Belgian athletes are making their final preparations for the Paris Olympics which starts on 26 July.
Since the start of the modern Olympic Games in 1896, 64 Belgians who have won at least one medal in past Olympic Games.
Belgium's most decorated medallist is Hubert Van Innis (1866-1961). With a haul of eight medals – six gold and two silver – from the archery contests at the 1900 and 1924 games, Van Innis put his mark on the history of the sport.
Four others have stood on the podium four times each, all between 1900 and 1920. These include Paul Anspach (fencing), Louis Van der Perck (archery), both of whom won two golds, achievements that neither Gérard Blitz nor Joseph Pletinckx replicated in their water-polo team.
Gérard Blitz won medals in water-polo and swimming. Another athlete with dual-sport medals was Victor Boin, who graced the podium in water-polo and fencing.
Seventeen other athletes each brought back two Olympic medals, including Nafissatou Thiam. A gold medal in Paris could make her the first heptathlete to bag three consecutive Olympic titles.
The remaining forty-two athletes, who include hockey players, also have two medals on display. Athletes such as Simon Gougnard, Loïck Luypaert, Vincent Vanasch, Florent Van Aubel, Arthur Van Doren, Tom Boon, Thomas Briels, Cédric Charlier, Felix Denayer, Sébastien Dockier, and John-John Dohmen could add a third medal in Paris. So could the Red Lions.
Matthias Casse, Jérôme Guéry, Grégory Wathelet, Bashir Abdi, Wout van Aert, and Nina Derwael could all gain a second Olympic medal.
Eighteen athletes have won more than one gold medal, but Thiam’s Tokyo double is the first since 1952, when André Noyelle won gold in two cycling events.
