2018 European Athletics Championships Day 6 (36)

The Belgian men's 4 × 400 metres relay team, nicknamed the Belgian Tornados from July 2014 onwards, is the

relay team A relay race is a racing competition where members of a team take turns completing parts of racecourse or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games. Relay races are common in running, orient ...

of the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

national athletics team that has given the highest number of medals in the international competitions, mainly thanks to the support of the Borlée family.

History

The Belgian men's 4 × 400 meters relay team has won 15 medals at the international athletics competitions, five

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and eight (five gold) at the European Championships. Of these medals seven were won in outdoor competitions (three gold) and six in

indoor Indoor(s) may refer to: *the interior of a building *Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality *Built envi ...

competitions (two gold). At the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

the team's best result was 4th place twice.

Borlée family

The progenitor of the Borlee family is

Jacques Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

(born 1957), bronze medalist at the 1983 European Indoor Championships in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

on 200 m, while his first wife (born 1964) was a good sprinter with a personal best of 23.89. Six of his seven children are athletes (the first five born from the first marriage with Edith, the last two born from a second marriage, but now only Rayane (born 1999) is an athlete). The eldest daughter

Olivia Olivia may refer to: People * Olivia (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Olivia (singer) (Olivia Longott, born 1981), American singer * Olívia (basketball) (Carlos Henrique Rodrigues do Nascimento, born 19 ...

(born 1986) won the silver medal at the Olympics and the world bronze at the 2007 Osaka World Championships with the

4 × 100 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

and the other daughter Alizia (born 1991) was also a decent sprinter. The four sons are all

400 m The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

specialists, the twins Jonathan and

Kevin Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...

(born 1988), both Olympic finalists in

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Dylan (born 1992) and the youngest Rayane. In addition, Jacques' older brother (born 1947) was also a sprinter. In 2015 the Belgian men's 4 × 400 meters relay team won the ''

Belgian National Sports Merit Award The Belgian National Sports Merit Award is an annual award handed out to a Belgian sportsperson or -team for exceptional merit. Players can only win the award once during their career, making this trophy one of the most prestigious in Belgian sports ...

'' (''Trophée national du Mérite sportif'') award assigned to the components

Dylan Borlée Dylan Borlée (born 20 September 1992) is a Belgian sprinter who competes in the 400 metres. He is a member of the Borlée family. He holds a personal best of 45.57 seconds for the event. He was the silver medallist at the European Athletics ...

Jonathan Borlée Jonathan Borlée (; born 22 February 1988) is a Belgian sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. He is a member of the Borlée family. He qualified for the finals of the 400 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was a semi-finalist at ...

Kevin Borlée Kevin Borlée (; born 22 February 1988) is a Belgian sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. He is a member of the Borlée family. Borlée won bronze at the 2011 World Championships in the 400m. He qualified for the finals of the 400 me ...

Antoine Gillet Antoine Gillet (born 22 March 1988, Libramont-Chevigny) is a Belgian sprint athlete. He was part of Belgium's 4 x 400 m relay team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Achievements See also * Belgian men's 4 × 400 metres relay team The Belgian ...

Julien Watrin Julien Watrin (born 27 June 1992) is a Belgian sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. In 2023, he won his first individual major senior medal, with silver at the European Indoor Championships. Watrin earned several major medals with nationa ...

Results

Olympic Games

120701-060 Belgische 4x400m EK 2012, Helsinki

Others competitions

;Outdoor ;Indoor

Notes

References

External links

Royal Belgian Athletics League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belgian men's 4 x 400 metres relay team National sports teams of Belgium