The Belgian delegation has returned victorious from the European indoor athletics championships. Of the four disciplines represented by Belgium in Belgrade, our athletes brought home two medals. Nafissatou Thiam won the European title, and the "Belgian Tornados" came home with silver.
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Nafissatou Thiam, last year’s Olympic heptathlon champion in Rio, added a new gold medal to her collection. She proved why she deserved to be favoured to win the pentathlon by bringing home the gold medal for Belgium at the 34th European indoor championships. Dominant throughout the event, she also improved on her personal record. During the pentathlon, the 22-year-old athlete from Namur won the first three events: the 60 m hurdles, the high jump, and the shot put. She then won 3rd place in the long jump, before closing with a rather difficult 800 m race. In the end, she brought home the gold, and was only 7 points short of the Belgian record set by Tia Hellebaut 10 years ago. It now seems that Thiam need fear no one in her sport.
The "Belgian Tornados", our 4x400 m team made up of Robin Vanderbemden, Julien Watrin, Kévin Borlée, and Dylan Borlée, also posted excellent results, winning second place in the 4x400 m on the final day of competition. Though the Belgians began in the lead, the Polish team eventually went on to victory.
Brilliant results for Belgium, which returned from Serbia with one gold and one silver medal.
