Jonathan Borlée Explained

Nationality:Belgian
Sport:Athletics
Event:400 metres
Collegeteam:Florida State University
Birth Date:22 February 1988
Birth Place:Woluwe-Saint-Lambert
Height:1.80 m
Weight:69 kg[1]
Pb:
  • 200 m: 20.31 (2012)
  • 400 m: 44.43 (2012)

Jonathan Borlée (in French pronounced as /ʒɔnatɑ̃ bɔʁle/; born 22 February 1988) is a former Belgian sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. He is a member of the Borlée family.

He qualified for the finals of the 400 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was a semi-finalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics and winner at the 2009 NCAA Championships.

Borlée also takes part in the Belgian 4 × 400 m relay team. The team won gold at the 2012, 2016 and 2018 European Championships, and the 2015 European Indoor Championships. The team finished 4th at the 2008 Summer Olympics and at the 2016 Summer Olympics and won silver at the 2010 World Indoor Championships and bronze at the 2010 European Championships.

Biography

Borlée family

See main article: Borlée family. The patriarch 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).[2]

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.[3]

Early successes

Borlée was born in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. He has an identical twin brother, Kevin (b. 1988), younger brother, Dylan (b. 1992), and an older sister, Olivia (b. 1986), who are also sprinters. All four are trained by their father Jacques Borlée (b. 1957).

Just like his twin brother, Jonathan Borlée obtained his first senior title at the age of 18: the Belgian Indoor championships in 2006 in Ghent, where he won the 200 m, while his brother won the 400 m. Later that year, Borlée would also become the outdoor champion on the 400 m.

On May 31, 2008, Kévin and Jonathan Borlée took part in the 4 × 400 m on a meeting in Neerpelt. Together with Cédric Van Branteghem and Kristof Beyens, they improved a 27-year-old national record by more than a second to 3:02.51s. However, this was 1 hundredth of a second above the qualification time for the Olympic Games. Two weeks later, with Nils Duerinck instead of Kristof Beyens, they broke the national record again in a meeting in Namur to 3:02.13s.

National record at Summer Olympics in Beijing

On August 19, 2008, at the semi-finals of the 2008 Summer Olympics, Jonathan Borlée ran a new personal best of 45.11s - yet this was not good enough to reach the final.

In the 4 × 400 m relay, with teammates Kévin Borlée, Cédric Van Branteghem and Arnaud Ghislain, they qualified for the final with a new national record of 3:00.67s. They originally finished 5th in the final with yet again a national record of 2:59.37s. The race was won by the American team in 2:55.39s, a new Olympic record. The Russian team, who had finished 3rd, were later disqualified promoting Belgium to 4th place.

Moved to the United States

At the end of 2008, Jonathan Borlée moved together with his brother Kévin to Tallahassee to enroll in Florida State University.[4] During this period, Jonathan Borlée qualified for the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Borlée won the 400 m in 44.78s, a new national record, while his brother Kévin finished 4th in 45.43s. Later on they had a big part in 4 × 400 m relay victory of Florida State with time of 2:59.59s, the second best season time.

Shortly thereafter, Jonathan injured himself: a stress fracture on the tarsus, which ruled him out for the rest of the season, including the 2009 World Championships. Shortly after, brother Kévin suffered the same injury at the opposite foot.

At the end of 2009, Jonathan Borlée received the Golden Spike award.

Silver at World Indoor Championships

At the beginning of 2010, the Borlée-twins were back in shape. At the 2010 World Indoor Championships, the 4 × 400 m relay team with teammates Nils Duerinck and Antoine Gillet, they won their heat in 3:09.84s, a national indoor record. In the final, with Cédric Van Branteghem instead of Nils Duerinck, they won silver with a time 3:06.94s, another national record. It was the first time a Belgian relay team had ever delivered such a performance.

European Championships 2010

Coming into the European Championships in Barcelona, Jonathan Borlée had recorded a new national record of 44.77s at a Diamond League meeting in Paris, just weeks before the championships. This was the fastest European time. Borlée reached the final with two wins in the heats and the semi-finals in 45.91s and 44.71s respectively, the latter being a new national record again. In the final however, Jonathan could not fulfill the expectations and finished 7th in 45.35s. His brother Kévin became the new European Champion in 45.08s after an impressive sprint in the last 50 metres.

The Belgian 4 × 400 m relay team reached the final. Borlée was spared in the heats, but won bronze together with Kévin Borlée, Arnaud Destatte and Cédric Van Branteghem with a time of 3:02.60s.

2012

The Belgian team won the 4 × 400 m at the European Championships.

At the Olympics, Borlée set his current personal best and improved upon his brother's national record for 400m in the first round of the Olympics. His 44.43 was clearly the best of the round for the entire field. He was not able to match that time in the semi-final but qualified for the final where he finished 6th, .02 behind his brother in 5th. Had he been able to run 44.43 in the final, it would have been good enough for the silver medal.

2015

The Belgian 4 x 400 team that Borlée was in set a new area record in winning the gold medal of the European Indoor Championship. The team also finished 5th at the World Championship.

2016

Borlée qualified for both the 400 m and the 4 × 400 m at the 2016 Olympics, reaching the semifinals in the individual events. The 4 × 400 m team finished in 4th place, setting a new national record. The 4 × 400 m team had previously won the European Championships.

European Championships 2018

At the 400 m of the European Championships in Berlin, Jonathan Borlée reached the final with a win in heat 2 in 45.19s and a 2nd place finish in the 1st semi-final in a personal season's best of 44.87s. In the final, Borlée came in third after Britain's Matthew Hudson-Smith and his twin brother Kevin in 45.19s.

The Belgian 4 x 400 metres relay team, which included Julien Watrin, Robin Vanderbemden, 2018 junior world champion Jonathan Sacoor and younger brother Dylan, reached the final with a win in heat 2 in 3:02.44s, the 4th fastest qualifying time. In the final Julien Watrin and Robin Vanderbemden were replaced by the twin brothers Jonathan and Kevin. The Belgian team won gold in 2:59.47s.

Achievements

Major Tournaments

Representing
2006World Junior ChampionshipsBeijing, China4th400 m46.06
5th4 × 400 m3:07.03
2008Olympic GamesBeijing, ChinaSF400 m45.11 s
4th4 × 400 m2:59.37 s
2009NCAA ChampionshipsFayetteville, Arkansas, US1st400 m44.78 s (NR)
1st4 × 400 m2:59.59 s
2010World Indoor ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar2nd4 × 400 m3:06.94 s
European ChampionshipsBarcelona, Spain7th400 m45.35 s (44.71 s (NR) in SF)
3rd4 × 400 m3:02.60 s
2011European Indoor ChampionshipsParis, France3rd4 × 400 m3:06.57 s (NR)
2012European ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland4th200m20.99 s
1st4 × 400 m3:01.09 s
Olympic GamesLondon, Great Britain6th400 m44.83 s[5]
6th4 × 400 m3:01.83 s[6]
2015European Indoor ChampionshipsPrague, Czech Republicbgcolor=gold1st4 × 400 m3:02.87 (AR)
IAAF World RelaysNassau, Bahamas3rd4 × 400 m2:59.33 (NR)
World ChampionshipsBeijing, China14th (sf)400 m44.85 s
5th4 × 400 m3:00.24
2016European ChampionshipsAmsterdam, Netherlands18th (h)400 m47.45 s
1st4 × 400 m3:01.10
Olympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil32nd (h)400 m46.01
4th4 × 400 m2:58.52 (NR)
2017World ChampionshipsLondon, United Kingdom16th (sf)400 m45.23
4th4 × 400 m3:00.04
2018World Indoor ChampionshipsBirmingham, United Kingdom3rd4 × 400 m3:02.51 (NR)
European ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany3rd400 m45.19
bgcolor=gold1st4 x 400 m2:59.47
2019European Indoor ChampionshipsGlasgow, United Kingdom1st4 × 400 m3:06.27
IAAF World RelaysYokohama, Japan3rd4 × 400 m3:02.70
2021European Indoor ChampionshipsToruń, Poland4th4 × 400 m3:06.96
Olympic GamesTokyo, Japan8th (h)4 × 400 m2:59.37
2022European ChampionshipsMunich, Germany4th (h)4 × 400 m3:01.80

Personal bests

DisciplineResultwidth=40YearLocation
Outdoor
200 metres20.31 s2012Lubbock, TX, United States
300 metres31.87 s (NR)2012Liège, Belgium
400 metres44.43 s (NR)[7] 2012London, Great Britain
4 × 400 metres relay2:58.52 (NR)2016Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Indoor
4 × 400 metres relay3:02.51 s (NR)2018Birmingham, United Kingdom

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jonathan Borlée Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. 18 April 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200418094131/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bo/jonathan-borlee-1.html. 18 April 2020.
  2. Web site: Mais qui est Rayane, le quatrième frère Borlée ?. Rayane, leur petit frère de 19 ans. Il n’a pas la même mère que les trois ainés.. rtbf.be. fr. 6 May 2019. 5 May 2021.
  3. Web site: FRATELLI BORLEE L'ATLETICA IN FAMIGLIA. runtoday.it. it. 7 August 2012. 5 May 2021.
  4. Web site: "Wrong" Borlée claims the Gold for Belgium. Flanders. News. 31 July 2010. vrtnws.be.
  5. Web site: Men's 400m - Olympic Athletics | London 2012 . 2013-01-31 . dead . https://archive.today/20121205001923/www.london2012.com/athletics/event/men-400m/index.html . 2012-12-05 .
  6. Web site: Men's 4 x 400m Relay - Olympic Athletics | London 2012 . 2012-08-13 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120810085812/http://www.london2012.com/athletics/event/men-4x400m-relay/index.html . 2012-08-10 .
  7. Web site: London 2012 400m men Results - Olympic athletics. Olympics.com.