The Borlée family is a sporting family consisting of

Jacques Borlée Jacques Borlée (born 27 September 1957) is a former Belgian athlete, and the father and coach of athletes Olivia Borlée (b. 1986), Kevin (b. 1988), Jonathan (b. 1988) and Dylan Borlée (b. 1992). He was voted European Athletics Coach of the Ye ...

and six of his seven children.

The family

The patriarch of the Borlée family is

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

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

in the

200 m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

, while his first wife, Edith Demaertelaere (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). The eldest daughter

Olivia Olivia may refer to: People and fictional characters * Olivia (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Olivia (singer), American singer Olivia Longott (born 1981) * Olívia (basketball), Brazilian basketball playe ...

(born 1986) won the silver medal at the Olympics, which was upgraded to gold in 2016 due to the Russian team's disqualification due to doping, and the bronze at the 2007 Osaka World Championships with the

4 × 100 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is tetraphobia, considered unlucky i ...

, 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 ...

specialists: the twins Jonathan and

Kevin Kevin is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; ; ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicised from , an Irish diminutive form.''A Dictiona ...

(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, were 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 Jean-Pierre (born 1947) was also a sprinter. In 2015 the

Belgian men's 4 × 400 metres relay team The Belgian men's 4 × 400 metres relay team, nicknamed the Belgian Tornados from July 2014 onwards, is the Relay race#Relays in athletics, relay team of the Belgium, Belgian national athletics team that has given the highest number of medals in ...

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 sport ...

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

Jonathan Borlée Jonathan Borlée (; born 22 February 1988) is a former 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 ...

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 400 m. 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 × 400 m relay team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Achievements See also * Belgian men's 4 × 400 metres relay team The Belgian m ...

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

. In an interview of 21 August 2013 released to the major Italian sports newspaper, ''

La Gazzetta dello Sport (; English: "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any type in Italy (in 2018). History and profile was fou ...

'',

stated that he was inspired in his training methods by

Sandro Calvesi Alessandro "Sandro" Calvesi (5 September 1913 – 20 November 1980) was an Italian athletics coach. Biography Married to 1936 and 1948 Olympian Gabre Gabric, among the people he coached was the Italian hurdler Eddy Ottoz, after became his son-in- ...

, in turn the

progenitor In genealogy, a progenitor (rarer: primogenitor; or ''Ahnherr'') is the founder (sometimes one that is legendary) of a family, line of descent, gens, clan, tribe, noble house, or ethnic group.. Ebenda''Ahnherr:''"Stammvater eines Geschlec ...

of one of the greatest families of Italian athletics, the

Ottoz family The Ottoz family is a sporting family consisting of many athletes, one of whom became a manager in the world of athletics. Sandro Calvesi (1913–1980), the '' capostipite'' of the Calvesi family, coached the Italian hurdler Eddy Ottoz (born 19 ...

. Calvesi was in fact the husband of the Berlin 1936 Olympian

Gabre Gabric Ljubica Gabrić-Calvesi (17 October 1914 – 16 December 2015), known as Gabre Gabric, was a Dalmatian Italian track and field athlete who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics and in the 1948 Summer Olympics. Her best discus throw was 43.35&nb ...

, father-in-law of the Olympic bronze medalist in the

110 metres hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a rac ...

Mexico City 1968 The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

Eddy Ottoz Eddy Ottoz (born 3 June 1944) is an Italian former athlete and bronze medalist at the 1968 Summer Olympics in the 110 metre hurdles. Biography Sport career Ottoz competed for Italy in the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan, and in the 1 ...

and father of Lyana Calvesi, current president of the Atletica Calvesi club and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

of the sprinter

Eleonora Marchiando Eleonora Marchiando (born 27 September 1997) is an Italian sport of athletics, athlete. She competed in the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships – Women's 400 metres, women's 400 metres event at the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Champi ...

. At a press conference in June 2022,

announced his retirement from coaching after the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Palmarès

The Borlées have won medals in all five main competitions, namely: the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

(the gold medal by

Olivia Borlée Olivia Borlée (born 10 April 1986 in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert) is a retired Belgian sprinter who specialized in the 200 metres. Her personal best time in the 200 is 22.98 seconds, achieved in July 2006 in Brussels. She has a personal best of 11.39 ...

in 4×100 metres relay at

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

), the

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 ...

, both outdoor and indoor, and the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

, both outdoor and indoor. And again at the

World Relays The World Athletics Relays, known as the ''IAAF World Relays'' until 2019, is an international biennial track and field sporting event held by World Athletics where teams from around the world compete in relay races, some of which are not part o ...

, in the European Team Championships (First League), in the Continental Cup, at the

Francophone Games The Jeux de la Francophonie (Canadian English: ''Francophonie Games''; British English: ''Francophone Games'') are a combination of artistic and sporting events for the Francophonie, mostly French-speaking nations and former colonies of France, ...

. And finally, at the youth level, the silver medal in the

at the European U23 Championships by Dylan Borlée.

Individual medals

Notes

References

External links

The Borlées
on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Borlée family Athletics in Belgium Belgian families