What do Excelsior’s four European medallists reveal about Brussels athletics?
The City of Brussels scheduled a public reception at City Hall on 26 August for four Royal Excelsior athletes who won one silver and three bronze medals for Belgium at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.
In 30 seconds
- Saliyya Guisse won European triple-jump silver with a 14.46-metre performance.
- Delphine Nkansa took 100-metre bronze in a personal-best 11.06 seconds.
- Jana Van Lent won bronze in the women’s 10,000 metres.
- Amine Kasmi earned bronze with Belgium’s men’s 4x100-metre relay team.
The scheduled a public reception at City Hall on Wednesday, 26 August, for four Royal Excelsior Sports Club athletes who returned from the European Athletics Championships in with one silver and three bronze medals for Belgium. The gathering was announced for 17:00 in the Gothic Hall and opened to supporters, although no official post-event account confirming attendance or proceedings was publicly available when this article was prepared.
The four athletes cover an unusually broad stretch of the sport. Saliyya Guisse won silver in the women’s triple jump, Delphine Nkansa took bronze over 100 metres, Jana Van Lent earned bronze in the 10,000 metres, and Amine Kasmi received bronze as part of Belgium’s men’s 4x100-metre relay team. All belong to Excelsior, which trains at the on the Heysel plateau.
That concentration matters more than the ceremonial setting. Belgium finished the championships with four medals in total, meaning every Belgian medallist was connected to the same club. For residents, athletes and families in the capital, the result offers a visible example of how municipal facilities, club coaching and volunteer work can feed into elite European competition. It also gives the city a sporting identity distinct from Brussels’ better-known role as Belgium’s capital and the seat of major EU institutions.
Florence Frelinx, the City of Brussels’ first alderwoman responsible for sport, described one silver and three bronzes from athletes of a city-based club as “exceptional” and “an immense source of pride”. In the city’s framing, the honours belong not only to the competitors but also to Excelsior’s coaches, volunteers and administrators. BRUZZ reported that Frelinx’s office confirmed the reception and invited the wider athletics public to attend.
The performances themselves justify the attention. Atletiek Vlaanderen’s official Belgian results list records Nkansa’s bronze-medal time as a personal best of 11.06 seconds. The Memorial Van Damme organisers note that this left her only two hundredths of a second short of Kim Gevaert’s Belgian record and made her Belgium’s first European 100-metre medallist since Gevaert won gold in 2006. Nkansa is due to return to the same King Baudouin Stadium for the Diamond League final in early September.
Guisse produced the championship’s sharpest institutional subplot. Belgian Athletics’ original selection process did not include her, according to Belgian reporting, before an expanded team brought her to Birmingham. She then jumped 14.46 metres in the final and won silver. The result supports the federation’s eventual decision, but it also reopens a legitimate debate about qualifying standards: strict criteria control costs and demand consistency, while a broader selection can give late-developing athletes the chance to outperform rankings and forecasts.
Van Lent’s bronze over 10,000 metres showed a different route to the podium, built around endurance rather than explosive speed, while Kasmi’s relay medal underlined the collective precision required in the 4x100 metres. Together, the four results make Excelsior’s achievement more than a cluster produced by one specialist training group. The club also entered the summer as four-time defending champion of Belgium’s Super League interclub competition, according to BX1.
The broader European picture remains sporting rather than institutional. Birmingham brought together national teams from across Europe under European Athletics; the European Union itself neither organises the championships nor selects Belgium’s team. Brussels enters the story as a municipality supporting a local club, not as shorthand for the EU. The reception nevertheless illustrates how international results are converted into local recognition, public role models and arguments for sustained grassroots investment.
Where this is happening
View on map City of Brussels →Two readings can therefore coexist. City officials understandably present the medals as proof of a successful Brussels sporting community. Athletes and observers focused on Guisse’s late inclusion may instead see evidence that selection systems can miss competitive potential. The next tests will come quickly: the medallists’ performances at subsequent meetings, the debate over Belgian selection policy, and whether Excelsior can turn one exceptional championship into lasting participation and development at Heysel.
What to do
The City Hall reception was scheduled for 26 August 2026, so readers looking for photographs, speeches or confirmation that it took place should check subsequent City of Brussels or local-media updates. Anyone interested in joining or following the club can use Royal Excelsior’s base at the King Baudouin Stadium as the relevant local reference point. Athletics followers can also track the athletes through Belgian federation competition information. The supplied article gives no admission arrangements, ticket price or access details for the reception, so readers should not assume public entry without confirmation.
Impact
Regional — The result strengthens Excelsior’s position in Brussels sport and gives the City a concrete case for promoting athletics and supporting club infrastructure at Heysel.
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Voices & reactions
What the main actors are doing
Reported positions, summarised — not direct quotationsCity of Brussels and Excelsior community
Florence Frelinx and the City frame the four medals as a collective Brussels achievement, crediting not only the athletes but also the coaches, volunteers and administrators sustained by a city-supported club structure.
Athletes questioning restrictive selection
The circumstances of Saliyya Guisse’s late inclusion support a different emphasis: selection criteria and budget discipline may exclude athletes capable of outperforming forecasts. Her silver medal gives that constituency a concrete argument for greater flexibility.
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This story was assembled from verified evidence, with its sources and reasoning recorded as it was written.