Belgian NOC News

29 Jul 2023 - Find here the latest news from the National Olympic Committee: events, courses, general assemblies and elections, trophies and much more.

29 July 2023 - On 24 July, the BOIC organised its first-ever “Parents’ Night”: a new initiative to thank parents and celebrate the young athletes taking part in the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) in Maribor, Slovenia. More than 150 people joined BOIC President Jean-Michel Saive and CEO Cédric Van Branteghem during this get-together in Maribor. In The BOIC recently created an Athletes’ Entourage Commission, and organising a Parents’ Night during the EYOF fits perfectly with the NOC’s strategy to strengthen the entourage of athletes. Info at www.olympic.be.

01 October 2021 - Jean-Michel Saive (photo) was elected President of the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee (BOIC) at its Extraordinary General Assembly in Brussels on 10 September. He succeeds Pierre-Olivier Beckers, who was head of the BOIC for 17 years. His term runs until 2025. Mr Saive was President of the National Table Tennis Federation, and competed at seven editions of the Olympic Games, from Seoul 1988 to London 2012. More details here.

25 May 2021 - The Belgian NOC (COIB) has announced that, on 7 May, the city of Antwerp inaugurated an Olympic rings monument, over a century after the Olympic Games were hosted there. The rings will tour the city for several months with an exhibition that traces the key places in Antwerp’s Olympic history, before they are permanently installed near the Kiel Olympic Stadium in September. Unable to organise a public celebration, the city is inviting its inhabitants and everyone else to celebrate the inauguration of the rings through this video. From 7 June, the rings will tour the city and help tell its Olympic history. Full details here. In addition, as part of its “Catwalk to Tokyo”, the COIB has put together a video clip in which high-level athletes present the collections of Team Belgium’s fashion partners. Find out more about the official uniforms of the Belgian athletes for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 here.

30 November 2020 - With eight months to go before the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, Belgian high-level athletes got together for the annual Team Belgium camp, this time held remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The “Virtual Training Camp (VTC)” or the #TeamBubbelgium Virtual Camp thus took place between 14 and 20 November, with the aim of fostering team spirit and boosting the whole team’s morale by providing as much information as possible to the athletes and coaches. Various team-building activities were organised. In addition, King Philippe sent the athletes a message of encouragement entitled “Go Team Belgium”, while sports ministers Valérie Glatigny for the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and Ben Weyts for the Flemish community reminded the athletes of the special measures taken to enable them to continue training. More details here on the Belgian NOC website.

11 September 2020 - The Belgian NOC has announced the death of Professor Xavier Sturbois (photo) on 22 August, at the age of 73. The head of sports medicine for the Institute of Physical Education and Rehabilitation of the Catholic University of Louvain, Xavier Sturbois joined the NOC in1976 at the invitation of its President, Raoul Mollet. He accompanied the Belgian team to six editions of the Olympic Games as Chief Medical Officer. He also devoted considerable time and effort nationally and internationally to the fight against doping. Among other things, he was a member of the IOC Medical Commission, President of the NOC’s Olympic Health Foundation and the Medical Commission of the International University Sport Federation and head of the NOC’s Medical Department (and effort laboratory). In 2002, he received the IOC “Sport and Well-being” Trophy. More details here.

The Cape Verdean Olympic Academy is conducting an online conference cycle called “Conversation between Women” – which it had been running throughout August – until mid-September to debate important issues related to the presence and participation of women in the sports sector. Among the personalities who have already taken part are the First Lady of Cape Verde, Ligia Fonseca; the President of the Institute for Gender Equality, Rosana Almeida; Olympic athletes Isménia Frederico and Wânia Monteiro; the only female president of a sports federation in Cape Verde, Lizandra Varela; and the President of the Cape Verdean Olympic Committee, IOC Member Filomena Fortes. The themes addressed intend to share the experiences of these women, as well as the policies and paths for gender equality and equity in sport. More details here.

11 November 2019 - On 7 November at the Château de Laeken, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde received the top Belgian athletes who distinguished themselves by their performances during the period 2018-2019. In total, more than 40 Olympic and Paralympic athletes were present, together with the President of the Belgian NOC and IOC Member, Pierre-Olivier Beckers. More info on www.teambelgium.be.

13 june 2019 - On 24 May, the Belgian NOC awarded the 2018 IOC “Olympism in action” Trophy to the Royal Europa Kraainem Football Club and its President, Laurent Thieule. Each week, the club hosts around 20 Afghan, Syrian, Iraqi or Eritrean refugees. Launched in September 2015, this initiative has reached more than 2,000 unaccompanied minor refugees. It has also become a European pilot project supported by the European Commission and the UEFA Foundation for Children. The Trophy was presented by NOC President and IOC Member Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant (right of photo). More details here.

28 May 2018 - The Belgian NOC has announced the death of Olympian Germaan Van de Moere (photo) on 11 May at the age of 96. Canoeing world champion in Prague in 1958, he took part in the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956 and Rome in 1960. More details on www.teambelgium.be.