European consortium the Paralympic School Day program, which today runs in all continents and contributes to the awareness of youngsters about the Paralympic Movement and people with disabilities in general. These educational initiatives led to the establishment of the IPC Education Committee in 2006.
From 1997 to 2001, Prof. Yves Vanlandewijck was the vice-president of the International Federation of Adapted Physical Activity. He is the founding editor of the European Journal of Adapted Physical Activity. He was a teacher (1992-2022) and program director (2010-2022) of the International Master program in Adapted Physical Activity (IMAPA), graduating more than 400 international students. Today, the IMAPA-graduates take important roles in all levels of society worldwide, improving the quality of life of people with disabilities. In 2016, Prof. Vanlandewijck received the Professional Achievements Award from the European Federation of Adapted Physical Activity for his lifetime contributions to the domain of Adapted Physical Activity.
As a physiotherapist and wheelchair basketball coach, Prof. Vanlandewijck assured a close line to patients, sport participants and elite athletes. On a national level, he build the bridge between rehabilitation and active lifestyle, founding the Centre for Adapted Sports at KU Leuven in 1986, an omnisport organization introducing and guiding individuals with physical, sensory or intellectual impairments to active lifestyle. Prof. Vanlandewijck served as an instructor/trainer in, amongst other, water-skiing, swimming, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair basketball, and conditioning. In 1991, he started the first scientific counselling program for elite Para-athletes. From 1991 to 2021, he served as an embedded scientist for the Belgian Paralympic Athletes and as a member of the Elite Athletes Bureau of the Flemish Paralympic Ligue. After more than 20 years with the Belgian wheelchair rugby team as an embedded scientist he wrote in a closing statement: “To close this chapter, I would like to thank the Belgian wheelchair rugby squad for the enormous sporting pleasure and excitement that they bring to the court. Every coach should once in his or her career experience the luxury of working with a young, talented group of athletes with the utmost devotion and work ethic toward their sport. On and off the court, these athletes were and are true examples of elitism in sport – true Paralympians. It is an honor and pleasure to have been a small part of their incredible journey”.
