,
Dylan Borlée and the twins
Kevin and Jonathan Borlée after the victory at
Berlin 2018.
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). 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.
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 31 May 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 19 August 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. 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 400 m 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 × 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 × 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==