Willem Renders
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 7 February 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Long-distance running | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 1500m: 3:50.77 (Brussels, 2025) 3000m: 7:47.02 (Leuven, 2025) 5000m: 13:31.12 NU20R (Oslo, 2025) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Willem Renders (born 7 February 2007) is a Belgian long-distance and cross country runner.[1]
Career
From West Flanders, Renders started running in De Haan and later trained as a member of AV Jabbeke before joining Excelsior in Brussels.[2]
Renders set a 5000 metres personal best of 13:55.09 in May 2025 at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.[3] He won the gold medal over 5000 metres at the 2025 European Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland, finishing ahead of Sweden's Karl Ottfalk in August 2025.[4] Later that month, he set a new national under-20 record over that distance, running 13:31.12 in Oslo, Norway, breaking the previous best by Jean-Pierre Ndayisengha which had stood since 1981.[5]
Renders suffered a broken elbow from a fall in the second half of 2025.[6] Despite that, he recovered to win the men's under-20 race at the Belgian Cross Country Championships in November 2025.[7] Renders subsequently won the gold medal for Belgium in the men's under-20 race at the 2025 European Cross Country Championships in Portugal, also leading Belgium to the team gold. He become the first Belgian winner since Jeroen D'hoedt in 2009.[8]
References
- ^ "Willem Renders". World Athletics. Retrieved 12 Dec 2025.
- ^ "Vote Willem Renders as Krak van De Haan". kw.be. 12 Dec 2024. Retrieved 11 Dec 2025.
- ^ "Willem Renders gives Belgium its first medal in Tampere, winning gold in the 5,000 m". The Brussels Times. 8 August 2025. Retrieved 11 Dec 2025.
- ^ "Renders fends off pack to win 5000m gold for Belgium". European Athletics. 8 August 2025. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
- ^ "European champion Willem Renders demolishes 44-year-old BR U20 in Oslo on 5,000 meters". kw.be. 23 August 2025. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
- ^ "Willem Renders na een ellenboogbreuk naar het BK veldlopen: "Veel zal afhangen van mijn vorm die dag"". kw.be. 23 November 2025. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
- ^ Mills, Steven (30 Nov 2025). "Querinjean upsets Kimeli for victory at the Belgian Cross Country Championships". European Athletics. Retrieved 11 Dec 2025.
- ^ Mills, Steven (14 Dec 2025). "Double gold for Belgium! Renders kicks to men's U20 gold in Lagoa 2025". European Athletics. Retrieved 14 December 2025.