National Championships

What a fantastic weekend we’ve had! 

The Belgian Athletics Championships took place in Kessel-lo and our athletes were ready to compete. Our athletes had returned from their altitude training camp just two days before the Championships. For Yana and Febe, this was their first altitude training camp and we were keen to see how they would respond to it. 

On Saturday, the 3000m steeplechase final was already on the programme, featuring Jolien van Hoorebeke. She, too, had just returned from our high-altitude training camp in Font-Romeu and was keen to win a medal and set a personal best. No sooner said than done! She left nothing to chance and set her pace straight away. Eline Daelemans was the clear favourite and took the lead immediately. For the first few laps, two other athletes kept up with Jolien, but by the halfway point she had opened up a clear gap over her rivals, securing the silver medal. She ran so strongly, in fact, that towards the end she was closing in on Eline and finished in 10:11.97 – a personal best by 10 seconds! Jolien is having a fantastic season and we’re already looking forward to what’s next. 

Also on Saturday, the 1500m heats took place, featuring Elise Vanderelst. She opted to return to her former discipline to work on her speed ahead of the European Championships in Birmingham in a couple of weeks’ time. After a controlled race, Elise chose to pick up the pace slightly in the final lap. Elise won her heat convincingly and was therefore able to start preparing for Sunday’s final. Unfortunately, she still had to attend the doping control, which meant she couldn’t start her rest period until later. 

On Sunday, it was once again Elise’s turn to be the first 2-Boost athlete at the start. The aim was clear: to run a progressive final 1,000 metres. The weather on Sunday was anything but a lovely summer’s day. Rain during the warm-up and a fierce wind made the conditions somewhat tougher. Elise positioned herself near the front and controlled the pace; however, she got a bit boxed in after 500m, meaning the plan could only be put into action later. Ultimately, she had 800m left to gradually increase the pace. This, however, meant that a few fast athletes were still on her heels right up to the final 200m. Elise gave it her all in the sprint, but the fast Marie Bilo managed to overtake her in the final metres. Elise had to settle for the silver medal. A good test ahead of the IFAM and the European 5000m Championships in Birmingham. 

In the women’s 5,000 metres, both Febe Triest and Yana Pauwelyn were in action. Both athletes ran their own race. Jana van Lent set a blistering pace right from the start, which saw Febe move to the front of the second group. Together with Julie Voet, they took turns leading the pack, but Chloë Herbiet was also in the mix, tagging along behind the two women. Chloë then picked up the pace in the final kilometre. Febe tried to keep up, but just couldn’t quite match Chloë’s pace. She crossed the line in a convincing third place, winning her first senior medal!  

Yana wasn’t far behind Febe in the opening laps, but eventually had to let that group pull away. As a result, she too found herself at the front of her group. The wind made it a real battle; Yana kept fighting but ended up in 8th place. 

The final race of the evening was Isaac Kimeli’s 5000m. His aim was to win the race in a controlled manner. After a fairly calm start, there were a few bursts of pace, which stretched the group out in a line. Simon Debognies took the lead and the two of them entered the final kilometre together. Isaac then took the lead and didn’t relinquish it. 

A huge congratulations to our athletes and thank you to our massage therapist who was on hand for our athletes after the heats and finals of the races.

Team 2-Boost!