Kim Gevaert

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox sportsperson Kim Gevaert (born 5 August 1978 in Leuven) is a former sprinter and Olympic champion from Belgium.<ref name="beijing">Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

Her closest brush with a world title came in running four hundredths of a second behind three-time champion Gail Devers 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 × 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.<ref>Gevaert to retire at end of season. IAAF (5 August 2008 )</ref>

Kim Gevaert during the 2008 Night of Athletics

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.<ref name="beijing"/> 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 16 August 2016, it was announced that the IOC had officially disqualified the Russian 4 × 100 metres relay team after Yuliya Chermoshanskaya's re-tested samples revealed two illegal substances, awarding the gold medal to the Belgian team.<ref name="beijing"/> She was awarded the gold medal eight years late on 10 September 2016.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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.

Personal life

Gevaert has two brothers, Marlon and John, and a sister Sigrid. Marlon competed in sprint at the national level in Belgium before becoming a national sprint coach in New Zealand.<ref>Marlon Gevaert is trainer van Nieuw-Zeeland maar supporter van Kim. nieuwsblad.be (29 August 2007)</ref> In 2010 Gevaert married her long-time partner and a fellow athlete Djeke Mambo. They have two sons and one daughter, who are bilingual, as the principal language of their father is French and of their mother is Flemish.<ref>De Bruycker, Gerlinde (29 February 2016) Kim Gevaert: "Ik hoef niet per se bekend te blijven". De Morgen</ref>

Honours and awards

• Golden Spike - Best female athlete: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Vlaamse Reus: 2002, 2004, 2007 <ref name="eurosport3222">Template:Cite web</ref>, nominations in 2006, 2008
• Flemish Sportsjewel: 2002 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Honorary Citizen of Kampenhout: 2002 <ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Belgian Sports Personality of the Year: 2004 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Belgian Sports team of the Year: Women's 4 × 100 metres relay: 2004, 2007, 2008
• Golden Medal of Honor of the Flemish Parliament: 2005 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Belgian National Sports Merit Award: 2006 (with Tia Hellebaut) <ref name="eurosport42">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Flemish Sportsjewel: 2007 (Women's 4 × 100 metres relay team) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee Order of Merit: 2021<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Belgian National Sports Merit Award: 2007 (Women's 4 × 100 metres relay team) <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Honorary Citizen of Steenokkerzeel: 2006 <ref name=":0" />
• Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown, by Royal Decree of H.M. King Albert II: 2009 <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Honorary Citizen of Sint-Genesius-Rode: 2017 <ref name=":0" />

Major achievements

Representing Template:BEL
1996	World Junior Championships	Sydney, Australia	100 m	10th (sf)	11.74
			200 m	7th	23.88 (wind: -2.2 m/s)
1999	European U23 Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	100 m	3rd	11.39 (wind: -0.2 m/s)
			200 m	5th	23.08 (wind: -0.5 m/s)
2002	European Indoor Championship	Vienna, Austria	60 m	1st	7.16
	European Championships	Munich, Germany	100 m	2nd	11.22
			200 m	2nd	22.53
2003	1st IAAF World Athletics Final	Monte Carlo, Monaco	200 m	4th	22.95
2004	World Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	60 m	2nd	7.12 NR
	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	200 m	6th	22.84
2005	European Indoor Championships	Madrid, Spain	60 m	1st	7.16
2006	World Indoor Championships	Moscow, Russia	60 m	3rd	7.11 NR
	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	100 m	1st	11.06 (First Belgian woman to win a gold medal in this event.)
			200 m	1st	22.68
2007	European Indoor Championship	Birmingham, England	60 m	1st	7.12 (7.10 in the semi-final NR)
	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	100 m	5th	11.05 (First European woman)
			4 × 100 m	3rd	42.75 NR
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing Olympic Stadium, Beijing, China	4 × 100 m	1st	42.54 NR
	Memorial Van Damme	Brussels, Belgium	100 m	1st	11.25 (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)

External links

• Template:World Athletics
• Profile: Kim Gevaert Template:Webarchive All-Athletics.com
• Kim Gevaert's website