Wednesday 22 April 2015

Belgium Sports


Sports have been an integral part of Belgium’s history. It is blessed with successful sports personalities in different fields of sports who have won many medals and trophies for the country. Sport falls under the responsibility of the 3 Belgian communities
Football
3 times winners of The UEFA Cup Winners Cup 2 times  The UEFA Cup and  3 Times the UEFA Supercup Belgium stands out tall against rivals. Jan Ceulemans, Timmy Simons Bernard Voorhoof ,  Raymond MommensFranky Van Der ElstFranky VercauterenLuc NilisEnzo ScifoPaul Van Himst Jean-Marie Pfaff , Vincent KompanyThomas VermaelenJan VertonghenMarouane FellainiRomelu LukakuChristian Benteke and Eden Hazard are some of the footballers who share the Hall of Fame. 

Cycling
Cycling is one of the most popular sports of Belgium. Cyclists of Belgium have stunned the world by their speed at various international games. Be it Olympics or Tour of France, Tour of Flanders or UCI Mountain Bike world cup Belgium cyclist have emerged as winners.  In cyclo-cross, Belgian competitors have gained 25 gold medals at the UCI Cyclo-cross Men World Championships since 1950 and 54 medals overall.. Some of the famous players include  Eddy Merckx,  Michel Pollentier Johan De Muynck and  Philippe Gilbert.  Belgium has currently two professional cycling teams competing in the UCI ProTourEtixx-Quick Step and Lotto-Soudal.

Tennis
 Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters, winners of WTA World No. 1 ranked first  established a firm footing for Belgium in the tennis court. Players from Belgium have won various ATP and  WTA titles for the country. Even today  Xavier Malisse, Olivier Rochus, Steve Darcis and David Goffin continue with stellar in the ITF Rankings

Basketball
After tennis title snatching continued in Basket ball as well. Belgium has many  efficient basketball players with Axel Hervelle being the historic legend. The biggest venues for basketball in Belgium is the Spiroudome in Charleroi 

Volley Ball
 Royal Belgian Volleyball Federation  organizes and controls volley ball in Belgium. Not as popular as cycling and football players have won some titles for the country.

Others
Rally races and rugby are upcoming games which Belgium is trying to explore.