Magnificent 1-2 at the European Running Championships

The city of Leuven had the privilege of hosting the first edition of the European Running Championships, a new event counting towards the European Road Running Championships, where a marathon, a half-marathon and a 10 km race were all on the agenda. The best long-distance runners from across the continent gathered in Belgium in search of both men's and women's individual and team medals.

In the women's half-marathon, two Belgian runners succeeded in their quest. Chloé Herbiet and Juliette Thomas quickly broke away from the rest of the field, joined by favourite Diane van Es of the Netherlands and Germany's Esther Pfeiffer, and never relinquished the lead. With the German dropping back after 7 kilometres, the leading trio maintained a healthy lead until they neared the finish line at the end of the 21.095-km course. But with less than 3 km to go to the ribbon, the Dutch athlete dropped out, leaving the home crowd to enjoy a magnificent 1-2 for Belgium.

Belgium's Chloé Herbiet took a superb victory in 1:11:39, followed by her compatriot Juliette Thomas in 1:11:53 and Italy's Sara Nestola (1:12:22) to complete the European podium.

Thanks to this 1-2, along with top places in the other two races (marathon and 10 km), Belgium also won the gold medal in the women's team ranking, ahead of Italy and Spain.

On the men's side, Isaac Kimeli was hoping for victory in the 10 km race. However, the Belgian athlete finished a fine third, winning another individual and team medal for Belgium at this European competition.

All in all, Belgium won seven medals, including team medals in the marathon, for both men (silver) and women (bronze).