During the past weekend, numerous Belgian athletes competed at the Olympic Games in Paris and Team Belgium’s medal tally also increased.
On Sunday, the cyclist Lotte Kopecky (photo above) took the bronze medal in the women’s road race, behind the American Kirsten Faulkner and the Marianne Vos of The Netherlands. It was Team Belgium’s 5th medal at the Paris Olympics. In the women’s time trial in Paris last week, she finished 6th.
On Saturday Remco Evenepoel (photo below) took gold in the men’s road race. During both the men's and women's road races our cyclists were cheered on by countless Belgians in the French capital.
Other sports
The Belgian team was forced to withdraw from mixed relay triathlon that took place early on Monday morning. The reason is that one of the relay team members Claire Michel is suffering from a bacterial infection. Last week she competed in the women’s singles triathlon and is reported to have contracted the infection after swimming in the River Seine.
Alexander Doom and Dyan Borlée qualified for the semi-finals in the 400 metres. However, he suffered a slight injury in the process.
In the Olympic golf tournament, Thomas Detry finished in 9th place, narrowly missing out on an Olympic diploma (that is awarded to those that finish in the top 8). Adrien Dumont de Chassart finished 40th.
The Gymnast Nina Derwael narrowly missed out on a medal taking 4th place on the uneven bars. She was narrowly beaten in the battle for bronze by American Sunisa Lee. 24-year-old Derwael only underwent shoulder surgery in October 2023. Paris 2024 is her third Olympic Games.
The Belgian national men’s hockey team has been eliminated in the quarterfinals. The Red Lions unexpectedly lost 3-2 to the supposedly weaker Spaniards after having previously having unbeaten in the group phase.
The Belgians women’s basketball team the Belgian Cats has qualified for the quarterfinals of women's basketball competition. In their last group stage game, they beat Japan 85-58.