Belgian Falcons Sprint to Historic Bronze at European Athletics
The Belgian Falcons secured their first-ever international medal on Saturday night, sprinting to bronze in the men’s 4x100m relay at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham. The team finished in 38.70 seconds, behind gold medalists Great Britain (38.45) and silver medalists Germany (38.64), according to Sporza.
The result marks a milestone for the sprint project founded in 2022 and caps a remarkable journey from near-misses to the podium. Two years ago at the European Championships in Rome, the Falcons finished fourth, just 13 hundredths of a second from a medal, as Atletieknieuws reported at the time.
A Decisive Final Leg
The Falcons’ bronze was built on a spectacular anchor leg from Simon Verherstraeten, who had already made history earlier in the championships as the first Belgian man ever to reach a European 100m final. Resting Verherstraeten in the morning heats proved a masterstroke, allowing him to deliver a devastating final 100 meters in the evening final.
Running with Ibrahim Camara on the first leg, Emiel Botterman on the second, and Antoine Snyders on the third, the team positioned themselves in medal contention before Verherstraeten took the baton. As Sporza reported, he powered past the Netherlands and Italy in the final stretch, nearly catching Germany for silver.
“Beforehand we had said: we come here for a medal. But to actually do it, that’s crazy! It’s a serious relief and a lot of joy,” Verherstraeten said after the race. “I felt: I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming. But well, maybe next time,” he added with a smile, referring to the near-miss on silver.
A Four-Year Journey
The bronze is the culmination of a project that began almost from nothing in 2022. The Falcons had to fight to qualify for their first European Championships, then a World Championships, and now they have finally secured that elusive medal.
“We come from far,” Verherstraeten reflected. “First it was already a fight to qualify for an EK, then a WK. And now we finally have that medal. I think we can now grow into a permanent fixture at every championship.”
The achievement is particularly poignant given the setbacks the team faced. Key member Kobe Vleminckx suffered a serious hamstring injury at the World Relays in Botswana in May and missed the championships entirely, as Atletieknieuws noted.
Rockets Finish Fifth
The Belgian women’s 4x100m team, the Belgian Rockets, also competed in Saturday’s finals, finishing fifth in 43.31 seconds. The result improved on their sixth-place finish at the 2024 European Championships in Rome, but the team was left disappointed.
“We are disappointed, because we came for a medal,” said Rani Rosius. “We didn’t make mistakes anywhere. Our exchanges were good, our race was good. It just wasn’t fast enough,” as Sporza reported.
The women’s race was won by Great Britain in 42.05 seconds, with Switzerland taking silver (43.12) and Poland bronze (43.15).
The Falcons’ bronze brings Belgium’s medal tally at the championships to four, following silver for Saliyya Guisse in the triple jump and bronzes for Delphine Nkansa in the 100m and Jana Van Lent in the 10,000m.
Almgren’s Dominant Display
The evening also featured one of the most remarkable performances of the championships. Sweden’s Andreas Almgren produced a phenomenal one-man show in the men’s 10,000m, setting a championship record of 27:23.44 and breaking the 48-year-old record set by Finland’s Martti Vainio in 1978, according to the Sweden Herald.
Almgren lapped half the field, including a group of runners competing for fifth place. Defending champion Dominic Lobalu finished second over 20 seconds behind, while France’s Jimmy Gressier took bronze.
Belgium’s Isaac Kimeli, the vice-world champion on 5,000m, abandoned the race. “This is not my year, exactly,” he said, hinting at a possible move to the marathon. Simon Debognies finished 11th in 28:25.55.
What’s Next
The Falcons will not have much time to celebrate. On Sunday, they are scheduled to compete in the mixed 4x100m relay with the Belgian Dragonflies. When asked how they planned to celebrate the bronze, Verherstraeten and Botterman smiled: “How we celebrate this? We’re not allowed to say. But tomorrow there’s still the mixed relay, so we have to be in bed on time.”
With this historic medal, the Belgian Falcons have announced themselves as a force to be reckoned with on the European stage, and the project that began with modest ambitions in 2022 now looks set to become a permanent fixture at major championships for years to come.