Dylan Borlée (born 20 September 1992) is a Belgian sprinter who competes in the 400 metres. He is a member of the Borlée family.

Dylan Borlée
Borlée at the 2021 Indoor Flanders Meeting.
Personal information
NationalityBelgian
Born (1992-09-20) 20 September 1992 (age 32)
Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium
Height1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Weight77 kg (170 lb)[1]
Sport
CountryBelgium
SportAthletics
Event400 metres
Coached byJacques Borlée

He holds a personal best of 45.09 seconds for the event. He was the silver medallist at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in 2015. He has also represented Belgium at 3 Summer Olympic Games and multiple World Championships and World Relays in Athletics as part of the Belgian men's 4 × 400 metres relay team.

Biography

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Born in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert,[2] he is part of the Borlée family which is prominent in Belgian athletics and includes his older sister Olivia (b. 1986) and his older brothers, twins Kevin and Jonathan Borlée (b. 1988). All are coached by their father Jacques Borlée (b. 1957), who was himself a European medallist in the sport.[3]

He made his international debut at the 2011 European Athletics Junior Championships, competing in the 4×400 metres relay team, which finished sixth.[4] He began to establish himself as a senior athlete in the 2013 season. First, he secured a relay silver medal with Belgium at the 2013 European Athletics U23 Championships.[5] After setting a 400 m personal best of 45.80 seconds for second place at the Belgian Championships in July,[6] he was selected for Belgium relay team at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics, alongside his brothers and Will Oyowe. The team made the final and finished in fifth overall with a time of 3:01.02 minutes.[7] The Jeux de la Francophonie the following month saw him make his first international appearance for Wallonia. He placed fifth in the individual 400 m and was a silver medallist in the relay alongside Robin Vanderbemden, Antoine Gillet and Oyowe.[8]

Borlée missed most of the 2014 season, bar a relay outing at the 2014 IAAF World Relays, where he was ninth.[9] He returned in strong form for the 2015 indoor season, winning his first national title at the Belgian Indoor Championships.[10] A personal best of 46,73 seconds at a meeting in Metz earned him a place at the 2015 European Athletics Indoor Championships.[11] In his first individual outing for Belgium, he ran a personal best of 46.72 seconds in the semi-final before improving to 46.25 seconds in the final – a mark which was enough to take the silver medal in Prague behind the clear home favourite Pavel Maslák.[12] A day later he won the gold in the 4 × 400 metres relay, along with his brothers and Julien Watrin, in a new European indoor record of 3:02.87. After that followed a long string of medal winning performances at indoor and outdoor European and World championships and World Athletics relays competitions as part of the Belgian men's 4 × 400 metres relay team.

In 2024, at the World Athletics Relays in The Bahamas, he was on the team that qualified Belgium for the men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France.[13] And later that same year, he was on the Belgian 4 x 400 metres men's relay team that won the gold medal at the European Athletics Championships.[14] Having qualified for the men's 400 metres relay at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games via the World Athletics Rankings,[15] he finished 7th in the heats[16] and was eliminated in the repechages.[17] As a member of the men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 Summer Olympics, he just missed out on a medal. Despite the team posting a national record in the final, it finished 4th for the 3rd straight Olympics.[18]

Borlée family

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The progenitor of the Borlee family is Jacques, bronze medalist at the 1983 European Indoor Championships in Budapest on 200 m, while his first wife Edith Demaertelaere was a good sprinter with a personal best of 23.89. Six of his seven children are athletes (the first five born from the first marriage with Edith, the last two born from a second marriage).[19]

The eldest daughter Olivia won the gold medal at the Olympics and the world bronze at the 2007 Osaka World Championships with the 4 × 100 m relay and the other daughter Alizia was also a decent sprinter. The four sons are all 400 m specialists, the twins Jonathan and Kevin, both Olympic finalists in London 2012, Dylan and the youngest Rayane. In addition, Jacques' older brother Jean-Pierre was also a sprinter.[20]

Personal bests

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Outdoor
Indoor
  • 60 metres – 6.94 (Ghent 2013)
  • 200 metres – 21.74 (Ghent 2013)
  • 300 metres – 33.33 (Ghent 2015)
  • 400 metres – 46.25 (Prague 2015)
  • All information from Diamond League.[21]

International competitions

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2011 European Junior Championships Tallinn, Estonia 6th 4 × 400 m relay 3:10.89
2013 European U23 Championships Tampere, Finland 1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:04.90
World Championships Moscow, Russia 5th 4 × 400 m relay 3:01.02
Jeux de la Francophonie Nice, France 5th 400 m 47.25
2nd 4 × 400 m relay 3:06.24
2014 World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 9th 4 × 400 m relay 3:02.97
2015 European Indoor Championships Prague, Czech Republic 2nd 400 m 46.25
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:02.87
World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 3rd 4 × 400 m relay 2:59.33
World Championships Beijing, China 5th 4 × 400 m relay 3:00.24
2016 European Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands 1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:01.10
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 4th 4 × 400 m relay 2:58.52
2017 European Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 2nd 4 × 400 m relay 3:07.80
World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 2nd (B) 4 × 400 m relay 3:07.14
World Championships London, United Kingdom 4th 4 × 400 m relay 3:00.04
2018 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 3rd 4 × 400 m relay 3:02.51 (NR)
European Championships Berlin, Germany 17th (sf) 400 m 45.63
1st 4 × 400 m relay 2:59.47
2019 European Indoor Championships Glasgow, United Kingdom 1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:06.27
World Relays Yokohama, Japan 3rd 4 × 400 m 3:02.70
World Championships Doha, Qatar 3rd 4 × 400 m relay 2.58.78
2021 European Indoor Championships Toruń, Poland 15th (h) 400 m 46.99
4th 4 × 400 m relay 3:06.96
World Relays Chorzów, Poland 8th 4 × 400 m relay 3:10.74
Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 4th 4 × 400 m relay 2:57.88
2022 World Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 3rd (h) 4 × 400 m relay 3:07.43
World Championships Eugene, United States 14th (sf) 400 m 45.41
3rd 4 × 400 m relay 2:58.72
European Championships Munich, Germany 5th 400 m 45.39
2nd 4 × 400 m relay 2:59.49
2023 European Indoor Championships Istanbul, Turkey 1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:05.83
European Games Chorzów, Poland 3rd 4 x 400 m mixed 3:12.97
World Championships Budapest, Hungary 19th (sf) 400 m 45.59
9th (h) 4 × 400 m relay 3:00.33
2024 World Indoor Championships Glasgow, Scotland 1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:02.54
World Relays Nassau, Bahamas 3rd 4 × 400 m 3:01.16
European Championships Rome, Italy 13th (sf) 400 m 45.46
1st 4 × 400 m 2:59.84 EL
Olympic Games Paris, France 9th (rep) 400 m 45.51
4th 4 × 400 m relay 2:57.75 NR

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Athlete: Dylan Borlée". European Athletics. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
  2. ^ Dylan Borlée Archived 23 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Borlee. Retrieved on 7 March 2015.
  3. ^ Borlee Family Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Borlee. Retrieved on 7 March 2015.
  4. ^ European Junior Championships (2011-07-24). The Sports. Retrieved on 7 March 2015.
  5. ^ 2013 European U23 Championships Men's 4x400 relay final Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Sport Result. Retrieved on 7 March 2015.
  6. ^ Dylan Borlee Progression. IAAF. Retrieved on 7 March 2015.
  7. ^ 2013 World Championships in Athletics Men's 4x400m relay final. IAAF. Retrieved on 7 March 2015.
  8. ^ 2013 Jeux de la Francophonie Results Archived 14 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Francophonie. Retrieved on 7 March 2015.
  9. ^ IAAF World Relays 2014 Men's 4x400 Relay Heats. IAAF. Retrieved on 7 March 2015.
  10. ^ Dylan Borlee. European Athletics. Retrieved on 7 March 2015.
  11. ^ Dylan Borlée loopt EK-limiet. Het Nieuwsblad. Retrieved on 7 March 2015.
  12. ^ Dylan Borlée médaillé d'argent à Prague!. DHNet (7 March 2015). Retrieved on 7 March 2015.
  13. ^ "World Relays : les Tornados et le relais mixte qualifiés pour Paris, repêchage pour les Cheetahs et les relais 4X100" (in French). RTBF. 5 May 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Gold and bronze for Belgian men and women in 4x400m relay". Belga (news agency). 12 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  15. ^ "Road to Paris 24". World Athletics. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  16. ^ "MEN'S 400M ROUND 1 RESULTS". www.olympics.com. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  17. ^ "MEN'S 400M REPECHAGE ROUND RESULTS". www.olympics.com. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  18. ^ "JO 2024 : les Belgian Tornados terminent au pied du podium de la finale du 4x400 m avec un record de Belgique" (in French). Le Soir. 10 August 2024. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Mais qui est Rayane, le quatrième frère Borlée ?" (in French). rtbf.be. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2021. Rayane, leur petit frère de 19 ans. Il n'a pas la même mère que les trois ainés.
  20. ^ "FRATELLI BORLEE L'ATLETICA IN FAMIGLIA" (in Italian). runtoday.it. 7 August 2012. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  21. ^ Dylan Borlee. IAAF Diamond League. Retrieved on 7 March 2015.
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