Kim Gevaert wins women's 100m final at European athletics championships

August 10, 2006

Kim Gevaert became the first Belgian sprinter to win gold at the European Championships in 35 years on Wednesday, when she ran the 100m sprint final in 11.06 seconds. Before her, only two Belgian men finished first in these Championships, Gaston Roelants at the 3000m steeplechase in Belgrado in 1962 and Karel Lismont at the marathon in Helsinki in 1971.

Lidiya Grigoryeva and Irina Khabarova from Russia tied for the second place in 11.22 seconds in the 100m sprint. Joice Maduka from the United Kingdom came in fourth (11.24), followed by Gushchina (11.31), Nesterenko (11.34), Félix (11.40) and Onysko (11.43).

"Everything went perfect," Gevaert said, just after the race. She also put things into perspective: "It's just sports." For Gevaert, who just turned 28, it is the summit of her career so far. Previous major achievements include two titles in the 2002 and 2005 European Indoor Athletics Championships, and in the 60m final of the World Indoor Championships, a 2nd place in 2004 and a 3rd place in 2006. This is her 11th medal on an international championship.

Gevaert, who studied speech therapy at the University of Leuven also qualified for the 200m in Gothenburg, Sweden, the scene for the quadrennial event. In 2002, she won second place in the 200m of the European Championship. "Chapter one finished," she said "now it's just the gold in the 200m."