28,000 runners and 180,000 spectators made the very first European Running Championships an absolute success. The French, Italians and Belgians won most of the medals. The masses of recreational runners in their wake enjoyed the unique opportunity to shine too in the 10K, half or full marathon on a beautiful course.
Gold in the Marathon to Iliass Aouani from Italy and Fatima Ouhaddou Nafie from Spain and a silver medal for the Belgian men’s team and bronze for the women, that is the medal haul in the marathon on Sunday. Individually, Dorian Boulvin (9th) and Thomas De Bock (10th) were the best Belgians and an unfortunate Hanne Verbruggen (12th) in the women.
Earlier in the morning, top favourite Nadia Battocletti had already secured gold in the 10 kilometres. Jana Van Lent finished a strong fifth. Frenchman Yann Schrub won the men’s race. Our compatriot Isaac Kimeli took bronze in that same race and also won bronze with the other Belgians in the country classification.
On Saturday, the Belgian women had already made history in the half marathon of the European Running Championships: Chloé Herbiet took gold, Julliette Thomas silver and, logically, team gold for our country. In the men, it was France’s top favourite Jimmy Gressier who won gold. Simon Debognies was the best Belgian finishing in sixth place.
In addition, there were medals for… all 28,000 participants. 12,500 amateur runners from all over Europe chose Sunday’s marathon from Brussels to Leuven. The start was very symbolically from the Royal Palace in Brussels. King Philippe himself had come out to sound the starting shot for the biggest marathon ever held in his kingdom. The runners got to enjoy beautiful highlights of Brussels and Tervuren, but also experienced that it’s not all flat between Brussels and Leuven.
The half marathon attracted 10,000 participants, the 10K another 5,500 runners. The reactions of practically every one of them at the finish spoke volumes: wonderful course and lots of encouragement from the numerous spectators along the course. Those spectators showed up in large numbers, 180,000 in total over the two days, mainly in Leuven itself, but also on Sunday in Brussels and between Brussels and Leuven. The fan zones in Leuven were close to capacity and created a true festival atmosphere after the finish.
The final balance of these new championships is extremely positive. Elite athletes, recreational runners and spectators enjoyed two days of sporting festivities. Almost every participant was over the moon afterwards and had greatly enjoyed it. Despite two critical incidents on Saturday (which fortunately did not have a bad ending), there were otherwise remarkably few problems of any kind for an event of such magnitude.
“This first edition of the European Running Championships has allowed us to show that Flanders is the place where top sport and grassroots sport come together. Thanks to a fantastic organisation and the unique mix of elite athletes and recreational runners, we prove once again today that Flanders is the ideal region for international sporting events. We remain fully committed to such a strong sports dynamic, which inspires both our elite athletes and thousands of other athletes. This championship reinforces our status as a sporting nation,” said Flemish Minister for Sport Annick De Ridder.
Minister for Tourism Melissa Depraetere also looks back on the European Running Championship with enthusiasm. “Thanks to the thousands of participants and supporters, these were real high days for tourism in Leuven. The excellent cooperation with Leuven’s Mayor Mohamed Ridouani during this this event gave a huge boost to Leuven’s hospitality industry. This tastes like more!”
“The past few weeks saw a lot of people in Leuven training, and those who did not run themselves knew someone who was at the start,” said Mohamed Ridouani, Mayor of Leuven. “The atmosphere along the course was fantastic: thousands of supporters cheered on both the pros and the recreational runners. As a novice runner, I really enjoyed that energy, the crowd gave me that push to cross the finish line. We can look back on a very successful European Running Championship. It tastes like more.”
It is Golazo’s intention, together with the city of Leuven, to keep these unique championships alive and also to be able to offer the people from Leuven a running festival with the same atmosphere and conviviality in future years.
