Pieter Desmet (born 7 June 1983 in

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; vls, Kortryk or ''Kortrik''; french: Courtrai ; la, Cortoriacum), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Regio ...

) is a Belgian steeplechase and long-distance runner. He is a two-time national champion for his category, and a member of Atletiek Zuid-West Club in

Zwevegem Zwevegem () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Heestert, Moen, Otegem, Sint-Denijs and Zwevegem. On January 1, 2019, Zwevegem had a total population of 24,648. The total ar ...

, being coached and trained by Dirk de Maesschulck. He also achieved a personal best time of 8:15.02, at a world meeting in

Heusden-Zolder Heusden-Zolder (; li, Heuze-Zolder ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian Limburg (Belgium), province of Limburg near Hasselt. On 1 January 2006 Heusden-Zolder had a total population of 30,769. The total ar ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Desmet represented

at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, and competed for the men's 3000 m steeplechase. He ran in the third heat of the event, against twelve other competitors, including South Africa's

Ruben Ramolefi Ruben Ramolefi (born 17 July 1978) is a South African runner who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase and is currently the South African record holder in 3000 metres steeplechase. He also won the National Championship in 3000 metres steepl ...

, and Kenya's

Richard Mateelong Richard Kipkemboi Mateelong (born 14 October 1983) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metre steeplechase. He won an Olympic bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and he has two World Champ ...

. He finished and completed the race in eleventh place, with a time of 8:37.99, failing to advance into the final round. Desmet also improved his time of 8:31.81 at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in

Berlin, Germany Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent ...

, finishing ninth in the heats.

Personal bests

*All information taken from IAAF profile.

References

External links

Profile – Flemish Athletics League
*

Belgian male steeplechase runners Belgian male long-distance runners Living people Olympic athletes for Belgium Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Kortrijk 1983 births Belgian Athletics Championships winners {{Belgium-athletics-bio-stub