Tia Hellebaut
Personal information | |
---|---|
Height | 1.82 m |
Weight | 62 kg |
Sport | |
Country | Belgium |
Achievements and titles | |
Highest world ranking | 2nd |
Personal best(s) | High jump (outdoor): 2.05 m High jump (indoor): 2.05 m |
Medal record | ||
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Olympic Games | ||
2008 Beijing | High Jump | |
European Championships | ||
2006 Gothenburg | High Jump | |
World Indoor Championships | ||
2008 Valencia | Pentathlon | |
European Indoor Championships | ||
2007 Birmingham | High Jump |
Tia Hellebaut (born February 16 1978 in Antwerp, Belgium) is a Belgian Olympic champion and athlete who used to be active in the heptathlon but now specializes in the high jump event. She holds the Belgian records for heptathlon, indoor pentathlon, and high jump, both indoors and outdoors. [1]
Hellebaut is being trained by her partner, Wim Vandeven, at her club, Atletica 84. She was a professional athlete with Atletiek Vlaanderen in the period from 2001 to October 2005. From November 1, 2006 she again became a professional athlete, this time at Bloso. Currently she lives in Tessenderlo.
At the 2006 European Championships and 2007 Indoor European Championships she won the gold medal in high jump. The 2006 victory became especially notable, when just a couple of minutes later her close friend and compatriot Kim Gevaert completed a historical sprint double. The images of both athletes celebrating their victory together, wrapped in a national flag, became part of Belgian sports history.
In 2007 she set the fourth best pentathlon score of all time, but chose not to contest the European Indoor Championships because of illness, choosing instead to compete only in the high jump, which she later won. Most of the remainder of her 2007 high jump season was hampered by an ankle injury.
A shoulder injury, which makes it difficult for her to throw the javelin has meant that it is unlikely she will ever again contest a heptathlon.
For the 2008 indoor season, Hellebaut returned her focus to multi-events and became world champion of pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia, where she set a secord for the best high jump result in a women's multi-event competition, clearing 1.99 m.[2]
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, she won the golden medal in the high jump, ahead of the favorite, Blanka Vlašić of Croatia, with a new personal outdoor record of 2.05 m. Her achievement represented the first-ever athletics gold medal in the Olympics for a Belgian woman, and only the second of any color, one day after Belgium won their first (Silver) medal in the 4*100m relay.
International Achievements
Year | Tournament | Venue | Event | Result | Extra |
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1995 | European Youth Olympic Days | Bath, Great-Britain | high jump | 9th | 1.75 metres |
1997 | European Championships for Juniors | Ljubljana, Slovenia | heptathlon | 11th | 5157 points |
1999 | European Championships (Ages 20-22) | Göteborg, Sweden | heptathlon | 6th | 5548 points |
2000 | European Championships Indoor | Ghent, Belgium | pentathlon | 14th (injured after day one) | |
2001 | World Championships | Edmonton, Canada | heptathlon | 14th | 5680 points |
2003 | World Championships | Paris, France | heptathlon | retired after day one (ill) | |
2004 | World Championships Indoor | Budapest, Hungary | pentathlon | 5th | 4526 points |
2004 | Summer Olympics | Athens, Greece | high jump | 12th in final round | 1.85 metres |
2005 | World Championships | Helsinki, Finland | high jump | 6th in final round | 1.93 metres |
2006 | World Championships Indoor | Helsinki, Finland | high jump | 6th in final round | 1.93 metres |
2006 | European Championships | Göteborg, Sweden | high jump | winner | 2.03 metres |
2006 | IAAF Golden League Brussels | Brussels, Belgium | high jump | winner | 1.98 metres |
2006 | IAAF Golden League Berlin | Berlin, Germany | high jump | winner | 2.00 metres |
2007 | Golden High Jump Gala | Brussels, Belgium | high jump | winner | 2.00 metres |
2007 | European Indoor Championships | Birmingham, England | high jump | winner | 2.05 metres |
2007 | World Championships | Osaka, Japan | high jump | 14th in final round | 1.90 metres |
2008 | World Indoor Championships | Valencia, Spain | pentathlon | winner | 4867 points |
2008 | Summer Olympics | Beijing, China | high jump | winner | 2.05 metres |
Personal Records
Event | Result | Year | Extra |
---|---|---|---|
100 metres hurdles | 13"91 seconds | 2006 | |
60 metres hurdles | 8"50 seconds | 2006 | |
Triple jump | 13.05 metres | 2001 | |
Shot put | 13.26 metres | 2006 | |
Javelin throw | 44.37 metres | 2001 | |
200 metres | 24"65 seconds | 2006 | |
800 metres | 2'14"75 seconds | 2006 | |
Long jump indoor | 6.42 metres | 2007 | |
Long jump outdoor | 6.44 metres | 2007 | |
High jump indoor | 2.05 metres | 2007, March 3 | Birmingham, Indoor European Championships, Championship Record |
High jump outdoor | 2.05 metres | 2008, August 23 | Beijing, Summer Olympics |
Heptathlon | 6201 points | 2006, June 3 | Götzis, Austria |
Pentathlon | 4877 points | 2007 |