Athletics
Julien Watrin in action last summer at the World Cup in Budapest. — © belga
Belgian 400 meter runner Julien Watrin (31) has testicular cancer. “It will not be possible to reach the Olympic Games.” That is also bad news for the Belgian 4 x 400 meter team.
Wednesday January 31, 2024 at 2:08 PM
Julien Watrin received the bad news last year, but it initially seemed that surgery would suffice. The 400-meter runner underwent surgery in September, a week and a half after the Memorial Van Damme, after which he fully resumed training with a view to the Olympic Games. A check-up in January revealed that he had relapsed.
“The hardest part of the past two days was having my friends on the phone,” said Watrin. “It’s a cruel situation. You feel crushed. Starting tomorrow I will start chemotherapy for a period of nine weeks. It will not be possible to reach the Games. I can’t afford to wait a few months.”
He emphasizes that “the prospects for a cure are positive.” “I’m going to take it step by step. I am fortunate that I not only have athletics, but also music, literature, philosophy and science (Watrin is a university student in industrial engineering, ed.).”
Thomas Van der Plaetsen
It remains to be seen whether he will be able to participate in top sports again afterwards. “The doctors have not yet ruled on it,” he said. “But athletes who were affected by the disease were able to lead normal lives again afterwards.” For example, decathlete Thomas Van der Plaetsen also battled testicular cancer in the past. He was told in 2014 that he had the. An operation and chemotherapy followed, and barely two years after the diagnosis – in July 2016 – Van der Plaetsen was crowned European champion in Amsterdam. Middle-distance runner Tarik Moukrime also practiced top sport again after being diagnosed with testicular cancer.
The disease hits Watrin just when he seems to be at the peak of his powers. Last year he won his first individual medal among the pros at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul: he sprinted to silver in the 400 meters, which earned him the Silver Spike (after Bashir Abdi). In the 400 meter hurdles he is the Belgian record holder with a time of 48”66.
Strongman at Tornados
His forfeit for Paris 2024 is also bad news for the Belgian Tornados. In recent years, Watrin has become one of the strongholds in the 4 x 400 meter team. With the twins Jonathan and Kevin Borlée, who ended their careers after the Games and are now on their last legs, he won several international medals – including becoming world indoor champion (in 2022) and European outdoor champion (in 2016). ).
But the boom of the Belgian relay team, which has achieved success year after year since its founding in 2008, seems to be over. Last summer, for the first time in fifteen years, the Tornados failed to qualify for the final of a major tournament at the World Cup in Budapest. The team has also not yet qualified for Paris and will therefore have to punch its ticket without Watrin. (dsd)
