Marc Raquil is a French runner of Martiniquais origin who competes in the 400 metres and 4x400m relay. He won the 4x400m relay gold medal and the 400m silver medal at the 2003 World Championships. In 2004, his 4x400m relay team was retroactively awarded gold medals after the United States 4x400m relay team was stripped of its gold medals due to the failed drug tests of two members of the relay. Since Jerome Young had also finished first in the 400m at the 2003 World Championships, the failed drug test also resulted in Raquil being retroactively awarded a silver medal in the 400m. Raquil has also won three gold medals and one bronze medal at the European Indoor and Outdoor Championships.
Tia Hellebaut is a retired Belgian track and field athlete, as well as a chemist, who started out in her sports career in the heptathlon, and afterwards specialized in the high jump event. She has cleared 2.05 metres both indoors and outdoors.
Sport in Belgium plays a prominent role in the society. As of 2010, Belgium counted around 17,000 sport clubs with approximately 1.35 million members, or about 13% of the Belgian population. Popular sports in Belgium are, among others: football, cycling, tennis, table tennis, athletics, swimming, basketball, badminton, judo, hockey, rowing, motocross, auto racing, volleyball, and running. Belgium has organized the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp as well as the 1972 UEFA European Championship and the 2000 UEFA European Championship along with the Netherlands. The Belgium national football team's best result was a 3rd place at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and a second place of the 1980 UEFA European Championship. Belgian football clubs have won 3 times the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and twice the UEFA Cup, plus 3 times the UEFA Supercup.
This article contains an overview of the sport of athletics, including track and field, cross country and road running, in the year 2002.
Eline Berings is a Belgian retired athlete, who competed in the 100 m hurdles. She is the 2005 European junior champion, and took her first medal as a senior by winning the 2009 European Indoor Championships. Her personal best times are 12.72 and 7.92 in the 100 and 60 m hurdles respectively.
Jamile Samuel is a Dutch athlete sprinter, who specialises in the 100 and 200 metres. She won three bronze medals at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics, thus establishing herself as the third-fastest female runner under the age of 20 in the world. She won a gold medal with the Dutch women's 4 × 100 m relay team at the 2016 European Championships in Amsterdam.
Dafne Schippers is a Dutch retired track and field athlete who competed in sprinting and the combined events. She holds the European record in the 200 metres with a time of 21.63 seconds, making her the sixth-fastest woman of all time at this distance. She also holds the Dutch records in the 100 metres and long jump, and shares the Dutch records in the 60 metres indoor and 4 × 100 metres relay.
Nadine Broersen is a Dutch track and field athlete, specializing in the heptathlon and high jump. She was the 2014 World Indoor pentathlon champion. Broersen competes for the track and field club AV Sprint in Breda.
Liemarvin Bonevacia is a Dutch sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. He won bronze medals in the event at the 2016 European Athletics Championships, and the 2017 and 2021 European Indoor Championships. Bonevacia earned also five major medals for the 4 × 400 m relays, either men's or mixed, including silver medal in the men's relay at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Nafissatou "Nafi" Thiam is a Belgian athlete specialising in multi-event competition. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, winning the heptathlon event at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Thiam is the only Belgian athlete, male or female, to successfully defend an Olympic title and only the second woman after Jackie Joyner-Kersee to win back-to-back Olympic titles in the event.
Sifan Hassan is an Ethiopian-born 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 5000 metres and 10,000 metres and a bronze medal for the 1500 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 woman to complete an Olympic distance double.
Lisanne de Witte is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in sprinting. She specialises in the 400 metres, where she held the Dutch record with her personal best time of 50.77 seconds from 2018 to 2021.
Nadine Visser is a Dutch track and field athlete who competed in the combined events until 2017 and specialises in short hurdling since 2018.
Anouk Vetter is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in the combined events.
Naomi Sedney is a Dutch sprinter. She has been most successful as the anchor of the Dutch Relay team and is co-holder of the national record 4 x 100 m relay. In 2022 her younger sister Zoë Sedney joined her in the Dutch Relay team.
The Royal Dutch Athletics Federation is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the Netherlands.
Marc Scott is a British long-distance runner. He took his first global medal with bronze in the 3000 metres at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. He is the European indoor record holder for the 5000 metres.
Femke Bol is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in hurdling and sprinting. She specialises in the 400 metres hurdles, where she is the 2023 World Champion, and in the 400 metres, where she is the indoor world record holder. In the 4 × 400 metres relay, she is the 2023 World Champion with the Dutch women's team.
Lieke Klaver is a Dutch track and field athlete who competes in sprinting. She specializes in the 200 metres and in the 400 metres. In the 4 × 400 metres relay, she is the 2023 World Champion with the Dutch women's team.
Eveline Saalberg is a Dutch sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres.
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