Athletes return from Rio with medals and memories

Belgium’s athletes are coming home from the Rio Olympics with a haul of six medals, including two golds. The country sent 110 athletes to Brazil to compete in 24 sports.

Greg Van Avermaet won the cycling road race in Rio, triumphing after six hours and 237 kilometres around winding, cobbled hills. He is Belgium’s first gold medallist in an Olympic road race since 1952. “It was a hectic finale, but in the end, everything went well,” he said.

Nafissatou Thiam won a dramatic victory in the heptathlon. The 21-year-old geography student just edged out defending champion Jessica Ennis-Hill in the final 800m race.

The heptathlon combines seven track and field events, including hurdles, high jump and the 800m. Thiam was not a favourite, only hoping, she said, to finish in the top eight. “I still can’t believe it,” she said. “I didn’t come here expecting a medal; that didn’t occur to me at all. It’s crazy.”

The men’s hockey side, ranked sixth in the world, lost 4-2 to Argentina in the final (pictured) to leave with the silver medal. While this was the Red Lions’ best finish at the Games since they took home bronze in Antwerp in 1920, it felt like a blow for a side that had enjoyed such a fairy-tale run.

“We had so many opportunities today, we should have done better,” said captain John-John Dohmen. “If you don’t score on your opportunities, you cannot win. It’s that simple.”

Swimmer Pieter Timmers won silver in the 100m freestyle, with a time of 47.80, breaking his national record and becoming the first Belgian to win an Olympic medal for swimming since 1996.

Timmers, 28, is a seven-time Belgian champion and holder of several records in long- and short-course freestyle, but his performance still surprised him. “I knew I had a bit of a chance to medal, and today everything came together,” he told Sporza after the race. “But I couldn’t quite believe it when I saw that ‘2’ next to my name.”

Dirk Van Tichelt – the 2008 European champion and a former world number one – secured a bronze medal in lightweight judo. “I’m carrying on with my career,” the 32-year-old said. “I don’t know if I’ll be in Tokyo in 2020, but I’m still having a lot of fun.”

Cyclist Jolien D’hoore won bronze in the omnium, earning 199 points over the six disciplines in indoor cycling’s flagship event. “The last two laps I was absolutely shattered. I was dying,” she said. “I have so often been fourth. This feels so good.”

Several tense showdowns saw Belgium just missing a medal. There were two fourth-place finishes in taekwondo: Raheleh Asemani in the women’s under-57kg and Jaouad Achab in the men’s under-68kg.

The men’s 4x400 relay team came within three-hundredths of a second of winning bronze, with a time of 2:58.52, a new record for Belgium. Three of the four-man team was made up of Borlée brothers – Jonathan, Kevin and Dylan – with Julien Watrin the fourth.

Evi Van Acker also just missed out on a medal, finishing fourth in Laser Radial class sailing. She had fought a serious intestinal infection in July during training – largely believed to have been caused by Rio’s polluted waters – and was penalised by the jury early in the race, which meant she had to start last.

Finally, Belgium have won another gold medal – eight years after the fact. After a re-analysis of 2008 blood samples, Russia’s Yuliya Chermoshanskaya was found to have tested positive for banned substances, meaning the entire Russian gold medal-winning 100m relay team has been disqualified. The gold will now go to the Belgians, who won silver in Beijing.

Photo: Dirk Waems/Belga