In 1920, Belgium’s Olympic team numbered 326. Archer Hubert Van Innis won four gold medals. They also enjoyed success in equestrianism, cycling, sailing and weightlifting.

Their flag was carried by a man who did win not gold but could claim to be their most remarkable Olympian.

Paul Anspach, an Olympic team mate, said: "Victor Boin was a truly great sportsman, for whom sport is not an end in itself, but is indispensable for everyone in his physical, moral and intellectual development."

Boin was a superb swimmer who played in two Olympic water polo tournaments and also fenced at the Games. He was additionally a talented skater, judoka and even a distinguished aviator.

His name lives on today at a swimming pool in the Saint-Gilles district of Brussels and more significantly in the national sport museum Sportimonium.

Boin was born in 1886. By the age of four, he was able to write to his grandfather and by seven he was corresponding in English. His letters were written in a cursive script which belied his age.

He also ran, cycled and practised Swedish gymnastics. He was only 10 when the Olympics were revived in Athens.

In that summer of 1896, Boin was on holiday in Ostend. He had learned to swim and one day his abilities were put to the test. A woman threw herself into the water off the breakwater in front of the Kursaal. She took her child with her in an apparent suicide attempt.

As another plunged into the water to rescue her, newspapers reported that young Victor "did not hesitate to dive in fully clothed and pull the drowning child from the water."

Boin was awarded La Croix Civique and was the youngest to receive the award. The investiture was made personally by King Leopold.

He soon won his first race in the pool and his strength later made him ideal for water polo. When the Hyde Seal team from the north-west of England visited Belgium, Boin was captivated by the sport.

Very soon, the Belgians were making a reciprocal tour. Boin was chosen and visited Manchester and Bradford.

"We were extremely well received wherever we went. We played some very good water polo matches and made a lasting impression as excellent swimmers."

The following year, he returned to Britain with the 1908 Olympic team. Water Polo was held in the main stadium, where a swimming pool was laid out centrefield alongside the running track.

Boin played as a back as his side overcame The Netherlands 8-1 and then Sweden 4-2. In the final they met Britain, then regarded as the top side in the sport. He went home with silver after a 9-2 defeat. Boin also swam in the 100 metres freestyle but was eliminated in the heats.

Those London Games were the first to feature winter sports. Only figure skating was included, otherwise Boin might well have added to his Olympic achievements.

A few years earlier he had helped form a skating club in Belgium and had won a speed skating event called the "North Pole Grand Prix". During the final, Jean Guimart , his opponent, fell on the ice.

"In a few moments I decided to stop and help him back on his feet. He wanted to stop, but I encouraged him to continue", recalled Boin.

Boin was by now a skilled fencer. He had taken his first lesson aged only 12 and within a year he had finished second in a field of 199 junior fencers.

The young man appeared to be a natural in any sport he turned his hand to. He played tennis and was one of the first Belgians to practice jiu-jitsu. He won a national competition in 1907. Many years later, he was presented with the diploma of the Black Belt.

His great love remained swimming. He claimed to be the first European to practice front crawl and his teacher had been Australia’s Cec Healy, 1912 Olympic relay gold medallist.

In 1912, Boin was chosen for the Games in both fencing and water polo. A timetable clash prevented him from entering swimming. He was fourth in the individual men’s épée and won bronze in water polo.

By now Boin also worked in the theatre and married French actress Georgette Loyer. For a short while before the outbreak of war, he joined the staff of Brussels burgomeister Adolphe Max.

Boin served initially in armoured vehicles, but soon requested a transfer to the newly-established Belgian Air Force. He flew biplanes and met up with Jacques Ochs, his fencing team mate from 1912. They carried out aerial reconnaissance and also bombarded an enemy submarine. Boin was decorated and the citation praised his "remarkable qualities of courage, self sacrifice and high conception of duty."

In 1918, he was given a top-secret mission across the English Channel. His passenger was Queen Elisabeth of Belgium. Boin maintained an altitude of only 300m to avoid enemy aircraft and landed at Folkestone.

"I was mightily relieved that all had gone well and that we landed without problems", Boin said.

Boin would later help Queen Elisabeth to establish a competition for young musicians. He also helped set up an airline which eventually became the national carrier SABENA.

He remained active and won water polo gold at the 1919 Inter-Allied Games, a competition for military personnel.

When Antwerp was confirmed as 1920 Olympic host city, he was appointed secretary of the press committee and also a member of the committee for swimming.

He was given a special role at the Opening Ceremony. Holding the Belgian flag, he recited the new competitors’ oath.

"Coubertin paid me the honour, in agreement with the Belgian Olympic Committee, of selecting me to take the Olympic oath in the name of all competitors. It was the first time it had been done to compete, in the stadium, chivalrously and for honour alone."

In the individual épée, he was eliminated at the quarter-final stage but won another silver in the team competition.

For Boin, the Olympics represented "the revelation of unforgettable world athletic meetings, bringing together people of all races and all philosophies in friendly rivalry."

By the mid 1920s, his competitive sporting career was ending so he concentrated on sports journalism. He had been a sports writer before the first world war and also took part in early outside broadcasts on radio.

In 1924, he was elected vice-president of the new International Association of Sports Journalists (AIPS) and, in 1932, elevated to President.

At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he noticed the giant bell at the Olympic stadium. "It may be that its clear ringing sound will accomplish the miracle of dissipating the clouds above us and will brighten the menacing horizon", he wrote.

Instead, war came again. Boin enlisted once more, but his homeland was soon occupied and in January 1942, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Henri Baillet-Latour died.

Hitler sent a wreath and Nazi sports leader Hans von Tschammer und Osten attempted to take over the funeral. Boin told him: "You have arrived too late, everything’s been dealt with."

Wartime had a personal tragedy for Boin. His wife died after a long illness. 

He interceded to secure the release of his old friend Ochs, interned because he was Jewish. Ochs later wrote to "Victor, my brother in arms".

During the war, Boin did not work in journalism, but when peace returned, he took part in the first television broadcasts. "Television preoccupies the spirits. It is above all prodigious, miraculous, terrifying and monstrous human invention", he wrote.

He also resumed the AIPS Presidency.

"Sports journalists wish to set an example of impartial judgement and fair opinion. They wish to place ethics ahead of competition."

In 1955, Boin was elected Belgian Olympic Committee President and became founding President of his country’s Paralympic organisation in 1960.

He was almost 80 when he finally stepped down.

He died in 1974 but filmmakers Monique Van Rulo and Michel Roosens have since chronicled his remarkable life in a documentary Victor Boin: sport as a lifestyle released in 2013.

This was dedicated to Roger Boin who had died the previous year after many years working to preserve his grandfather’s legacy.

IOC President Jacques Rogge had helped lay the first foundation stone of the Victor Boin Preservation Hall, which now houses the treasures of Belgium sport in a fabulous museum created by distinguished historian Roland Renson.

One room even recreates Boin’s study.