Veerle Dejaeghere (born 1 August 1973, in

Izegem Izegem (; vls, Yzegem) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Izegem proper and the towns of Emelgem and Kachtem. Emelgem was added to Izegem in 1965, Kachtem in 1977. Iz ...

) is a

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 language ...

runner Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

, who has specialized 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 ...

. She represented her country at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

in 2000 and 2008. Dejaeghere formerly specialized in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

, reaching the semi-final in this event at 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 ...

. She has been very successful in the

Lotto Cross Cup The Lotto Cross Cup is an annual series of international cross country running competitions in Belgium. The inaugural season was in 1982–1983. The series comprises Belgium's foremost cross country competitions, including the IAAF permit meeting in ...

(Belgium's domestic cross country series), having won the series overall a total of 13 times, including 11 consecutive wins from 2004 to 14. This included a win at the

Lotto Cross Cup Brussels The Lotto Cross Cup Brussels, also known as the IRIS Lotto Cross Cup, is an annual cross country running competition that takes place in mid-December in Brussels, Belgium. It is part of the Lotto Cross Cup series of races and is classed as an IAAF ...

in 2007, in which she finished ahead of

Lornah Kiplagat Lornah Kiplagat (born 1 May 1974) is a Dutch professional long-distance runner. She was born in Kabiemit, Rift Valley Province, Kenya and came to the Netherlands in 1999. She gained Dutch citizenship in 2003 and has competed for the Netherland ...

and

Emebt Etea Emebt Etea Bedada (born 11 January 1990 in Waliso) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in road running competitions. She emerged quickly as a junior (under-19) runner with an African Junior Championships double in the 1500 metr ...

. She has also won twice at the

Eurocross Eurocross is an annual international cross country running competition which takes place in Diekirch, Luxembourg in February. It is one of the IAAF permit meetings which serve as qualifying events for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. ...

meeting in

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

.Civai, Franco & Gasparovic, Juraj (28 February 2009)
Eurocross 10.2 km (men) + 5.3 km (women)

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

. Retrieved on 2010-03-01. Dejaeghere missed most of the 2009 and 2010 seasons. She was the runner-up at the

Campaccio The Campaccio is an annual cross country running competition which takes place in early January in San Giorgio su Legnano, Italy. Organised by the ''Unione Sportiva Sangiorgese'' (Sangiorgese Sports Association), the event attracts participation fr ...

race in January 2011, but did not compete again until November's Lotto Cross Cup van West-Vlaanderen, where she was again runner-up (this time behind Yuliya Ruban).Belgium's Bekele gets impressive home win in Roeselare

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 ...

(28 November 2011). Retrieved on 2011-12-01.

Achievements

Personal bests

⁣ – 4:05.05 min (2002) *

Mile run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

⁣ – 4:29.93 min (2003) *

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 ...

⁣ – 8:49.31 min (2000) *

⁣ – 9:28.47 min (2007) *

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 ...

⁣ – 15:19.73 min (2005)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dejaeghere, Veerle 1973 births Living people Belgian female long-distance runners Belgian female steeplechase runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Belgium People from Izegem Sportspeople from West Flanders