François Lafortune, Jr.

Who is François Lafortune, Jr.?

François Jacques Marie Gerard "Frans" Lafortune is a Belgian rifle shooter who competed at seven Olympic Games from 1952 to 1976. He was born in Visé. His best finish was 10th in the 50m Rifle, Prone Position at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

He comes from a sporting family with seventeen Olympic appearances between them. His father François Lafortune, Sr represented Belgium in shooting at five Olympic Games, his uncle Marcel Lafortune represented Belgium in shooting at four Olympic Games, and his uncle Hubert Lafortune was part of the Belgium gymnastics team that won silver at the 1920 Olympic Games.

In 1952 he competed at the Olympics with his father, in 1956 with his uncle, and in 1960 with both.

Father and son faced each other four times in the Olympics, all in 50m Rifle contests. In 1952, they both scored 1131 points in the Three Positions while François Jr scored 388 to François Sr's 387 in the Prone Position. In 1960, François Sr scored 1108 to his son's 1099 in the Three Positions, and 574 to his son's 555 in the Prone Position.

François Jr did not directly compete with uncle Marcel at the 1956 Olympics as Marcel was competing in different events.