Belgium had gone more than 10 years without a medal at a European Athletics Championships, but at Gothenburg 2006, Kim Gevaert and Tia Hellebaut both took gold within minutes of each other.
In the lead up to the Birmingham 2026 on 10-16 August, we are taking a look back at 26 classic moments from the European Athletics Championships, including Belgium’s unforgettable night in 2006.
The background
Until the Gothenburg 2006 European Athletics Championships, Belgium had only won two gold medals in the long history of the event. Gaston Roelants took 3000m steeplechase gold in 1962, and Karel Lismonth won the marathon in 1971.
But there had been no women to take gold, Gevaert was in fact the first woman to take any colour medal for Belgium when she took silver in the 100m and 200m at the Munich 2002 European Athletics Championships.
The nation had also never taken a European medal in a field event, with eight of their 19 medals before Gothenburg 2006 coming from the men’s marathon.
A 35-year gold drought, but it would soon come to an end.
What happened
Hellebaut made her European Championships debut on 8 August when she eased over 1.92m on her first attempt in the high jump qualifying to progress through to the final.
Then on the third day of the championships, 9 August, Gevaert stormed to the nations first ever 100m title with 11.06 to take gold ahead of two Russian athletes in second and third.
But her championships were far from over.
The following day she returned to the track and qualified for the 200m semi-finals with the third fastest time of 22.83.
Gevaert then won the first semi-final, qualifying for her second final of the championships with the second fastest time, just moments after the women’s high jump had started.
This was it, both Hellebaut and Gevaert would compete in their finals on the same day.
As Gevaert returned to the skeleton of the stadium to recover ahead of the final, Hellebaut started her final in fine form after clearing 2.00m for the first time earlier that year.
She came in at 1.84m, a height she was more than comfortable in clearing, and didn’t faulter until she faced a new PB, 2.01m. But she took little time in needing to overcome the new height, clearing it on her second attempt.
Just four of them remained as the bar moved up to 2.03m, what would be a championship record at the time.
Her first attempt, she floated over and while the bar lightly shook, it did not fall and Hellebaut had become the first woman of the field to clear the height, setting a new PB, championship and national record.
But she still had to wait, she was still not guaranteed a medal. One by one her competitors tried to imitate her, with Bulgaria’s Venelina Veneva also clearing the height on her second attempt.
While the other two had not yet cleared 2.03m, the bar moved up as they attempted to keep up with Hellebaut and Veneva.
But as each athlete attempted to clear 2.05m, they quickly ran out of attempts until it the medallists had been confirmed. But it came down to Veneva’s last attempt to decide who would take gold.
By this time Gavaert had made her way back onto the track ready to run her final. But not before Veneva’s third failed attempt at 2.05m meant that Belgian had taken their second gold of the championships.
Hellebaut, wrapped in the Belgian flag, watched on as her teammate lined up in her blocks down the other end of the stadium.
Gavaert burst off the start line and as she turned the bend, was only being challenged by Russia’s Yuliya Gushchina. The two matched one another almost stride for stride, but with 50, 40, 30 metres left, the Belgian edged ahead with the gold in sight.
She took the gold in 22.68, ahead of Gushchina in 22.93 and Natalia Rusakova, also of Russia, in third with 23.09.
But moments after crossing the line Gavaert shrieked, suddenly picking the pace up again.
She had spotted Hellebaut who was running towards her with the Belgian flag fluttering behind her. The two embraced one another, and embraced history.
They had taken Belgium’s European Athletics Championships gold medal count from two to five in just a matter of days, while Gavaert also became the country’s first double gold medallist.
The aftermath
“I still don’t believe that I won today,” said Hellebaut. “It’s been a crazy evening. I think I have to get a little sleep to figure out what’s going on.”
While Gevaert said, “before the race I shouted when Tia won the gold.
“It gave me even more energy. To see Tia win just gave me wings.
“I wonder what is going on right now in Belgium after three gold medals.”
Hellebaut would go on to take European indoor gold the following year, to build into a very successful 2008.
She would start the year with a world indoor gold in the pentathlon, Olympic gold in the high jump, and a world silver to end the medal-heavy year.
While Gevaert would also take a European indoor gold in 2007, before anchoring Belgium to Olympic gold in Beijing.
It wasn’t until 2010 that Belgium took another medal in the world championships, when Kevin Borlee won 400m gold, the men’s 4x400m team took bronze, and Svetlana Bolshakova took triple jump bronze.
The success Gevaert and Hellebaut brought to Belgium in 2006, made way for future stars such as the Borlee brothers and Nafi Thiam who continued to inspire the nation.