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Affichage des articles du juillet, 2015

En route to Tbilisi!

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Credit: gymfed.be As of July 26, Tbilisi (Georgia) will host the European Youth Olympic Festival. This competition which includes several sports is a very good opportunity for young athletes aged from 14 to 18 years to gain experience. As usual, Belgium is sending a delegation, delegation which includes 6 gymnasts. Who are our gymnasts? On the women's side, the team is composed of Nina Derwael (TK Sta Paraat - PHH Hasselt vzw) , Axelle Klinckaert (GymMAX vzw) and Julie Meyers (TK Sta Paraat - PHH Hasselt vzw). These three athletes have, in my opinion, chances of medals, especially Nina Derwael , capable of scoring a 56 points total in the all-around competition (she scored 56,050 at the FIT Challenge). Her best apparatus is uneven bars, where Nina could also be in contention for a medal on this event. Axelle Klinckaert also has experience and good results on the international stage: she reached three finals at the 2014 European Junior Championship

Gymnast's profile - Lisa Verschueren

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Credit: Florence Lestienne Date of birth: 14/06/1995 (20) Club: Sportiva Sint-Gillis-Waas vzw - Topsportcentrum Ghent Favourite event: uneven bars Since she turned Seniors in 2011, Lisa Verschueren has consistently been part of the Belgian team in major championships. Alongside Gaelle Mys and Laura Waem, Lisa is an undisputed lock for the team. In, she travelled to Berlin. That year, the European Championships are individual, a good opportunity for Lisa to gain some experience. At the 2011 World Championships, she contributes to the good team result that allows Belgium to qualify for the Test Event in London. In 2012, she finished 6th with her team at the European Championships in Brussels. 2nd of Belgian Championships in 2013, she reached the uneven bars final at the Challenger Cup in Doha. She finished the year 2013 with the World Championships in Antwerp where she placed 36th in the all-around qualifications. Credit: Belga Belgian champio

Gymnast's profile - Gaelle Mys

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Credit: Florence Lestienne Date of birth: 16/11/1991 (23) Club: O.T.V. Nazareth vzw - Topsportcentrum Ghent Favourite event: balance beam Gaelle is THE star of this Belgian team, the most experienced gymnast too, since the retirement of Aagje Vanwalleghem in 2012. Gaelle's first international event are the 2004 European Junior Championships (14th with the team). Two years later, in Volos, she significantly improves her performance from 2004, and even wins a bronze medal on floor exercise. Her good results at 2007 Euros (16th AA) and Worlds (68th AA), and her performance in World Cups (one in 2007, three in 2008) allow her to represent Belgium at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, where she placed 24th in the all-around final.  Between 2009 and 2012, Gaelle qualifies for no less than 6 finals at World Cups and Challenger Cups and won a bronze medal on beam (Doha 2011). The strong performances of the Belgian team at the 2010 (15th) and 201

Gymnast's profile - Laura Waem

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Credit: gymfed.be Date of birth: 05/08/1997 (17) Club: Sportiva Sint-Gillis-Waas vzw - Topsportschool Ghent Favourite event: vault Sometimes it feels like Laura Waem has been around for years, when in fact she only turned Seniors two years ago. This is probably due to the fact she is, since 2013, a rock for the Belgian team. In 2012, as a junior, she participated at the European Championships in Brussels, where she was 30th in the all-around and 12th with the team. The following year, she went to the International Gymnix Canada (3 finals) and then to the Challenge Cup in Anadia (Portugal). At the Belgian Championship, she ranked 3rd, before winning gold on the uneven bars at the Gymfinales. Credit: PN Still in 2013, she was then selected for the World Championships in Antwerp where, with Gaelle Mys, she made History for Belgian gymnastics: it was the first time ever two Belgian gymnasts had qualified for the all-around final. Laura was 21st. I

Gymnast's profile - Julie Croket

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Credit gymfed.be Date of birth: 01/07/1994 (21) Club: GymMAX vzw - Topsportcentrum Ghent Favourite events: vault and floor exercise Julie croket has long been seen as the next star of the Belgian team, and she was, before an ACL injury stopped her. She has now made a successful comeback. But let's have a look at the beginning of her career... As a junior, she had shown great things, including an 8th place team finish and an 8th place on vault at the European Junior Championships in Clermont-Ferrand, in 2008. The following year, she travelled to Tampere (Finland) and the European Youth Olympic Festival, where she ranked 9th in the all-around. She turned Senior in 2010 and won gold at the Belgian Championship. Selected for the European Championships in Birmingham, she finished 13th with team Belgium, before heading to Rotterdam for Worlds. The Belgian team finished in 15th place, while individually, Julie was 43rd. The following year, in Toky

Gymnast's profile - Rune Hermans

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Credit: Florence Lestienne Date of birth: 09/05/1999 (16) Club: Gym Haacht - Topsportschool Ghent Favourite event: uneven bars Rune Hermans is probably one of the biggest promises of Belgian gymnastics, along with Junior's Nina Derwael, Senna Deriks and Axelle Klinckaert. Rune competed with them at the 2014 European Junior Championships in Sofia. There, she finished in 6th place with the Belgian team and 9th in the all-around final. She began her career as a Junior in 2011, at the International Gymnova Cup. In 2013, she placed 3rd at Nationals, before participating at the International Gymnix in Canada and the European Youth Olympic Festival in Utrecht. Credit: UEG/Minkus Images In 2014, in addition to the European Championships, she returned to Canada for the International Gymnix, where she reached four finals. This year, as a first year Senior, she placed 6th at the Belgian Championship, competing in only two events. At the Flan

Gymnast's profile - Jelle Beullens

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Credit: gymfed.be Date of birth: 08/061999 (16) Club: De Gympies Keerbergen - Topsportschool Ghent Jelle Beullens had a promising start among the junior ranks in 2012, when she competed at the Top Gym in Charleroi (4th in the all-around), a competition that gathers some of the best junior gymnasts from all around the world. In the past, gymnasts such as Jordyn Wieber, Shawn Johnson, Maria Olaru or Lilia Podkopayeva competed there. Credit: gympies.be In 2014, she earned a bronze medal at the Belgian Championships and was then sent to Sofia for the 2014 European Junior Championships, where team belgium placed 6th. She was supposed to represent Belgium at the Youth Olympic Games but she withdrew before the start of the competition due to injury. She has not competed since then. Now a senior, let's hope she recovers well and tries to fight for a spot in the World's team! Results: 2014 - Belgian Junior Championships: 3rd (a

Gymnast's profile - Cindy Vandenhole

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Credit: Florence Lestienne Date of birth: 08/03/1999 (16) Club: Vaste Vuist Lauwe - Topsportschool Ghent Favourite events: uneven bars and vault At 16 years old, Cindy Vandenhole made a splash onto the Senior stage. Just a few months after leaving the junior ranks, she became National Champion and participated at the first ever European Games in Baku. Injured for a long period of time, Cindy only competed on uneven bars and beam for nearly a year and a half. Still, this did not prevent her from participating in several major international events, as a junior, such as the European Championships in 2014 (6th with the team). In 2013, she travelled to Montreal for the International Gymnix and then to Utrecht for the European Youth Olympic Festival, events that allowed her to gain experience. Credit : Reuters This year, after winning the Belgian champion title, she flew to Baku and the European Games. If she did not qualify for all-aroun

Gymnast's profile - Dorien Motten

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Credit: Florence Lestienne Date of birth: 19/07/1991 (24) Club: Turnkring Bilzen vzw - Topsportcentrum Ghent Favourite event: vault Dorien Motten has had an unusual gymnastics career so far, compared to her teammates on the national team. She has joined the elite ranks when she was already a senior, in 2013. That year, she placed 5th at Belgian Championships.  In 2014 , she was sent to her first European Championships, at 23 years old. She did not contributed to her team's score (Lin Versonnen either), Belgium relying on Laura Waem, Lisa Verschueren and Gaelle Mys. That same year, she was also a reserve on the team at the World Championships, held in Nanning (China), where Belgium finished in 11th place . Credit : Liesbeth Coremans This year, she finished off the podium at Belgian Championships ( 4th). Dorien then participated in the first edition of the Flanders International Team Challenge in Ghent, where she competed in q

Gymnast's profile - Hélia Hocquet

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Credit: Florence Lestienne Date of birth: 26/07/1998 (16) Club: Gym Passion Herseaux - CHN Mons Favourite event: floor exercise Hélia Hocquet began gymnastics at age 7 at Gym Passion Herseaux. She quickly makes progress and the need to train in an Elite structure arises. In 2010, she joins the Elite centre in Mons. She participated in several international events including the Tournoi International in Combs-La-Ville (France), the International Gymnix Canada and a friendly match against the Spanish team. She was a reserve for the European Junior Championships which were held in Brussels in 2012, before one of her teammates, Mathilde Schoonbroodt, got injured. She was then a on the team. In Brussels, she ranked 12th with the Belgian team. Credit: Els De Nil  She turned Senior in 2014, and was 6th at Belgian Championships. This year, she did even better, placing 5th, before competing in the first edition of the Flanders In

Gymnast's profile - Jimmy Verbaeys

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Credit: sporza.be Date of birth: 26/08/1993 (21) Club: Blauwput Omnisport - Topsportcentrum Ghent Jimmy Verbaeys is probably one of the most famous gymnasts in Belgium. Originally from Brussels, he started gymnastics at the age of 3, in Saint-Gilles first, then in Auderghem. Because of the lack of Elite structures in Wallonia (now solved with the Elite Centre in Mons), he left for Ghent at the end of primary school. The language barrier fading gradually, Jimmy flourishes and finds his rhythm. He joined the Juniors ranks in 2008, placing 5th at the Belgian Championships. The following year, he travelled to Tampere and the European Youth Olympic Festival, and then to the Wase Gym Cup. In 2010, he participated in his first European Junior Championships in Birmingham, where he reached the final on pommel horse (5th). The same year, he won silver at National. But that's not all: at 17 years old, he joined the senior ranks in October and is selected