Fresh off her stunning triumph at the European Running Championships in Brussels-Leuven, Belgium’s new distance-running star Chloé Herbiet is shifting her to European 10,000m Cup set for May 24 in Pacé, France.
The 26-year-old delivered a career-defining performance on home soil to capture her first major title in the women’s half marathon, igniting hopes of even greater achievements to come.
The streets of Leuven were lined with thousands of spectators on Saturday, April 13, as Chloé Herbiet surged to victory.
Outpacing teammate Juliette Thomas and a field stacked with seasoned competitors, Herbiet crossed the finish line to thunderous applause.
“I will remember this for a long time,” she reflected in the aftermath.
“I hope it’s a good push for the rest of the season, just the start of a big season for me.”
Herbiet now aims to build on her 10th-place finish at the Roma 2024 European Athletics Championships.
“I would like to do the European Cup in the 10k,” she stated.
“Then I would like to try for the World Championships in Tokyo for 10k by the rankings. The time is very hard to do,” she admits.
Her personal best of 32:15.24 shows promise, but she knows that margins at the elite level are razor-thin.
If the 10,000m doesn’t go to plan, Herbiet has another ambitious goal in her crosshairs—the national marathon record.
Set in 2002 by the legendary Marleen Renders, the time of 2:23:05 has stood unchallenged for over two decades. But after clocking 2:24:56 in Valencia last year, Herbiet is closing in.
“Maybe the marathon? I’m not sure,” she said.
“But I would like to break the Belgian record, and so you need a fast race, maybe Valencia in December?”
Her performance in Leuven wasn’t just about speed, but strategy.
“I worked every kilometre on the race for the adversaries’ tiredness and I put action, action, action into the race,” she explained.
“Finally, the last action was in the hills, and I saw the adversaries didn’t follow me. So that was my chance to go first, and I took the lead. It was a good opportunity to take the first place.”
With over 28,000 participants, the Brussels-Leuven 2025 event not only showcased top-level competition but also cemented the city’s growing culture of