Delphine Nkansa (born 21 September 2001) is a Belgian sprinter. She won the bronze medal at the 2026 European Championships in the 100 metres. She was the Belgian national champion over 200 metres in 2022 and the European Under-23 champion over that same distance in 2023.
Personal life Nkansa was born in Belgium to a Congolese father and Belgian mother. She grew up in Lisbon, Portugal after her family moved for her father's work. After achieving her baccalaureate in Lisbon, Nkansa moved to Paris to study law.
Career 2022 Nkansa set a new personal best time of 23.03 seconds for the 200 metres in July 2022 in Albi, France. At the same event she improved her 100 m personal best to 11.26 seconds to make her second fastest Belgian woman of all time in the event behind only Kim Gevaert. Nkansa qualified from her 200 m heat at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in a time of 23.08 and was eleventh fastest in the semi-finals running 23.28. This matched her result in the 100 m as she qualified from the heat to the semi-finals and also finished eleventh fastest in a time of 11.39 seconds. Nkansa was part of the Belgian 4 × 100 metres relay team that qualified for the final with a seasons best time of 43.58 in the semi-final, before finishing sixth in the final.
2023 Nkansa ran a new personal best over 60 m of 7.24 seconds in January 2023. Soon afterwards she finished runner-up to Rani Rosius in the 60 m at the Belgian national indoors championships in February 2023. She was subsequently selected for the 2023 European Athletics Indoor Championships in March 2023, in which she qualified through the rounds for the final. She finished sixth in the final in a new personal best time of 7.19 seconds.
At the 2023 European Athletics U20 Championships in Espoo, Finland, Nkansa won the gold medal in the 200 metres. Selected for the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, she did not qualify for the semi-final of the 100 metres.
2024 She reached the semi-finals of the women's 60 metres at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow. She ran as part of the Belgian relay team at the 2024 World Relays Championships in Nassau, Bahamas. She was selected for the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome in June 2024. She placed 4th in the European Championships semi-final in Rome in June 2024, not advancing to the final. She did post a personal record, covering 100 meters in 11.21s. She was also part of the Belgian relay team which qualified for the final. In June, she again broke her personal record at the 2024 Belgian Athletics Championships setting a time of 11.20s. Having qualified for the women's 100 metres at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games via the World Athletics Rankings, she qualified for the semi-finals by matching her PB and finishing 3rd in her round 1 heat. She finished 7th in her semi-final. She also ran in the women's 4 × 100 metres relay, the Belgian team also having qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games via the World Athletics Rankings. The team was however disqualified in round 1 when Elise Mehuys passed the baton to her outside the takeover zone.
2025 She was selected for the 60 metres at the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Appeldoorn where she did not qualify for the semi-finals. She ran the anchor leg for the Belgian relay team at the 2025 World Athletics Relays as Belgium won their heat and qualified a team for the World Championships. She won the 100 metres for Belgium at the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships Second Division in Maribor on 28 June.
In September 2025, she competed in the women's 4 × 100 metres at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
2026 Nkansa placed third over 60 metres in 7.29 seconds at the Belgian Indoor Championships. At the end of July, she crowned herself queen of Belgian sprint by winning both 100 and 200 metres Belgian national outdoor titles. Competing at the 2026 European Championships in Birmingham, England, Nkansa ran a personal best 11.06 seconds to place third in the final of the 100 metres, winning her first senior individual medal at a major championships. She also competed in the women's 4 × 100 metres relay at the championships, with Belgium placing fifth in the final. At the 2026 Diamond League Final in Brussels in September, she placed ninth in the 100 metres.
Athletic Achievements Personal bests TypeDistanceTime (s)Wind (m/s)VenueDateNotesIndividual eventsIndoor60 metres7.17Val-de-Reuil, France2 February 2025200 metres 23.36Metz, France8 February 2026Outdoor100 metres11.06+1.0Birmingham, United Kingdom10 August 2026200 metres22.88+1.1Brussels, Belgium3 August 2025Team eventsOutdoor4 × 100 metres relay42.80Guangzhou, China10 May 2025
International competitions 2022European ChampionshipsMunich, Germany11th (sf)100 m11.3911th (sf)200 m23.286th4 × 400 m relay43.982023European Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Türkiye6th60 m7.19European U23 ChampionshipsEspoo, Finland4th100 m11.361st200 m23.315th4 × 400 m relay43.66World ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary35th (h)100 m11.402024World Indoor ChampionshipsGlasgow, United Kingdom15th (sf)60 m7.21World RelaysNassau, Bahamas—4 × 100 m relay ()8th43.17European ChampionshipsRome, Italy12th (sf)100 m11.216th4 × 100 m relay43.48Olympic GamesParis, France19th (sf)100 m11.28—4 × 100 m relay2025European Indoor ChampionshipsApeldoorn, Netherlands26th (h)60 m7.28World RelaysGuangzhou, China6th4 × 100 m relay42.85European Team Championships Second DivisionMaribor, Slovenia1st100 m11.421st4 × 100 m relay43.46World ChampionshipsTokyo, Japan—4 × 100 m relay2026European ChampionshipsBirmingham, United Kingdom3rd100 m11.0616th (h)200 m23.415th4 × 100 m relay43.31
National championships and competitions 2017Portuguese U18 Indoor ChampionshipsPombal4th60 m8.00Portuguese U18 ChampionshipsAbrantes1st100 m11.921st200 m24.91Portuguese U20 ChampionshipsMarinha Grande2nd100 m12.083rd200 m24.962018Portuguese U18 Indoor ChampionshipsPombal1st60 m7.50Portuguese U20 Indoor ChampionshipsPombal1st60 m7.601st200 m 24.602019Portuguese Indoor ChampionshipsPombal—60 m7.48Portuguese U23 ChampionshipsVagos2nd100 m11.90Portuguese U20 ChampionshipsVagos1st100 m11.693rd200 m24.47Portuguese ChampionshipLisbon—100 m11.71—200 m24.412020French U20 Indoor ChampionshipsMiramas2nd60 m7.52French Indoor ChampionshipsLiévin—60 m7.572021French U23 ChampionshipsCaen1st100 m11.732022French U23 Indoor ChampionshipsLyon7th60 m7.49French Indoor ChampionshipsMiramas—60 m7.46Belgian ChampionshipsGentbrugge2nd100 m11.421st200 m23.34French U23 ChampionshipsAlbi2nd100 m11.231st200 m23.032023Belgian Indoor ChampionshipsGhent2nd60 m7.28French U23 ChampionshipsFontainebleau2nd200 m23.42Belgian ChampionshipsBruges1st100 m11.03—200 m2024Belgian ChampionshipsBrussels1st100 m11.202025Belgian ChampionshipsBrussels3rd100 m11.322nd200 m22.882026Belgian Indoor ChampionshipsLouvain-la-Neuve3rd60 m7.29Belgian ChampionshipsKessel-Lo1st100 m11.132nd200 m23.58
References
External links