Ilke Lagrou (born 27 January 1998) started her athletics career as a Belgian hammer thrower but converted to become a weightlifter. She is a silver medalist at the European Weightlifting Championships.
Career Lagrou picked up hammer throwing at around the age of 12. Later she also competed in the heptathlon but the main focus remained on the hammer throw. She holds all four national titles in age categories U16 through U23 in the hammer throw.
Sensing no more progress in her performances, she switched to weightlifting in September 2022 and a mere 1.5 years later she surprised herself by picking up a bronze medal in the snatch at the 2024 European Weightlifting Championships held in Sofia, Bulgaria. One year later, in April 2025, she won the silver medal in the women's 81kg event at the 2025 European Weightlifting Championships held in Chișinău, Moldova. The latter result was all the more surprising, coming after breaking a foot in August 2024, and then tearing a shoulder muscle at a training camp in January 2025. She was given the all-clear to compete by her doctor, but only after her coach Bieke Vandenabeele took instructions on how to replace a dislocated shoulder “just in case”.
Achievements
Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank 1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank European Championships 2024 Sofia, Bulgaria 81 kg 97 100 103 123 125 125 — — — 2025 Chișinău, Moldova 81 kg 98 101 104 5 128 128 134 238 NR
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