400 meter runners Jonathan and Kevin Borlée want to continue for another 2 years and finish their career in beauty at the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. The 34-year-old twin brothers announced this at a press conference on Monday.
Jonathan and Kevin Borlée have been active at the highest level since the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The specialists of the 400 meters have now announced that they want to put an end to their rich career after the Paris Games in 2024.
At the European Championships in Munich in August, Jonathan Borlée said that after the Memorial Van Damme he would evaluate whether he would call it a day. “I ran the Memorial with the idea that it could be my last race, but that race really gave me sense and motivation to continue,” says the Belgian record holder in the 400 meters.
Despite many injuries in recent years, especially Jonathan, the brothers believe they can still play a significant role at the highest level. “We have discussed everything with the coach and we believe that we can still get close to our best level.”
“The doubts have been there for a long time,” Jonathan admits. “Especially because of all those injuries, but in the spring of 2022 I still had my best form in years, so there is still faith. We are not going to Paris to visit the city. We are going to perform.”
Paris will also be an end point for father and coach Jacques Borlée. After the Games in 2024, he will also say goodbye as coach of the Belgian Tornados, the Belgian relay team in the 4×400 meters. Is a successor ready with son Jonathan?
“Never say never, but we are seeing up close what problems are involved, so I don’t think it will be for now,” said Jonathan Borlée.
Kevin Borlée: “Olympic medal is what is still missing”
While Jonathan Borlée remains cautious about the next 2 years, brother Kevin is still burning with ambition. “An Olympic medal is the prize that is still missing”, it sounds resolutely.
For Kevin, stopping now was not an option. “Bernard Lagat said to me just last week: ‘Never stop when you think you’re done. Only stop when you know you’re done,” says the captain of the Belgian Tornados.
The Tornados have already been 4th 3 times and 5th once at the Olympic Games. They have already collected several medals at World Cups, but never at the Games. “That medal is the motivator to continue,” says Kevin Borlée. “Together with reaching our 5th Games. That is not nothing.”
“An Olympic medal is the prize that is still missing. If that were to succeed, that would really be the highlight. The pinnacle. But I have also learned that it will not be easy. We have been close to it so many times and it is all close together. Look at the Netherlands: silver in Tokyo, and a year later in Eugene not even in the final.”
Kevin Borlée also does not rule out individual participation in championships in the coming years. The ambition is always there. “So if I qualify, why not?”
What he will do after his athletic career is not yet a foregone conclusion. “I still have 2 years to think,” he laughs. “We are working on it, but in recent years the focus has been so hard on athletics that we have not put much energy into it.”
