Tia Hellebaut (; born 16 February 1978) is a Belgian former track and field athlete. She started out in her sports career in the heptathlon, and afterwards specialized in the high jump event. She has cleared 2.05 metres both indoors and outdoors.
Hellebaut was the 2008 Olympic champion in the high jump. She was previously the European Champion in 2006 and then the European Indoor Champion in 2007. She won the gold medal in the pentathlon at the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships. In addition to these medals, she has participated at the World Championships in Athletics on four occasions.
She held the Belgian records indoor long jump and indoor pentathlon until they were broken by Nafissatou Thiam and still holds the Belgian record in both indoors and outdoors high jump.
Career Hellebaut worked as a chemist from 1996 to 1999. She started her career as a professional athlete with Atletiek Vlaanderen from 2001 to October 2005. From 1 November 2006 she again became a professional athlete, this time at Bloso. During her most successful period, Hellebaut was trained by her partner, Wim Vandeven, at her club, Atletica 84.
At the 2006 European Championships and 2007 Indoor European Championships Hellebaut won the gold medal in high jump. The 2006 victory became especially notable, when just a couple of minutes later her close friend and compatriot Kim Gevaert completed a historical sprint double. The images of both athletes celebrating their victory together, wrapped in a national flag, became part of Belgian sports history.
In 2007 Hellebaut set the then fourth best pentathlon score of all time, but chose not to contest the European Indoor Championships because of illness, choosing instead to compete only in the high jump, which she later won. Most of the remainder of her 2007 high jump season was hampered by an ankle injury. A shoulder injury, which made it difficult for her to throw the javelin, ended her career in heptathlon around this time.
For the 2008 indoor season, Hellebaut returned her focus to multi-events and became world champion of pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia, where she set a record for the best high jump result in a women's multi-event competition, clearing 1.99 m.iaaf.org – Gevaert on top of the world in Gent – PREVIEW
At the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, Hellebaut reached her pinnacle thus far by winning the gold medal in the high jump, ahead of the favorite, Blanka Vlašić of Croatia, with a new outdoor personal best of 2.05 m. Her achievement represented the first-ever athletics gold medal in the Olympics for a Belgian woman, and only the second of any color, one day after Belgium won their first (silver) medal in the 4 × 100 m relay (which later was upgraded to gold after the Russian team was disqualified because of a doping rules infraction by one of their athletes).
Retirement and comebacks On 5 December 2008 Hellebaut announced her pregnancy and retirement from professional athletics and that she would start working for a sports marketing company. The following year, on 9 June, her daughter Lotte was born.
Inspired by fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters' comeback to the WTA as a young mother, she unexpectedly announced her return to athletics on 16 February 2010, her 32nd birthday. Hellebaut also announced that she would be concentrating exclusively on the high jump and aimed to participate in the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Shortly after placing fifth at the 2010 European Athletic Championships in Barcelona by clearing 1.97 metres, her first major championships after her comeback, it was reported that Hellebaut was pregnant again. During a press conference on 17 August she confirmed that she had been pregnant for three months already, and that this had been a conscious choice. Although Hellebaut did not participate in any further 2010 events, she never officially announced that the new pregnancy would definitively end her career.
On 16 June 2011, 4 months after the birth of her second daughter Saartje, Hellebaut announced her second return, confirming that she aimed to defend her title at the London Games. She was Team Belgium national flag bearer at the 2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations. She ended fifth in the high jump competition.
On 6 March 2013, after the European Indoor Championships in Gothenburg, she announced her second retirement, saying that she could no longer challenge herself mentally in competition.
Sport consultancy In March 2019, Belgian football club Beerschot Wilrijk announced the take-over of amateur side Rupel Boom and lifetime Beerschot supporter Hellebaut was appointed advisor at Rupel Boom's football academy.Beerschot Wilrijk neemt Rupel Boom over, Hellebaut wordt jeugdadviseur: "Mentale begeleiding" – Sporza
Awards and honours Belgian National Sports Merit Award: 2006 (with Kim Gevaert) Golden Spike - Best female athlete: 2006, 2008, 2012 Flemish Sportsjewel: 2006 Vlaamse Reus: 2008 Belgian Sportswoman of the Year: 2008 Belgian Sports Personality of the Year: 2008 Honorary Citizen of Tessenderlo: 2008 Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown, by Royal Decree of H.M. King Albert II: 2009 World Sports Legends Award: 2016
International achievements
Representing 1995European Youth Olympic FestivalBath, United Kingdom9thHigh jump1.75 m1997European Junior ChampionshipsLjubljana, Slovenia11thHeptathlon5157 pts1999UniversiadePalma, Spain14th (q)High jump1.80 mEuropean U23 ChampionshipsGothenburg, Sweden 6thHeptathlon5548 pts2000European Indoor ChampionshipsGhent, Belgium —PentathlonDNF2001World ChampionshipsEdmonton, Canada14thHeptathlon5680 pts2003World ChampionshipsParis, France —HeptathlonDNF2004World Indoor ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary5thPentathlon4526 ptsOlympic GamesAthens, Greece12thHigh jump1.85 m (o)2005World ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland6thHigh jump1.93 m2006World Championships IndoorMoscow, Russia6th High jump1.96 m (xo)European ChampionshipsGothenburg, Sweden1stHigh jump2.03 m (o)World Athletics FinalStuttgart, Germany2ndHigh jump1.98 mIAAF World CupAthens, Greece2ndHigh jump1.97 m2007European Indoor ChampionshipsBirmingham, England1stHigh jump2.05 m (o)World ChampionshipsOsaka, Japan14thHigh jump1.90 m (xo)2008World Indoor ChampionshipsValencia, Spain1stPentathlon4867 ptsOlympic GamesBeijing, China1stHigh jump2.05 m (o)World Athletics FinalStuttgart, Germany3rdHigh jump1.97 m2010European ChampionshipsBarcelona, Spain5thHigh jump1.97 m (xxo)2012World Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey5thHigh jump1.95 m (o)Olympic GamesLondon, United Kingdom4thHigh jump1.97 m (o)2013European Indoor ChampionshipsGothenburg, Sweden8thHigh jump1.87 m (xo)
Statistics
+ Personal recordsEventResultYearExtra100 metres hurdles13.91 seconds200660 metres hurdles8.50 seconds2006Triple jump13.05 metres2001Shot put13.85 metres2008Javelin throw44.37 metres2001200 metres24.65 seconds2006800 metres2:14.75 seconds2006Long jump (indoor)6.42 metres2007NRLong jump (outdoor)6.44 metres2007High jump (indoor)2.05 metres2007NRHigh jump (outdoor)2.05 metres2008NRHeptathlon6201 points2006Pentathlon4877 points2007NR
+ Belgian record marksEventResultYearLocationPentathlon indoor4268 points17 February 1999Ghent, Belgium4436 points25 February 2001Ghent, Belgium4560 points1 February 2004Zuidbroek, the Netherlands4589 points21 February 2004Aubière, France4877 points11 February 2007Ghent, BelgiumHigh jump (outdoor)1.95 metres20 June 2004Plovdiv, Bulgaria1.95 metres27 August 2004Athens, Greece1.98 metres2 June 2006Oslo, Norway2.00 metres8 July 2006Paris, France2.00 metres15 July 2006Rome, Italy2.01 metres11 August 2006Gothenburg, Sweden2.03 metres11 August 2006Gothenburg, Sweden2.05 metres23 August 2008Beijing, ChinaLong jump indoor6.36 metres19 February 2006Ghent, Belgium6.42 metres11 February 2007Ghent, BelgiumHigh jump indoor1.96 metres26 February 2006Ghent, Belgium1.97 metres28 February 2006Tallinn, Estonia2.00 metres27 January 2007Brussels, Belgium2.05 metres3 March 2007Birmingham, EnglandHeptathlon outdoor6201 points28 May 2006Götzis, Austria
References
External links Official website Tia Hellebaut Interview