Frederik Van Lierde organizes European Triathlon Championships in Menen

Frederik Van Lierde: “It’s nice to know that I became European Champion 16 years ago and I have to admit: as an athlete you don’t think about what it entails. So it’s fantastic to organize, of course. But there is a lot involved and I will be happy if everything goes really well.”

A total of 1860 participants from 35 different countries will compete in three different competitions: aquatlon, aquabike and triathlon. “Tomorrow is the aquatlon. That is 1,000 meters of swimming and 5 kilometers of running. And then on Sunday it is triathlon and aquabike middle distance. In fact, that means that people will swim 1,900 meters, cycle 90 kilometers and then run 21 kilometers for the triathletes. And then the aquabikers do the same minus the running.”

Among the juniors, Ilio Kopriva is one of the eye-catchers. He previously won a bronze medal at the World Cup and is ambitious at the start. “Of course I’m looking forward to it. It’s a bit of a dream of mine to maybe hear the Brabançonne when I win, in my own country. That would be a good result.”

Let’s wait and see how often we will hear that Brabançonne in Menen.