Christian Belz (born 11 September 1974) is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

. He was initially a

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

r and represented Switzerland in the event at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

in 1999 and 2001 as well as the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. He broke the national record with a run of 8:22.24 in June 2001. Later that year he won two

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

s at the

2001 Summer Universiade The 2001 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXI Summer Universiade, was an international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, between 22 August and 1 September. A total of 6,757 athletes from 165 nations took part in 12 sports ...

. He began to focus on the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

instead and was one of two Europeans to make the world final at the 2003 World Championships. He was eliminated in the heats at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, but broke another Swiss record at the 2005 World Championships, running 27:53.16 in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

. He was fourth at the

2006 European Athletics Championships The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Champions ...

. A switch to

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ac ...

was hindered by injury throughout 2007 to 2009. He made his final major appearance at the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Cat ...

and announced his international retirement at the end of that year.

Career

Steeplechaser

Born in

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

,Christian Belz
. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2010-12-19. he started his career in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

as a specialist in the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

. He earned All-American honours competing for the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac- ...

while studying at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

. It was in the steeplechase that he made his first international appearances for Switzerland. He was selected for the

1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and Augu ...

and finished eighth in his heat. He made his Olympic debut the following year at the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and was again knocked out in the heats after an eighth place finish.Belz Christian

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 2010-12-19. The 2001 season marked an improvement in his performances: he set a personal best and Swiss record in the steeplechase with a time of 8:22.24 at the

FBK Games The FBK Games is an annual track and field event at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Stadion in Hengelo, Netherlands as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1981. Its name honours Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four gold meda ...

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the international Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service. Popu ...

in July. He made a global final for the first time at the 2001 World Championships and finished in thirteenth place with a time of 8:31.43. A month later he competed at the

and had his first international podium finish, taking the

s in both the steeplechase and

. At the end of the year he participated at the

2001 European Cross Country Championships The 8th European Cross Country Championships were held at Thun in Switzerland on 9 December 2001. Serhiy Lebid took his second title in the men's competition and Yamna Belkacem won the women's race. Results Men individual 9.15 km Total 77 ...

, held on home turf in

Thun , neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg , twintown = , website = www.thun.ch Thun (french: Thoune) ...

, and he took fifth place in a field of 77 runners.

Switch to flat running

He began to expand his event repertoire and doubled up in the steeplechase and 5000 metres races at the

2002 European Athletics Championships The 18th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 August to 11 August 2002 in the Olympic Stadium of Munich, Germany. Men's results Track 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , 2010 , 1 Dwain Chambers originally won the 100 m in 9.96 and was p ...

. He failed to reach the steeplechase final but managed twelfth in the 5000 m event final. He began to focus on running the flat distances thereafter. He made his world

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

debut in 2003, finishing in eighteenth place in the short race at the

2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2003 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 29/30, 2003. The races were held at the L'Institut Équestre National in Avenches near Lausanne, Switzerland. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', in t ...

. He was the best Swiss performer at the event, heading the national team (including

Viktor Röthlin Viktor Röthlin (born October 14, 1974 in Kerns, Obwalden) is a Swiss former long-distance runner, who specialized in the marathon. Röthlin won the silver medal at the 2006 European Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, the bronze medal ...

) to seventh in the rankings. He was also chosen for the 2003 World Championships and reached the final of the 5000 m. He ended up in 13th place, but he was one of only two Europeans in the world final, alongside

Juan Carlos de la Ossa Juan Carlos de la Ossa (born 25 November 1976 in Cuenca) is a Spanish middle distance runner who mostly concentrates on the 5000 and 10,000 metres. He won a bronze medal in the latter event at the 2006 European Championships in Athletics The 19t ...

of Spain. He also ran in the event at the

, but did not make it past the heats stage on his second Olympic appearance. He competed at the

2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 19/20, 2005. The races were held at the Hippodrome Joseph Desjoyaux in Saint-Galmier near Saint-Étienne, France. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', in ...

and was 28th in the short race. He had greater success on the track by winning the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

over

3000 metres 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. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

at the 2005 European Cup. He elected to run the

at the 2005 World Championships and broke

Markus Ryffel Markus Ryffel (born 5 February 1955 in Bern) is a former long-distance runner from Switzerland who won the silver medal in the 5000 metres at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Biography He set the Swiss record at 13:07.54 min. ...

's long-standing national record with a run of 27:53.16 for fourteenth place. The following year he retained his 3000 m title at the 2006 European Cup and came close to a 10,000 m medal at the

, where he finished in fourth place. He closed the year with a top ten finish at the

2006 European Cross Country Championships The 13th European Cross Country Championships were held at San Giorgio su Legnano in Italy on 10 December 2006. Mo Farah took the title in the men's competition, while Tetyana Holovchenko won the women's race. Results Men individual 9.95 km ...

Road and retirement

He began to change his focus to

in 2007. He set a course record of 31:08 at the Reusslauf in Bremgarten that February. He made his half marathon debut at the

Rotterdam Half Marathon The Rotterdam Half Marathon was an annual half marathon race over 21.1 kilometres, that was staged in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on the second Sunday in September. The event was contested from 2004 to 2009. It was discontinued in 2010 due to lacking ...

and stepped up to the full

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

distance in October, running at the

Cologne Marathon The Cologne Marathon (Köln-Marathon) is an annual marathon held in Cologne, Germany. Since October 1997 the marathon has been held annually in early October, except for 2004, 2005 and 2014 when it was held in late September. History The inau ...

, which he finished in a time of 2:15:08. A series of injuries affected his running from 2007 to 2009.Switzerland’s Belz retires
.

European Athletics The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 51 ...

(2010-12-14). Retrieved on 2010-12-19. He returned his focus to the track and reached the 10,000 m final at the

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, finishing in sixth place. Belz announced his retirement from international competition at the end of 2010, citing his desire to focus on both his family and his work as a specialist in sports economics. He is married to Anita Brägger, another Swiss Olympic runner.Anita Brägger
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2010-12-19.

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.

Achievements

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belz, Christian 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Zürich Swiss male long-distance runners Swiss male steeplechase runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Switzerland Washington Huskies men's track and field athletes Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade bronze medalists for Switzerland Medalists at the 2001 Summer Universiade