John Heymans (born 9 January 1998) is a Belgian long-distance runner. He has won two national titles (3000 metres indoor and cross-country in 2021). He is a member of Royal Excelsior Club Brussels.[1] After finishing his MSc in Bioengineering and Nanotechnology from the KU Leuven in September 2022, he decided to become a professional athlete.
John Heymans was born in Vilvoorde, Belgium on January 9, 1998. He grew up in the town of Rossem, province of Flemish Brabant. As a teenager Heymans played national-level hockey[2] but took up competitive running in 2016. In his first year in college he combined both sports, but soon decided to focus completely on running.
Running career
On December 10, 2017, at the age of 19, Heymans participated as a junior in the European Cross Country Championships[3] in Samorín, Slovakia. He finished 24th,[4] 31 seconds behind winner Jakob Ingebrigtsen from Norway. Team Belgium got 4th place in the Junior team ranking that year.
In 2019, Heymans returned to the European Cross Country Championships,[5] held on December 8, 2019 in Lisboa, Portugal. He finished in 24th position[5] in the Umder-23 race, 1'13" behind winner Jimmy Gressier from France. Team Belgium ranked 6th in the U-23 category. On August 16, 2020, Heymans finished 6th[6] in the 1500m at the Belgian National Championships in Brussels, Belgium in a time of 3:51.51.
Heymans took his first national title[7] on February 20, 2021, when he won the 3000m race at the Belgian National Indoor Championships in 7:51.57. With his winning time Heymans qualified for the European Championships in Torun, Poland, where he finished 7th in the heats in a time of 7:58.13.
Only one week later, on February 28, 2021, Heymans won his second national title[8] at the Belgian National Championships cross country in Laken, Belgium.
Heymans had a difficult 2021 season with stress fractures[9] and COVID-19 infections. Nevertheless, without much preparation Heymans managed to place 6th at the 2022 Belgian National Cross Country Championships[10] in Brussels on March 6, 2022.
After he finished his studies in September 2022, Heymans turned professional.[11]
Heymans returned to the European Cross Country Championships in Torino, Italy on December 11, 2022. In the first couple of laps, Heymans stayed close to the front runners. In the middle part of the race Heymans lost some ground, but came back strong in the final lap, passing three competitors to finish in 14th place,[12] his best European Cross Country Championships ranking up to that date. Team Belgium ranked 4th in the teams competition.
On 5 February 2023 at the IFAM Gent Indoor[13] in the Topsporthal Vlaanderen, Heymans finished second in a time of 7:45.48 in the 3000 metres,[14] six seconds faster than his personal best from 2021.
At the Meeting Metz Moselle Athlelor[15] on 11 February 2023, Heymans finished third in 7:42.55 in the 3000 metres[16] beating his best from the week before by another three seconds. With this time, Heymans qualified for the 2023 European Indoor Championships, held from 2 to 5 March 2023 at the Ataköy Arena in Istanbul.
On 31 January 2025, Heymans returned to Boston, USA to run an indoor 5000 metres at the BU John Terrier Classic[21], where he finished 5th in a time of 13:08.93, in a race that was won by Jimmy Gressier from France in 13:00.54.[22]
Hicham El Guerrouj is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. El Guerrouj is the current world record holder for the 1500 metres and mile, and the former world record holder in the 2000 metres. He is the only man since Paavo Nurmi to win a gold medal in both the 1500 m and 5000 metres at the same Olympic Games.
The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to 3 miles 188 yards or 16,404 feet 2 inches. It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over 12+1⁄2 laps of a standard 400 m track, or 25 laps on an indoor 200 m track. The same distance in road running is called a 5K run; referring to the distance in metres rather than kilometres serves to disambiguate the two events. The 5000 m has been present on the Olympic programme since 1912 for men and since 1996 for women. Prior to 1996, women had competed in an Olympic 3000 metres race since 1984. The 5000 m has been held at each of the World Championships in Athletics in men's competition and since 1995 in women's.
The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track.
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