Elien Vekemans
 Elien Vekemans at the 2023 World Championships. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 30 April 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | Pole vault | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best | Pole vault: 4.65m (2025) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elien Vekemans (born 30 April 2001) is a Belgian pole vaulter. In 2024, she became the national record holder in the event.[1]
Career
[edit]In 2018, she set a junior Belgian record of 4.25 metres competing in Oordegem. She won the bronze medal at the 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships in Borås. Later that month she set a new junior Belgian record of 4.26 metres whilst competing in Amiens.[2]
In June 2023, she finished fourth competing for Belgium at the 2023 European Athletics Team Championships First Division in Silesia with a height of 4.50 metres.[3] She won the silver medal at the 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships in Espoo, Finland behind Frenchwoman Marie-Julie Bonnin.[4][5] She competed at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, placing 29th in qualifying with a 4.35 metres clearance but not reaching the final.[6]
In July 2024, Vekemans broke the Belgian outdoor record with a 4.52 metres clearance at the Flanders Cup in Leuven, but was still 1cm short of the overall Belgian record of Fanny Smets 4.53 metres clearance from 2021.[7] In Krk, Croatia on 30 August 2024 she set a new national record height of 4.54 metres.[8]
In Rouen on 25 January 2025, she increased her national record with a 4.56 metres clearance.[9] She competed at the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, and progressed to the final finishing in the top-eight.[10] In June 2025, she twice bettered the national record, clearing 4.61 metres at the Paavo Nurmi Games leg of the 2025 World Athletics Continental Tour in Turku, Finland [11] and then 4.65 metres at the 2025 2nd Division European Athletics Team Championships in Maribor, Slovenia.[12] She cleared 4.60 metres to win gold at the 2025 Summer World University Games in Germany.[13]
Personal life
[edit]Her brother Daan Vekemans is a professional footballer. Their parents emigrated to Austria in 2021 to open a hotel. She studied in the United States at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Arkansas.[14] She later returned to study bioengineering at KU Leuven the city of Leuven located in the province of Flemish Brabant, Flemish Region, Belgium after a period of ill health.[15]
References
[edit]- ^ "Elien Vekemans". World Athletics. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
- ^ "NEW BR POLE VAULT FOR ELIEN VEKEMANS". Atletiek.be. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
- ^ "European Athletics Team Championships First Division". World Athletics. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
- ^ "Sasha Zhoya, Marie-Julie Bonnin and Simon Gore titled at the European U23 Championships". lequipe.fr. 15 July 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
- ^ "French gold rush on the penultimate evening in Espoo 2023". Euroepan Athletics. 15 July 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
- ^ "World Athletics Championships - Elien Vekemans eliminated in pole vault". dhnet.be. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
- ^ "FLANDERS CUP KESSEL-LO: ELIEN VEKEMANS WITH A SUPER JUMP OF 4M52". Atletiek.be. 27 July 2024. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
- ^ Reyntjens, Michiel (30 August 2024). "Elien Vekemans nu onbetwist Belgisch recordhoudster, Charlotte Penneman loopt 3e juniorenchrono ooit over 5.000m". atni.be.
- ^ "Karalis opens his season with a 5.85m clearance for victory in Rouen". European Athletics. 25 January 2025. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
- ^ "Women's Pole Vault Results - European Athletics Indoor Championships 2025". Watch Athletics. 8 March 2025. Retrieved 13 April 2025.
- ^ "Paavo Nurmi Games: Flash Quotes". www.yleisurheilu.fi. 18 June 2025. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ^ "Belgium, Norway and Slovenia sit in promotion places after 2nd Division Day 1 in Maribor". European Athletics. 28 June 2025. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ^ "Elien Vekemans wins gold in pole vault at Summer World University Games". Brussels Times. 25 July 2025. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
- ^ "Too weak poles keep Elien Vekemans from 4.60m, proud brother Daan thinks that sister has made progress". Nieuwsblad.be. 30 June 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
- ^ "ELIEN VEKEMANS FOCUSES ON HERSELF AND NOT ON MEDALS AT EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS FOR YOUNG ATHLETES". Atletiek.be. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
