Last year was a great one for Belgian sports, with winners from all parts of the country. We look back on 2022.
Photo: Belga / Shutterstock
Cycling prodigy Remco Evenepoel and world heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam were crowned sportsman and sportswoman of the year, but the list of Belgian victories extends far beyond them.
In Remco’s territory, Belgium finished the year at the top of the UCI world ranking, with the sportsman of the year coming in third place behind fellow Belgian Wout van Aert. You may remember Evenepoel’s trifecta earlier this year, winning a major classic, a grand tour and the world championships in the same year.
Meanwhile, on the mat, the Charleroi native Sarah Chaari became Belgium’s first female taekwondo world champion at the 2022 World Taekwondo Championships in Mexico, while Loena Hendrickx dominated on the ice and became the first Belgian to win a skating grand prix.
Belgian Red Devil Thibaut Courtois, meanwhile, received a trophy for World’s Best Goalkeeper at the Ballon d’Or ceremony. His colleague on the national squad, Kevin De Bruyne, was named Premier League player of the season for the second time.
Tennis great David Goffin won the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech, and Frédéric Caudron become world champion in three-cushion billiards.
We already mentioned that Thiam became world heptathlon champion, but the pentathlon champion is also Belgian, answering to the name Noor Vidts.
The list goes on, proving once again that Belgians can be proud of their star athletes. May they be just as successful in the year to come!
