4. Olivia, Kevin, Jonathan and Dylan Borlee
If anyone had doubts as to the role genes play in an athlete’s make up, you need look no further than the Borlee family which comprises of four ACTIVE athletes in Olivia (29), Kevin (27), Jonathan (27) and Dylan (22) Borlee. The quartet is trained by their father, Jacques who is an eight-time Belgian national champion over the 100m, 200m and 400m.
He was a Silver medallist at the 1983 European Athletics Indoor Championships in the 200m and was voted European Athletics Coach of the Year in 2011. Their mother is Edith de Maertelaere, also a former Belgian champion over the 200m.
(Photo Credit: www.flickr.com)
Olivia won Bronze in the 4x100m at the 2007 World Championships, and was part of the Belgian Silver winning quartet at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which finished ahead of the Nigerian team made up of Franca Idoko, Halimat Ismaila, Gloria Kemasuode and Damola Osayomi.
Twins Jonathan and Kevin both compete in the 400m and have PBs of 44.43s (NR) and 44.56s respectively. The brothers competed in the individual event at the Beijing Olympics but didn’t go beyond the semis, while the 4x400m team, which they are a part of, finished 5th, and then placed 4th at the World Championships a year later. Jonathan currently has the fastest time by an European in 2015 (44.91s), and is No.17 on the IAAF Top List.
(Photo Credit:Facebook/Borlee Official photos)
Dylan also competes in the 400m and has a PB of 45.80s. The Borlee brothers made history at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow when all three competed in the 4x400m relay, a first for the World Athletics Championships. They went on to participate at the 2014 and 2015 World Relays where they won Bronze (in 2015) behind the US and Bahamas with a National Record (NR) of 2:59.33.
