Dylan Borlée (born 20 September 1992) is a Belgian sprinter who competes in the

400 metres 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 ...

. He is a member of the

Borlée family The Borlée family is a sporting family consisting of Jacques Borlée and six of his seven children. The family The patriarch of the Borlée family is Jacques Borlée (born 1957), bronze medalist at the 1983 European Athletics Indoor Champions ...

. He holds a personal best of 45.09 seconds for the event. He was the silver medallist at the

European Athletics Indoor Championships The European Athletics Indoor Championships is a biennial indoor track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skil ...

in 2015. He has also represented Belgium at 3

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

and multiple

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 ...

and

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 ...

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), competitio ...

as part of 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 ...

Biography

Born in

Woluwe-Saint-Lambert Woluwe-Saint-Lambert ( French, ) or Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe ( Dutch, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). In French, ...

, he is part of the Borlée family which is prominent in Belgian

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), competitio ...

and includes his older sister

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 ...

(b. 1986) and his older brothers, twins

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 ...

and

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 ...

(b. 1988). All are coached by their father Jacques Borlée (b. 1957), who was himself a European medallist in the sport. He made his international debut at the

2011 European Athletics Junior Championships The 21st European Athletics Junior Championships were held between 21 and 24 July 2011 in the Kadriorg Stadium in Tallinn, Estonia. Russia topped the medal table with 18 medals overall, including 8 golds, ahead of Germany and Great Britain. Men's ...

, competing in the

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...

team, which finished sixth. He began to establish himself as a senior athlete in the 2013 season. First, he secured a relay silver medal with Belgium at the

2013 European Athletics U23 Championships The 2013 European Athletics U23 Championships were the 9th edition of the biennial athletics (sport), athletics competition between European athletes under the age of twenty-three. It was held in Tampere, Finland from 10 to 14 July. Russia topped ...

. After setting a 400 m personal best of 45.80 seconds for second place at the Belgian Championships in July, he was selected for Belgium relay team at the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013; ) was an international athletics (sport), athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10 to 18 August 2013. Initially, Russia at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, Russia ...

, alongside his brothers and Will Oyowe. The team made the final and finished in fifth overall with a time of 3:01.02 minutes. The

Jeux de la Francophonie 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 ...

the following month saw him make his first international appearance for

Wallonia Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...

. He placed fifth in the individual 400 m and was a silver medallist in the relay alongside

Robin Vanderbemden Robin Vanderbemden (born 10 February 1994) is a Belgian sprinter competing primarily in the 200 metres. He also represented his country in the 4 × 400 metres relay winning multiple World and European championship medals with the Belgian men's 4 ...

, Antoine Gillet and Oyowe. Borlée missed most of the 2014 season, bar a relay outing at the

2014 IAAF World Relays The 2014 IAAF World Relays were held in May 2014 in Nassau, Bahamas, Nassau, the Bahamas, Bahamas. The event was the first edition of the IAAF World Relays. There were five events for each gender. In men's and women's 4 × 100 metres and 4 × 400 ...

, where he was ninth. He returned in strong form for the 2015 indoor season, winning his first national title at the Belgian Indoor Championships. A personal best of 46,73 seconds at a meeting in Metz earned him a place at the

2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held from 5 to 8 March 2015 in the O2 Arena (Prague), O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. Bidding process Prague was chosen as the host of the Championships on the European Athletics council ...

. In his first individual outing for Belgium, he ran a personal best of 46.72 seconds in the semi-final before improving to 46.25 seconds in the final – a mark which was enough to take the silver medal in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

behind the clear home favourite

Pavel Maslák Pavel Maslák (, born 21 February 1991) is a Czech sprinter who specialises in the 200 metres and 400 metres. He is the only athlete in history who has won the 400 m title at the World Indoor Championships at three consecutive championships. Masl ...

. A day later he won the gold in the

, along with his brothers and

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 a new European indoor record of 3:02.87. After that followed a long string of medal winning performances at indoor and outdoor European and World championships and World Athletics relays competitions as part of the

. In 2024, at the

World Athletics 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 ...

The Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

, he was on the team that qualified Belgium for the men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the

2024 Summer Olympic Games 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 ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France. And later that same year, he was on the Belgian 4 x 400 metres men's relay team that won the gold medal at the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletic Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for me ...

. Having qualified for the men's 400 metres relay at the

via the World Athletics Rankings, he finished 7th in the heats and was eliminated in the repechages. As a member of the men's 4 × 400 metres relay at 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 ...

, he just missed out on a medal. Despite the team posting a national record in the final, it finished 4th for the 3rd straight Olympics.

Borlée family

The progenitor of the Borlee family is

Jacques Jacques or Jacq 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 one hundred identified noble families related t ...

, 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 ...

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 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 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 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

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

Personal bests

;Outdoor *

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a 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 the race. A slight ...

– 21.00 (Kortrijk 2023) *

300 metres The 300 metres is an uncommon (meaning not on an Olympic or World Championship program) sprinting event in track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contes ...

– 32.51 (Liège 2017) *

– 45.09 (Madrid 2023) ;Indoor *

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the mi ...

– 6.94 (Ghent 2013) *200 metres – 21.74 (Ghent 2013) *300 metres – 33.33 (Ghent 2015) *400 metres – 46.25 (Prague 2015) *All information from Diamond League.Dylan Borlee
IAAF Diamond League. Retrieved on 7 March 2015.

International competitions

References

External links