Githa Michiels (born 28 March 1983) is a Belgian cross-country cyclist. She placed 21st in the women's cross-country race at the 2016 Summer Olympics. [1] [2] She was on the start list of 2018 Cross-Country European Championships and finished 3rd.. [3]
Olivia Borlée is a retired Belgian sprinter who specialized in the 200 metres. Her personal best time in the 200 is 22.98 seconds, achieved in July 2006 in Brussels. She has a personal best of 11.39 seconds in the 100 metres. She won a gold medal in the 4x100 m relay at the 2008 Summer Olympics with teammates Hanna Mariën, Élodie Ouédraogo, and Kim Gevaert in a time of 42.54 seconds, which set a new Belgian record.
Stephanie April "Steph" Twell is a British middle- and long-distance runner who competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She trains at Aldershot, Farnham & District AC. She won the 1500 metres at the 2008 World Junior Championships, and is a three-time winner of the European Junior Cross Country Championships (2006–2008), as well as being part of four winning Great Britain teams. Representing Scotland, she won a bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
Maja Martyna Włoszczowska is a Polish mountain biker. She is the 2008 and 2016 Olympic silver medalist in cross-country cycling. She is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Hellen Onsando Obiri is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner. She is the only woman to have won world titles in indoor track, outdoor track and cross country. Obiri is a two-time Olympic 5,000 metres silver medallist from the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she also placed fourth over the 10,000 metres. She is a two-time world champion after winning the 5,000 m in 2017 and again in 2019, when she set a new championship record. Obiri also took world bronze for the 1,500 metres in 2013 and silver in the 10,000 m in 2022. She won the 3,000 metres race at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, claimed silver in 2014, and placed fourth in 2018. She is the 2019 World Cross Country champion. Obiri triumphed in the 2023 Boston Marathon, her second marathon race. She places fifth in the half marathon on the world all-time list.
Charline Van Snick is a Belgian retired judoka who won bronze in the women's 48 kg judo at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She also earned a bronze medal at the 2010 European Judo Championships and a silver medals at the 2012 and 2013 European Judo Championships.
Tanja Žakelj is a Slovenian racing cyclist, holder of multiple world- and European champion titles. She was born in Kranj. She competed in mountain biking at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. She is the current (2013) European Champion and overall World Cup Winner. She was on the start list of 2018 Cross Country European Championships and finished 12.
Nafissatou "Nafi" Thiam is a Belgian athlete specialising in multi-event competition. She is the first athlete with three multi-event gold medals at the Olympic Games, winning the heptathlon at the 2016 Rio, 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics. Her three individual Olympic golds in a row for a woman equals the record of Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland in the hammer and Faith Kipyegon in the 1500 metres Thiam is also the only Belgian athlete to successfully defend an Olympic title.
Sifan Hassan is a Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She is most recognized for her versatility in running championship and world-leading performances in widely disparate distances. She completed an unprecedented triple at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning gold medals in both the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres and a bronze medal for the 1,500 metres. Hassan is the only athlete in Olympic history to win medals across a middle-distance event and both long-distance races in a single Games. She is only the second of three women to complete an Olympic distance double. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Hassan secured a bronze medal in both the women's 5,000 m and 10,000 m events and gold in the women's marathon, becoming the only woman to win the Olympic gold medal in the 5,000 metres, 10,000 metres and Marathon races.
Abbey Cooper is an American middle- and long-distance runner. Cooper is the most decorated Ivy League athlete in track and field and cross country running. She is the first Dartmouth female distance runner to win an NCAA title. She won a total of seven NCAA titles in her career. In 2014, she became a professional runner for New Balance.
Belgium competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's official debut in 1900, Belgian athletes had appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis. The Belgian team consisted of 108 athletes, 70 men and 38 women, across nineteen sports.
Emily Infeld is an American long-distance runner. She regularly competes in the 5000 m and 10,000 m distances during her professional career; in her college career she regularly competed in the 4 × 800 meter relay and 1500 m on up to 5000 m.
Michelle Finn is an Irish runner competing in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She represented Ireland in the 3,000 metres steeplechase at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio; she finished 11th in her heat. Previously she had also represented Ireland at the 2015 World Championships.
Kate Grace is an American middle-distance runner. A multiple All-American runner for Yale University, she turned professional in 2011. Grace competed for the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics, making it to the final of the 800 metres.
Nina Derwael is a Belgian artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion, and a two-time European champion on the uneven bars. She is the 2019 European Games champion on the balance beam, as well as a two-time Belgian national all-around champion.
The Refugee Olympic Team competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016, as independent Olympic participants.
Courtney Frerichs is an American middle-distance runner and steeplechase specialist from Nixa, Missouri, She is a three-time silver medalist in the 3000 meters steeplechase capturing silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the 2017 World Championships in London and at the 2018 World (Continental) Cup in Ostrava. In 2021, she became the first American woman to run under nine-minutes in a women’s 3000-meters steeplechase event with a time of 8:57.77; establishing an American and Area record. She is a two-time Olympian making the US team in 2016 and 2020. In both of her Olympic Trials she finished second to US National Champion, Emma Coburn.
Jenny Rissveds is a Swedish cross-country mountainbike rider. She won the gold medal in women's cross country at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Anna Emilie Møller is a Danish athlete competing in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics without qualifying for the final. In her heat, however, she set the new national and European junior record in the event.
Anne Terpstra is a Dutch cross-country cyclist. She is the silver medalist of 2024 World mountain bike championships in Cross-country Olympic.
Yannick Michiels is a Belgian orienteer. He is the first Belgian orienteer to receive a medal at the World Orienteering Championships, receiving a bronze medal in the sprint discipline at the 2022 World Orienteering Championships in Denmark.