Tia Hellebaut and Carolina Klüft in the Hall of Honour of the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels (© Bert Heyns)
There was a big surprise Wednesday evening (4) in the Hall of Honour of the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. At the annual Golden Spike Awards ceremony that crowns the best Belgian athletes of the year Carolina Klüft appeared as a special guest star. The Swedish heptathlete made a trip to Brussels to hand over the Golden Spike to her friend and fellow athlete Tia Hellebaut, who won the Olympic gold medal in the High Jump in 2008.
Hellebaut and Borlée win the Golden Spike
Klüft and Hellebaut have learned to know and to appreciate each other during Combined Events competitions that they competed in. They also trained together on several occasions.
“Tia has added friendship, drive and ambition to the athletics competitions that she participated in. Actually, through her attitude, she has helped me to become the athlete that I am today,” said Kluft at the ceremony in Brussels.
“Everything that Carolina says about me is the same as what I can say about her. She has always been a great competitor and a true sportswoman, but above all she has a strong and a warm personality”, said the now retired Hellebaut.
Hellebaut won the Golden Spike while Kim Gevaert, who like Hellebaut retired at the end of the 2008 season, was awarded with the Silver Spike and Olivia Borléé with the Bronze. Gevaert and Borlée were members of the silver medal winning 4 x 100m Belgian relay team at the Olympic Games.
The men’s award was won by Kevin Borlée who set a national record of 44.88 in the 400m Olympic semi-final. His twin brother Jonathan received the Silver Spike while 200m Olympic semi-finalist Kristof Beyens was awarded with the Bronze. Kevin and Jonathan Borlée participated at the ceremony through a videoconference. Both study and train at the University of Tallahassee in the United States. “The training conditions and the facilities are great here in Florida”, said Kevin Borlée. The 21-year-old twin brothers have a clear objective for 2009, they want to run inside 44.50 this year.
Hellebaut and Gevaert on a new career track
It was one of the last ceremonies in the sporting careers of Tia Hellebaut and Kim Gevaert, who retired shortly after the 2008 Olympic Games.
“It is always nice to receive honours from the athletics family”, said Gevaert who since her withdrawal has been very much involved with charity projects.
“I am working as a Sports and Charity Manager for the Children’s Village that provides a safe heaven and a caring community for troubled children and their families”, said Gevaert. Gevaert developed projects in the war struck region of Eastern Congo recently. She will also be reporting for the Belgian public broadcaster at the KBC Indoor meeting in Gent next Sunday.
Tia Hellebaut has two new challenges. She will soon enjoy the blessings of motherhood and she started working as an account manager for Golazo Sports just two weeks ago. In her new job she will be involved in several projects in sports and in athletics in particular.
“Of course Belgian Athletics will suffer from a setback in the next years, but the new generation of youngsters is stronger than it has ever been before. I strongly believe in a bright future for Belgian Athletics, but we must be patient and let our talents develop,” commented Hellebaut.
Ivo Hendrix for the IAAF
