Jacques Borlée (born 27 September 1957) is a former Belgian athlete, and the father and coach of athletes

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 ...

(b. 1986),

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 ...

(b. 1988), Jonathan (b. 1988) and Dylan Borlée (b. 1992). He was voted European Athletics Coach of the Year in 2011. He is the progenitor 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 ...

Early life

Jacques Borlée was born in Stanleyville, in the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

, in 1957, three years before the independence of the country. His father was the last Belgian governor of the

Kivu Kivu is the name for a large region in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo that borders Lake Kivu. It was a ''Région'' (read 'province') of the country under the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko from 1966 to 1988. As an official ''Région'' ...

province. The family moved to Brussels in Belgium in 1960. Jacques Borlée married Edith de Maertelaere, a former Belgian champion over 200m runner. They have five children together. Jacques Borlée also has two children from a second marriage.

Athlete

Jacques Borlée was a sprinter, specializing in 100m, 200m and 400m, winning eight Belgian titles in total. He was Belgian champion over 100m in 1981 and 1983, Belgian champion over 200m in 1979, 1981, 1983 and 1984, Belgian champion over 400m in 1982, and Belgian champion over 400m hurdles in 1977. In 1983, he won a silver medal at the

1983 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 1983 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at Sportcsarnok in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, on 5 and 6 March 1983.1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

in Moscow, reaching the quarterfinals of the

400 meters 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 ...

. At the

1978 European Athletics Championships The 12th European Athletics Championships were held from 29 August to 3 September 1978 in the Stadion Evžena Rošického in Prague, the capital city of Czechoslovakia (present-day Czech Republic). Contemporaneous reports on the event were given ...

in Prague he ended fifth as part of the 4 × 400 m relay team. At the

1982 European Athletics Championships The 13th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 September to 12 September 1982 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald. Men's results Comp ...

in Athens, he ended fifth in his first round race over 400m. His personal record over 400m is 45.4 seconds, set in 1979.

Coach

Jacques Borlée is the coach of four of his children, the twins

and Jonathan (b. 1988), their brother Dylan (b. 1992) and their 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). He also coaches the men's 4x400 relay team. On 4 October 2011, he was voted the European coach of the year. Athletes he coached won medals at major championships. His daughter Olivia won a gold medal as part of the 4 × 100 m relay team at the

2008 Summer Olympics 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 fro ...

in Beijing, in a new Belgian record time. The Belgian 4 × 400 m relay team, including his two sons Kevin and Jonathan, ended fourth at the same games, also setting a new national record in that race. At the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member feder ...

in Osaka, the women's 4 × 100 m relay team, with his daughter Olivia, won the bronze medal. 4 Years later, at the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in the ...

in Daegu, Kevin won the bronze medal in the 400m individual, with Jonathan ending in fifth place. At the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, C ...

in Barcelona, Kevin won the gold medal in the 400m race, while the 4 × 400 m relay team with the two Borlée brothers won the bronze medal. The team achieved the same at the

2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from 4 to 6 March 2011. 577 athletes representing 46 countries competed at the championships. Twenty-six track and field events we ...

as well. Olivia Borlée was the national champion of Belgium over 100m in 2008 and 2009, and over 200m in 2009. Kevin Borlée was Belgian champion over 400m in 2007 and over 200m in 2009, and Jonathan was champion over 400m in 2006. The Gouden Spike, the award for the Belgian Athlete of the Year, was won by Kevin in 2008 and 2010, and by Jonathan in 2009. Each time the other brother finished second. In 2008, Kevin was also the promising new athlete of the year, and Jonathan was the same in 2006. Olivia Borlée was the promising new athlete of 2003, and finished in third place in the female Gouden Spike in 2008 and 2009. His sons have also repeatedly broken the national record at the 400m.

Borlée family

The progenitor of the Borlee family is Jacques, 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.

Achievements

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Borlee, Jacques 1957 births Living people People from Kisangani Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Belgium Belgian male sprinters Belgian athletics coaches Walloon sportspeople Athletes from Brussels Belgian Athletics Championships winners 20th-century Belgian sportsmen