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 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was also a semi-finalist at both the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2009 World Championships, and is the 2010 European Champion on this distance. Borlée also competes with the Belgian 4 × 400 m relay team. The team won gold at the 2012, 2016 and 2018 European Championships, and the 2015 European Indoor Championships. The team finished 4th at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 4th at the 2009 World Championships, won

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

at the 2010 World Indoor Championships and bronzes at the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held betw ...

and the 2010 European Championships, 6th at the 2012 Summer Olympics and 4th at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Biography

Early successes

He has an identical twin brother, Jonathan (b. 1988), younger brother, Dylan (b. 1992), and an older sister,

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 ...

(b. 1986), who are also sprinters. All four are trained by their father

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 ...

(b. 1957). Just like his twin brother, Kevin Borlée obtained his first senior title at the age of 18: the Belgian Indoor championships in 2006 in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded i ...

, where he won the 400 m, while his brother won the 200 m. Later on, Borlée would add 3 more Belgian indoor titles: once more on the 400 m and two on the 200 m. On 31 May 2008 Kevin and Jonathan took part in the 4 × 400 m on a meeting in

Neerpelt Neerpelt (, literally ''Lower Pelt'') is a town in Pelt and a former municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. In 2018, the municipality had a total population of 17,174. The total area is 42.78 km². Effective 1 January 201 ...

. Together with

Cédric Van Branteghem Cédric Marie Carlos Thérèse Van Branteghem (born 13 March 1979 in Ghent) is a Belgian sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. Achievements Personal bests *100 metres - 10.54 s (2003) *200 metres The 200 metres, or 2 ...

and Kristof Beyens, they improved a 27-year-old national record by more than a second to 3:02.51s. However, this was 1 hundred of a second above the qualification time for the Olympic Games. Two weeks later, with Nils Duerinck instead of Kristof Beyens, they broke the national record again in a meeting in Namur to 3:02.13s.

National records at Summer Olympics in Beijing

On 19 August 2008, during the semi-finals of the 2008 Summer Olympics, Kevin Borlée ran a new national record of 44.88s, improving the former record of Cédric Van Branteghem by 14 hundredths of a second. Despite he did not reach the final. On the 4 × 400 m relay, with teammates Jonathan Borlée, Cédric Van Branteghem and

Arnaud Ghislain Arnaud Ghislain (born 2 December 1988) is a Belgian sprinter, who specialized in the 400 metres. He is an indoor national senior champion for his category, and also a member of the Belgian national track relay team. Ghislain was originally selec ...

, they qualified for the final with a new national record of 3:00.67s. They finished 5th in the final with yet again a national record of 2:59.37s. The race was won by the US team in 2:55.39s, a new Olympic record. The Russian team, who had finished 3rd, were later disqualified promoting Belgium to fourth place. At the end of 2008, Borlée received the Belgian Golden Spike award.

Move to the United States

At the end of 2008, Kevin Borlée moved together with his brother Jonathan to

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...

to enroll in Florida State University. During this period, Borlée qualified for the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

-championships in Fayetteville,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

. Borlée finished 4th on the 400 m in 45.43s in a race that was won by his brother Jonathan in 44.78s, a new national record. Later on they had a big part in 4 × 400 m relay victory of Florida State with time of 2:59.59s, the second best season time. A couple of months later, at the 2009 World Championships, Borlée reached the semi-finals on the

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 ...

with 45.28s. On the 4 × 400 m relay with teammates Antoine Gillet, Nils Duerinck and Cédric Van Branteghem (Jonathan was out with a stress fracture), they finished 1st in their heat with 3:02.13s and finished 4th in the final in 3:01.88s.

Identical injury

Directly after the World Championships, it became clear that Kevin Borlée had sustained the same injury that ruled out his brother Jonathan 6 weeks earlier: a stress fracture on the tarsus. The story shows many similarities with the stress fracture of the tibia of the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

hurdles sprinters Susanna and Jenny Kallur. Both had the same injury at the different leg.

Silver at World Indoor Championships

At the beginning of 2010, the Borlée-twins were back in shape. At the 2010 World Indoor Championships, the 4 × 400 m relay team with teammates Nils Duerinck and Antoine Gillet, they won their heat in 3:09.84s, a national indoor record. In the final, with Cédric Van Branteghem instead of Nils Duerinck, they won silver with a time 3:06.94s, another national record. It was the first time a Belgian relay team had ever delivered such a performance.

European Championships 2010

At the

of the European Championships in

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 ...

, Kevin Borlée reached the final with two wins in the heats and the semi-finals in 45.71s and 45.32s respectively. In the final, Borlée seemed to fall back after a good start, but with an impressive sprint in the last 50 m, he passed the pack to win in front of Britain's

Michael Bingham Michael Bingham (born 13 April 1986) is a British 400 metres track and field athlete. He is one of five children born to British citizen Norris Bingham and Mollissie in Sylva, North Carolina. His parents separated when he was young, and he wa ...

and

Martyn Rooney Martyn Joseph Rooney (born 3 April 1987) is an English Sprint (running), sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres event. He reached the 400 m final at the 2008 Summer Olympics and won bronze in the 4×400 metres relay. A mainstay on the a ...

in 45.08s, a season's best. With this win, he is only the third Belgian male athlete to become a European Champion. The last one was

Karel Lismont Karel Lismont (; born 8 March 1949) is a former Belgian long-distance runner. He competed at the 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics in the marathon and 10,000 m events. He won two marathon medals: a silver in 1972 and a bronze in 1976, finishing ...

on the marathon in 1971, the first one

Gaston Roelants Gaston, Baron Roelants (born 5 February 1937), is a Belgian former elite steeplechaser and cross country runner. He won the 1962 European and 1964 Olympic titles in the 3000 m steeplechase and twice broke the world record. Biography Roelant ...

in 1962 on the steeple chase. His brother Jonathan finished 7th in 45.35s. The Belgian 4 × 400 m relay team, which besides Kevin Borlée included Antoine Gillet, Cédric Van Branteghem and Nils Duerinck, reached the final. With 3:03.49s, they had the fastest time. In the final Antoine Gillet and Nils Duerinck were replaced by Arnaud Destatte and Jonathan Borlée. The Belgian team won bronze in 3:02.60s.

2012

The Belgian team won the 4 × 400 m at the European Championships. At the Olympics, Borlée reached the final of the 400 m, finishing 5th.

2015

The Belgian 4 x 400 team that Borlée was in set a new area record in winning the gold medal of the European Indoor Championship. The team also finished 5th at the World Championship.

2016

Borlée qualified for both the 400 m and the 4 × 400 m at the 2016 Olympics, reaching the semi-finals in the individual events. The 4 × 400 m team finished in 4th place, setting a new national record. The 4 × 400 m team had previously won the European Championships.

European Championships 2018

At the

of the European Championships in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, Kevin Borlée reached the final with a win in heat 1 in 45.29s and a 3rd place finish in the 3rd semi-final in 45.07s (fastest losing time) . In the final, Borlée had his trade mark slow start, but with an impressive sprint in the last 100 m, he passed the pack to come in second after Britain's

Matthew Hudson-Smith Matthew Hudson-Smith (born 26 October 1994) is a British track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. He holds, as of July 2022, the British record, running a personal best of 44.35 seconds for the distance set at Eugene, Orego ...

in 45.13s. Jonathan finished 3rd in 45.19s. The Belgian 4 × 400 m relay team, which included Julien Watrin, Robin Vanderbemden, 2018 junior world champion Jonathan Sacoor and younger brother Dylan, reached the final with a win in heat 2 in 3:02.44s, the 4th fastest qualifying time. In the final Julien Watrin and Robin Vanderbemden were replaced by the twin brothers Kevin and Jonathan. The Belgian team won gold in 2:59.47s.

Borlée family

The progenitor of the Borlee family is

, 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 Edith Demaertelaere 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). The eldest daughter

won the gold medal at the Olympics and the world bronze at the 2007 Osaka World Championships with the 4 × 100 m relay and the other daughter Alizia was also a decent sprinter. The four sons are all

specialists, the twins Jonathan and Kevin, 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 and the youngest Rayane. In addition, Jacques' older brother Jean-Pierre was also a sprinter.

Achievements

Major tournaments

¹Did not start in the semifinal

Personal bests

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Borlee, Kevin 1988 births Living people People from Woluwe-Saint-Lambert Belgian male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Belgium Belgian twins Twin sportspeople Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists European Championships (multi-sport event) gold medalists European Athletics Championships winners Walloon sportspeople World Athletics Championships athletes for Belgium Diamond League winners World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists European Athletics Indoor Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Florida State Seminoles men's track and field athletes Sportspeople from Brussels