Kim Gevaert
Encyclopedia
Kim Gevaert (born 5 August 1978 in Leuven
) is a former sprint
athlete from Belgium
.
at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics
. At the next World Indoor Championships, in 2006
, she won the bronze medal
in a national record
time of 7.11 seconds.
On 9 August 2006 Gevaert won the 100 metres
at the European Championships in 11.06 seconds. Two days later, she also won the final of the 200 metres
, which was celebrated together with fellow Belgian athlete Tia Hellebaut
, who had won gold
in the high jump
final only minutes before Kim Gevaert. With her first medal, Gevaert became the first Belgian gold medalist at the European Championships in 35 years and the first woman to win the sprint double since 1994.
At the 2007 World Championships
she won a bronze medal
in the 4 x 100 metres relay
, together with teammates Hanna Mariën
, Olivia Borlée
and Élodie Ouédraogo
. With 42.75 seconds the team set a new Belgian record. A few days earlier as best European athlete she had finished 5th in a thrilling 100 m final.
On her 30th birthday, three days before the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics
in Beijing, Gevaert announced that she would retire at the end of the 2008 season.
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Gevaert was in the best condition of her life. She reached the 100 m semifinals by ending 3rd in her quarterfinals, but after missing her start she finished sixth and failed to proceed to the finals. In the finals of the 4×100 m for women
a couple of days later, Gevaert ran the final leg for the Belgian team and finished in second behind the Russians to bring home the silver medal
in a new Belgian record of 42.54 seconds.
On 5 September 2008, Kim Gevaert ended her career running the 100 m at the Memorial Van Damme
in Brussels
, Belgium, a race which she won in 11.25.
She is married to Djeke Mambo. They have 2 sons
Leuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
) is a former sprint
Sprint (race)
Sprints are short running events in athletics and track and field. Races over short distances are among the oldest running competitions. The first 13 editions of the Ancient Olympic Games featured only one event—the stadion race, which was a race from one end of the stadium to the other...
athlete from Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
Career
Her closest brush with a world title came in running 4/100 of a second behind three-time champion Gail DeversGail Devers
Yolanda Gail Devers is a retired three-time Olympic champion in track and field for the US Olympic Team. Devers was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up near National City, California and graduated from Sweetwater High School in 1984...
at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics
IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics
The International Association of Athletics Federations World Indoor Championships were inaugurated as the World Indoor Games in 1985 in Paris, France and were subsequently renamed in 1987 as they are known today.-History:...
. At the next World Indoor Championships, in 2006
2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships
The 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations was held in Moscow from March 10 to March 12, 2006 in the Olimpiyski Sport arena....
, she won the bronze medal
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
in a national record
Belgian records in athletics
The following are the national records in athletics in Belgium maintained by its Athletics Federation: Ligue Royale Belge d'Athlétisme/Koninklijke Belgische Atletiek Bond .-Men:-Women:-Men:-Women:ht = hand timing...
time of 7.11 seconds.
On 9 August 2006 Gevaert won the 100 metres
100 metres
The 100 metres, or 100-metre dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, it is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896...
at the European Championships in 11.06 seconds. Two days later, she also won the final of the 200 metres
200 metres
A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first...
, which was celebrated together with fellow Belgian athlete Tia Hellebaut
Tia Hellebaut
Tia Hellebaut is a Belgian track and field athlete who started out in the heptathlon, but afterwards specialized in the high jump event. She has cleared 2.05 metres both indoors and outdoors....
, who had won gold
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
in the high jump
High jump
The high jump is a track and field athletics event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices in its modern most practiced format; auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years....
final only minutes before Kim Gevaert. With her first medal, Gevaert became the first Belgian gold medalist at the European Championships in 35 years and the first woman to win the sprint double since 1994.
At the 2007 World Championships
2007 World Championships in Athletics
The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007...
she won a bronze medal
Bronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
in the 4 x 100 metres relay
4 x 100 metres relay
The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners begin in the same stagger as for the individual 400 m race...
, together with teammates Hanna Mariën
Hanna Mariën
Hanna Mariën is a Belgian sprinter who specializes in the 200 metres. Her personal best time on the individual distance is 22.68 seconds, achieved in July 2006 in Brussels. She has 11.41 seconds in the 100 metres....
, Olivia Borlée
Olivia Borlée
Olivia Borlée is a Belgian sprinter who specializes in the 200 metres. Her personal best time in the individual distance is 22.98 seconds, achieved in July 2006 in Brussels...
and Élodie Ouédraogo
Élodie Ouédraogo
Élodie Ouédraogo is a Belgian sprinter of Burkinabé descent, who specializes in the 200 metres and 400 m hurdles...
. With 42.75 seconds the team set a new Belgian record. A few days earlier as best European athlete she had finished 5th in a thrilling 100 m final.
On her 30th birthday, three days before the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
in Beijing, Gevaert announced that she would retire at the end of the 2008 season.
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Gevaert was in the best condition of her life. She reached the 100 m semifinals by ending 3rd in her quarterfinals, but after missing her start she finished sixth and failed to proceed to the finals. In the finals of the 4×100 m for women
Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's 4x100 metre relay
The Women's 4x100 metre relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 21 and 22 August at the Beijing Olympic Stadium.There were 16 NOCs competing at this event. These 16 NOCs were selected by the average of the two best marks at the qualifying period...
a couple of days later, Gevaert ran the final leg for the Belgian team and finished in second behind the Russians to bring home the silver medal
Silver medal
A silver medal is a medal awarded to the second place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and contests with similar formats....
in a new Belgian record of 42.54 seconds.
On 5 September 2008, Kim Gevaert ended her career running the 100 m at the Memorial Van Damme
Memorial Van Damme
Memorial van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium that takes place in late August or early September...
in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium, a race which she won in 11.25.
She is married to Djeke Mambo. They have 2 sons
Major achievements
| Year | Tournament | Venue | Discipline | Result | Extra |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | European Indoor Championship | Vienna Vienna Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre... , Austria |
60 m | 1st | |
| European Championships | Munich Munich Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat... , Germany |
100 m | 2nd | ||
| 200 m | 2nd | ||||
| 2003 | 1st IAAF World Athletics Final | Monte Carlo Monte Carlo Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco.... , Monaco |
200 m | 5th | |
| 2004 | World Indoor Championships 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 10th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations were held in the Budapest Arena, Hungary between March 5 and March 7, 2004... |
Budapest Budapest Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter... , Hungary |
60 m | 2nd | national record 7.12 seconds |
| 2005 | European Indoor Championships 2005 European Indoor Athletics Championships The 28th European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palacio de Deportes in Madrid, the capital city of Spain, from Friday, 4 March to Sunday, 6 March 2005.-Men:... |
Madrid Madrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan... , Spain |
60 m | 1st | |
| 2006 | World Indoor Championships 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations was held in Moscow from March 10 to March 12, 2006 in the Olimpiyski Sport arena.... |
Moscow, Russia | 60 m | 3rd | national record 7.11 seconds |
| European Championships 2006 European Championships in Athletics The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit"... |
Gothenburg Gothenburg Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area... , Sweden |
100 m | 1st | First Belgian woman to win a gold medal in this event. | |
| 200 m | 1st | ||||
| 2007 | European Indoor Championship 2007 European Indoor Championships in Athletics The 29th European Athletics Indoor Championships were held in the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England, from Friday, 2 March to Sunday, 4 March 2007... |
Birmingham Birmingham Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a... , England |
60 m | 1st | national record 7.10 seconds (semi-final) |
| World Championships 2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007... |
Osaka Osaka is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe... , Japan |
100 m | 5th | First European woman – 11.05 | |
| 4 x 100 m | 3rd | national record 42.75 seconds | |||
| 2008 | 2008 Summer Olympics 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events... |
Beijing Olympic Stadium, Peking | 4 x 100 m | 2nd | national record 42.54 seconds |
| 2008 | Memorial Van Damme Memorial Van Damme Memorial van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium that takes place in late August or early September... |
Brussels Brussels Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union... , Belgium |
100 m | 1st | 11.25 seconds – last event before her retirement |
Personal best
- 60 metres: 7.10 seconds (Belgian Record)
- 100 metres: 11.04 seconds (Wind: 2.0/Place: Brussels/Date:09 07 2006) (Belgian Record)
- 200 metres: 22.20 seconds (Brussels/09 07 2006) (Belgian Record)
- 400 metres: 51.45 seconds (-/Gent/08 05 2005) (Belgian Record)