The Belgian delegation at the Summer World University Games has captured its third medal as Elien Vekemans clinched victory in the pole vault competition in Bochum, Germany, on Friday.
Vekemans, a 24-year-old from Flemish Brabant, secured the win by clearing 4.60 metres on her first attempt. She tried to break her own Belgian record of 4.65 metres by going for 4.70 metres, but did not succeed, failing three times.
This year, Vekemans has improved her national record three times, raising it from 4.56 metres in January to 4.61 metres, and finally to 4.65 metres at the European Team Championships in late June.
On the podium, she was joined by Norway’s Kitty Faye, who cleared 4.50 metres, and Canada’s Rachel Grenke, who reached 4.35 metres.
Team Belgium’s other successes in Germany include silver for Sarah Chaâri in taekwondo and bronze for Jana Otzipka in tennis.
Yanla Ndjip-Nyemeck narrowly missed a medal in the women’s 110 metres hurdles, finishing fourth with a time of 12.96 seconds, just one hundredth of a second slower than third-placed Alicja Sielska from Poland. The gold medal in that event went to Finland’s Saara Keskitalo, who tied at the finish with Hungary’s Anna Toth. Keskitalo claimed victory by a difference of just thousandths of seconds.
Elsewhere, gymnast Jade Vansteenkiste finished fifth in the all-around competition with a score of 51.766 points and will compete in the floor final on Saturday.
Judoka Vicky Verschaere missed out on a bronze medal in the -78 kg category, losing her final bout against South Korea’s Minju Kim.
In rowing, the Belgian quartet of Jonas Verbraeken, Milan Van Massenhove, Jonathan De Man, and Xander De Bruyne advanced to the semi-finals after finishing second in their heat. Eloise Joris also qualified for the semi-finals in the single sculls, finishing second in her heat and third in her quarter-final.
