Sport in Belgium

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Sport in Belgium plays a prominent role in the society.

UEFA Supercup
.

Belgium has won 44 gold medals at Summer Olympic Games as well as 2 at Winter Olympic Games for figure skating at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz and speed skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Among the 44 gold medals at the Summer Olympics, 11 medals were won in archery, seven in cycling, six in athletics, five in equestrian, three in fencing and two each in sailing and judo. Well-known Belgian Olympic champions are Hubert Van Innis and Edmond Cloetens (archery), Gaston Roelants and Tia Hellebaut (athletics), Patrick Sercu and Roger Ilegems (track cycling), Robert Van de Walle and Ulla Werbrouck (judo), Bart Swings (speed skating), Frédérik Deburghgraeve (swimming), and Justine Henin (tennis).

Other well-known Belgian sport champions are

Franky Van Der Elst, Luc Nilis and Jan Ceulemans and well-known basketball players include Ann Wauters, Éric Struelens, Axel Hervelle and D. J. Mbenga. Former International Olympic Committee president Count Jacques Rogge
is a Belgian.

As a sub-area of culture in Belgium, sport is now considered to fall under the responsibility of the 3 Belgian communities (the

French-speaking Community and the German-speaking Community
). With the exception of football and field hockey, all other major sport federations in Belgium are split into 2 major federations (a French-speaking federation and a Dutch-speaking federation).

Football

Main article: Football in Belgium
Eden Hazard, former captain of the Belgium national football team.

The

R. Union Saint-Gilloise (11 national titles), Standard Liège (10 national titles) and K.V. Mechelen (4 national titles and 2 European titles). The club with the most Belgian Cup
titles is Club Brugge KV (10) followed by RSC Anderlecht (9) and R Standard Liège (6). The 8 European titles won by Belgian clubs were claimed between 1976 and 1988.

The

UEFA European Football Championships
in which it entered, finishing second in 1980. At the Summer Olympics, Belgium won the gold medal in 1920 and secured a fourth place in 2008.

The most capped player for Belgium is Ben Spector (108 caps), followed by

Franky Van Der Elst, Franky Vercauteren, Luc Nilis, Enzo Scifo, Erwin Vandenbergh, Georges Grün, Lei Clijsters (father of Kim Clijsters), Philippe Albert and Marc Wilmots. Current well-known Belgian players are Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois, Simon Mignolet, Vincent Kompany, Thomas Vermaelen, Jan Vertonghen, Marouane Fellaini, Romelu Lukaku, Toby Alderweireld, Kevin De Bruyne and Christian Benteke
.

Cycling

Eddy Merckx in 1973.
See also: Cycle racing in Belgium

Cycling is a very popular sport in Belgium. It is governed by the Royal Belgian Cycling League, which is split between the Dutch-speaking WBV and the French-speaking FCWB. Many Belgian cyclists have been successful, and some of the greatest cycle races take place in Belgium, especially in road bicycle racing, though other bicycle racing disciplines such as mountain bike racing or track cycling also count a number of Belgian champions and races. The best Belgian cyclist of all time, Eddy Merckx, nicknamed the Cannibal, has won the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia 5 times each, won the Vuelta a España once, the UCI Road World Championship 3 times, had many classic cycle race wins and set the hour record, among other achievements. Belgium has been one of the most successful countries in road cycling since the origins of the sport, with one of the oldest races being held in Belgium, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, which was first held in 1892.

At the Olympic Games, Belgium has won four gold medals for road cycling, with two victories for the Belgian men's team in the team time trial (at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics) and two for André Noyelle and Greg Van Avermaet for the individual race. Belgium has had the most World Championship gold medals (25) with 3 victories by Rik Van Steenbergen and Eddy Merckx and 2 by Georges Ronsse, Briek Schotte, Rik Van Looy and Freddy Maertens. Belgian cyclists have also performed very well in the 3 grand tours. Ten cyclists have won the Tour de France 18 times between them, making of Belgium the country with the most Tour de France wins behind France. Besides Eddy Merckx, Philippe Thys won the most prestigious tour 3 times while Firmin Lambot and Sylvère Maes won it twice. The last Belgian winner at the Tour de France however was Lucien Van Impe in 1976. At the Giro d'Italia, Belgium has had 7 wins, being the second most successful country in terms of wins after Italy. Michel Pollentier and Johan De Muynck (the most recent Belgian to win the Giro in 1978) are with Eddy Merckx the 3 Belgian winners of this tour. Belgium also has had 7 wins at the Vuelta a España, with 2 wins by Gustaaf Deloor, the first winner of the race in 1935 and 1936. The last Belgian winner of the Spanish tour was Remco Evenepoel in 2022.

Many Belgian cyclists have won one of the five

Fons De Wolf in 1981. Philippe Gilbert has been the only Belgian winner of the Giro di Lombardia since Fons De Wolf in 1980, with wins in 2009 and 2010 and only 4 Belgians have won Liège–Bastogne–Liège since Joseph Bruyère in 1978: Eric Van Lancker in 1990, Dirk De Wolf in 1992, Frank Vandenbroucke
in 1999 and Philippe Gilbert in 2011.

Among the best-known road races in Belgium are two out of the five monuments of cycling: the Tour of Flanders and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Other classic one day races in Belgium include

Lotto–Soudal
.

In

UCI Cyclo-cross Men World Championships since 1950 and 54 medals overall, making it the best country in cyclo-cross, ahead of France with 10 golds out of 34 medals. Erik De Vlaeminck has the most world titles in cyclo-cross with 7 World Cup wins between 1966 and 1973. Other multiple Belgian world champions are Roland Liboton (4 titles), Mario De Clercq (3), Wout van Aert (3), Erwin Vervecken (3), Sven Nys (2), and Bart Wellens (2). In track cycling, Matthew Gilmore and Etienne De Wilde won the gold medal in the Men's Madison event at the 1998 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and the silver medal in the Men's Madison at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Roger Ilegems won the gold medal of the Men's points race at the 1984 Summer Olympics while Patrick Sercu held several world records and won the gold medal of the Men's 1 km time trial at the 1964 Summer Olympics
.

Hockey

Hockey has grown in importance over the recent years. As of April 2019 the national team for men is ranked first in the world, while the national team for women is ranked thirteenth.[5]

Tennis

Tennis in Belgium is governed by the Royal Belgian Tennis Federation, which is split into the French-speaking AFT and the Dutch-speaking VTV. Belgium is well known in tennis for the two champions Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, who were both WTA World No. 1 ranked player in the 2000s. Both players also retired respectively in 2007 and 2008, before they came back to the competition respectively in 2009 and 2010. Clijsters won 41 WTA titles, including three US Open titles and the Australian Open in 2011. Henin won 43 WTA titles, including seven Grand Slam titles (four French Open titles, two US Open titles and the 2004 Australian Open), and a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

The Belgium team won the

Proximus Diamond Games
in 2002.

The men's team of Belgium is currently 4th in the ITF rankings. Their best results are second places in the 1904 International Lawn Tennis Challenge and the 2015 Davis Cup. The current Belgium Davis Cup team is composed of Xavier Malisse (3 ATP titles), Olivier Rochus (2), Steve Darcis (2) and David Goffin (4).

Former Belgian tennis champions include Filip Dewulf (2 ATP titles), Christophe Rochus, Sabine Appelmans (7 WTA titles) and Dominique Monami (4 WTA titles).

Athletics

Belgian long jumper Mathias Broothaerts.

IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 1993 and 2002 and the 2000 European Athletics Indoor Championships (at the Flanders Sports Arena
).

Belgium hosts a number of prominent annual competitions across all sections of the sport of athletics. The

Flanders Indoor meeting in Ghent and the KBC Night of Athletics in Heusden. The country has two AIMS-certified marathons: the Antwerp Marathon and the Brussels Marathon.[6] There is also an annual ultramarathon competition called the Nacht van Vlaanderen, a 100 km race which has been held annually since 1980. The meeting has also doubled as the European and IAU World Championships on a number of occasions.[7] Other annual races of note are the Warandeloop, Oostende-Brugge Ten Miles, Kust Marathon, Guldensporenmarathon and the 20 km of Brussels
.

Four Belgian athletes have won Olympic gold medals:

Etienne Gailly (bronze for marathon in 1948), Roger Moens (silver for 800m in 1960), Emiel Puttemans (silver for 10,000 m in 1972), Karel Lismont (silver for marathon in 1972 and bronze in 1976
), Ivo Van Damme (silver for 800 m and 1500 m in 1976) and the Belgium Women's 4 × 100 m led by Kim Gevaert (silver in 2008).

Belgium has had three

IAAF World Championships in Athletics medals (all bronze medals) since the creation of this competition in 1983: William Van Dijck for 3000 m steeplechase in 1987, Mohammed Mourhit for the 5000m in 1999 and the Belgium Women's 4 × 100 m team in 2007
.

Over the history of the

Golden Spike
is awarded annually to the season's best Belgian male and female athletes.

Basketball

See also:
Belgium national basketball team
Axel Hervelle, the face of Belgium's basketball team for almost a decade.

Basketball is governed by the

Sea'Arena in Ostend
(5,000).

Further information: List of Belgian basketball champions

Table tennis

Table tennis in Belgium is governed by the

Oh Sang-Eun and Vladimir Samsonov among others. La Villette Charleroi has won 1 World Champion title and 7 European Club Cup of Champions since 1994, among which 5 victories in the new European Champions League
, making it the most successful club in this competition.

Volleyball

Volleyball in Belgium is organized by the Royal Belgian Volleyball Federation which is split into the Dutch-speaking VVB and the French-speaking AIF. The Belgium men's national volleyball team best result at the European Volleyball Championship was in 2017 (4th on 16) after they lost the bronze medal game against Serbia (2-3). In 1987, Belgium finished 7th. Since then, Belgium only reached the finals in 2007 and finished 10th. The Belgium women's national volleyball team best result is a 7th place at the 2007 Women's European Volleyball Championship.

The

Challenge Cup. Maaseik best results at international level are 2 lost finals of the CEV Champions League
in 1997 and 1999 and a lost final of the CEV Top Teams Cup in 2008.

In the

Women's CEV Top Teams Cup
).

Belgium featured a men's national team in beach volleyball that competed at the 2018–2020 CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup.[13]

Rugby union

Romain Orban of Kituro Rugby Club scores the winning conversion in the last second of the final of the Belgian Rugby Championship, 2009
Main article: Rugby union in Belgium

Rugby union is a growing sport in Belgium which, due to the growing mediatisation around the sport, especially during the 2003 and 2007 World Cup, is enjoying a rise in popularity. The game is formally organised by the Belgium Rugby Federation and has a surprisingly long history. Belgium has 57 clubs and 10,071 players according to the International Rugby Board who currently rank Belgium as tier two nation ranked at twenty-sixth in the world.

Rally

Rally is popular sport in Belgium and although no money prizes can be won, many talented drivers participate in the Belgian Championships. The rally sport is overseen by the RACB organization. Belgium is known for its technical special stages on narrow tarmac roads and steep ditches.

External links

References

  1. ^ McNally, Paul (4 March 2018). "The six most popular sports in Belgium". The Bulletin. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Sport in Europe – Belgium". Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  3. ^ "History". Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  4. ^ "FIFA". Fifa.com. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  5. ^ FIH Men's and Women's World Ranking
  6. ^ AIMS Race Directory, Aimsworldrunning.org, Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
  7. ^ Kahn, Nadeem (2009-06-18) 23rd IAU World Cup & European Championships - PREVIEW, Iaaf.org, Retrieved on 2010-02-08.
  8. ^ "Basketball – Belgium – Ethias League : all-time statistics". The-sports.org. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Basketball – Belgian Cup : all-time statistics". The-sports.org. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  10. ^ "Jean-Michel Saive champion de Belgique pour la 21e fois". 7sur7.be (in French). 2009-03-08. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
  11. ^ "ETTU – European Table Tennis Union". Archived from the original on 2008-10-08. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  12. ^ "ETTU – European Table Tennis Union". Archived from the original on 2010-07-03. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
  13. FIVB
    . 22 June 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
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