Belgium
2024
Two Belgians on one heptathlon podium, a marathon silver the next morning, and a third straight Olympic title nobody had ever won. Then Rome, and a career closing on the anchor leg.
Belgium won three athletics medals in Paris 2024: Nafissatou Thiam's heptathlon gold with 6880 points — the first woman ever to win the event at three consecutive Games — Bashir Abdi's marathon silver in 2:06:47, and Noor Vidts's heptathlon bronze with 6707, giving Belgium two of the three steps of the same podium.
This is the season in seven-event columns: the three complete golds and the one that stopped at five, plus the two national-record fourth places, Kevin Borlée's last race and the three golds of Rome — and a Vermarc-marked Belgium piece of 2024 in this archive.
Part of our Season Series — one year at a time. The full national story is in The History of Athletics in Belgium. Jump to the 2024 kit or browse the collection.
- The Games
- Paris, athletics 1–11 Aug 2024
- The medals
- 3: Thiam gold (heptathlon, 6880) · Abdi silver (marathon, 2:06:47) · Vidts bronze (6707)
- The history
- Thiam is the first woman to win three straight Olympic heptathlons — 36 points over Johnson-Thompson
- The double podium
- Two Belgians on the same heptathlon podium, gold and bronze
- The relays
- 4×400 men 4th, NR 2:57.75 · mixed 4th, NR 3:09.36 · women 7th
- The farewell
- Kevin Borlée's last race — an Olympic 4×400 final at all five of his Games
- Rome, two months earlier
- 3 European golds: Doom 400 m (44.15 CR/NR), Thiam (6848 CR), 4×400 men (2:59.84)
- Kit
- The archive's 2024 Belgium pieces are Vermarc-marked; no federation deal is documented
Three Medals, and a Double Podium
Belgium won three athletics medals in Paris, and two of them came out of the same event on the same day. On 9 August, Nafissatou Thiam scored 6880 points to win the heptathlon and Noor Vidts scored 6707 for bronze — a Belgian on two of the three steps. The next morning Bashir Abdi ran 2:06:47 for marathon silver, one rung above his Tokyo bronze.
- GoldNafissatou Thiam — Heptathlon — her third straight Olympic title6880 pts · 9 Aug
- SilverBashir Abdi — Marathon2:06:47 · 10 Aug
- BronzeNoor Vidts — Heptathlon — the second Belgian on the podium6707 pts · 9 Aug
Thiam's gold is the one that goes in the record books twice. She beat Katarina Johnson-Thompson — who led going into the final day — by 36 points, and became the first woman ever to win the Olympic heptathlon at three consecutive Games, joining Anita Włodarczyk as one of only two women with three Olympic golds in the same athletics discipline.
The 2025 column is drawn short because it ended short — five events and no 800 metres. Hover or tab on a column. Sources: World Athletics Paris report; Wikipedia, Nafissatou Thiam; France 24. Verified August 2026.
Four heptathlons (table)
| Championship | Result |
|---|---|
| Rio 2016 | Gold — 6810 |
| Tokyo 2021 | Gold — 6791 |
| Paris 2024 | Gold — 6880 (13.56 / 1.92 / 15.54 / 24.46 / 6.41 / 54.04 / 2:10.62); Johnson-Thompson 6844 — the first woman to win three straight Olympic heptathlons |
| Tokyo 2025 (Worlds) | Withdrew after 5 of 7 events — did not start the 800 m, amid an open dispute with her federation |
Fourth, Fourth, and a Career Closing
Just off the medals sat the relays, and one of them was a farewell. The Belgian Tornados finished fourth in the 4×400 in a national record 2:57.75 — Sacoor, Dylan Borlée, Kevin Borlée, Mabille — and it was Kevin Borlée's last race: he had made the Olympic 4×400 final at all five of his Games, from Beijing 2008 to Paris 2024. The mixed 4×400 was also fourth, also in a national record (3:09.36), also with Kevin Borlée on the track. The women's quartet was seventh in 3:22.40, and Isaac Kimeli made the 5000 m final and finished eighth.
Two months before Paris, Rome had already made 2024 a landmark year: at the European Championships Belgium took three golds — Alexander Doom in the 400 m in 44.15, a championship and national record; Thiam in the heptathlon with a championship-record 6848; and the men's 4×400 in 2:59.84, the Tornados' fourth European title — plus Jochem Vermeulen's 1500 m silver and bronzes for Vidts and the women's relay. Six medals, seventh nation of the championships.
From this season · in the archiveVermarc Belgium Pro Elite 2024 SpeedsuitBelgium team speedsuit from the 2024 programme — a Vermarc-marked race-issue piece from the year of three Olympic medals.150,00 €View piece →The Thread After — and the Kit
The Belgian relay thread did not stop with the Borlée twins' retirement in September 2024. In Tokyo 2025 the mixed 4×400 took world bronze in 3:10.61 with Dylan Borlée still in it, and Isaac Kimeli climbed from eighth in Paris to world 5000 m silver in 12:58.78. Then, in 2026, Belgium won the first world indoor 4×400 mixed relay title ever contested, at Kujawy-Pomorze.
Thiam's own thread turned darker. At the Tokyo 2025 Worlds she withdrew after five of the seven events, not starting the 800 m, in the middle of an open dispute with her federation over a conduct agreement and image rights — she spoke of a dark cloud over the season. She has announced no retirement, and we make no prediction. Bashir Abdi has spent 2025 and 2026 managing a hip stress fracture; he has not retired either.
The Belgium pieces in this archive are Vermarc-marked team garments from the 2024 programme. We can attest to the mark on the garment; no federation kit deal for Belgian athletics is documented, so that is exactly as far as we go.
The full national arc — the Borlée dynasty, the Tornados, Thiam — is in our history of athletics in Belgium.
Belgium 2024
Belgium team pieces from the 2024 programme — Vermarc-marked race-issue garments from the year of three Olympic medals and three European golds.
How many medals did Belgium win in athletics at Paris 2024?
Three: Nafissatou Thiam's heptathlon gold (6880), Bashir Abdi's marathon silver (2:06:47) and Noor Vidts's heptathlon bronze (6707) — two of them on the same podium on the same day.
What record did Thiam set in Paris?
She became the first woman in history to win the Olympic heptathlon at three consecutive Games, and only the second woman — after Anita Włodarczyk — with three Olympic golds in the same athletics discipline.
Was Paris Kevin Borlée's last race?
Yes — the 4×400 final, where Belgium was fourth in a national record 2:57.75. He had reached the Olympic 4×400 final at all five of his Games, from Beijing 2008 to Paris 2024.
What kit did Belgium wear in 2024?
No kit deal for Belgian Athletics is documented, so we make no federation claim. What we can attest to is the garment: the Belgium collection holds Vermarc-marked team pieces from the 2024 programme.
Sources and References
- Wikipedia — Belgium at the 2024 Summer Olympics — the three medals, the relay placings and the national records
- World Athletics — the Paris heptathlon report — Thiam’s 6880, the 36-point margin and the third straight title
- Wikipedia — Belgium at the 2024 European Championships — the three Rome golds and the six-medal haul
- BX1 — Kevin Borlée’s last race — the farewell in the 4×400 final of his fifth Games
- France 24 — Thiam withdraws at the 2025 Worlds — the withdrawal after five events in Tokyo