1. The Belgian tradition in sports
2. From Belgium to London in no time
3. A small country with great sports infrastructures
4. Transport: everything within easy reach
5. Excellent healthcare
6. Training in weather conditions identical/similar to those in London.
7. A multicultural and multilingual society
8. Culture and entertainment
9. Food: the safest ingredients and some incredible haute cuisine
10. The financial aspect
1. The Belgian tradition in sports
Belgium has a long-standing tradition when it comes to sports. Our sports culture is evidenced by a long list of great sports personalities and numerous international sports events.
It is no coincidence that great athletes such as Eddy Merckx, Justine Hénin and two of the eight presidents of the IOC (Henri de Baillet-Latour and Jacques Rogge) are Belgians! The strong bond between Belgians and sports is also aptly illustrated by the long list of major sports events organised in Belgium. Antwerp is an Olympic city of course (1920), but more recently Belgium hosted numerous other international sports events such as:
- 7 times World Championship Cycling (since 2001)
- World Championships "Seniors under 23"
- World Championship for Young Horses and Riders 2006
- World Championship Artistic Gymnastics 2001
- European Championship Fending 2007
- European Championship Swimming 2007
- European Championship Volleyball for Women 2007
- European Championship Archery 2004
- European Championship hockey 2001, 2004
- European Championship Sailing 2002
- European Championship Judo 2000
- European Championship Football 2000
- etc
The annual Memorial Ivo Van Damme athletics event in Brussels is one of the IAAF Golden League events and has been awarded the international title of best athletics meeting of the year on several occasions. And thanks to our great (sports) entrepreneurship, Belgium has been chosen to organise the European Championship Football U21 in 2010, hopefully making it one of the favourites to host the Football World Championship in 2018!
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2. From Belgium to London in no time
The distance between Brussels (centrally located in Belgium) and London is only 350 km and it can be bridged by train in 1h51 minutes, by airplane in even less time: one hour.
- Eurostar high speed train
- Brussels South to London St Pancras International Station: 1h51
- Several daily return flights with
- VLM Airlines
Antwerp - London City Airport in 1h
Brussels -London City Airport in 1h15 - SN Brussels Airlines
Brussels - London Gatwick in 1h
Brussels - London Heathrow in 1h15
- VLM Airlines
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3. A small country with great sports infrastructures
When planning a successful multidisciplinary pre-games training, you need to find a location with all sports facilities in close proximity. Belgium’s great sports culture and the expertise of its sports federations have yielded a wonderful infrastructure of professional sports accommodations. Thanks to Belgium’s compact size, these are always within limited distance of your accommodations. Small is indeed beautiful if you are looking at it from a pre-Olympic point of view.
There are more than 40 high-quality sporting facilities specifically selected as training camps in Belgium for the preperation of the Olympic Games in London.
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4. Transport: everything within easy reach
Belgium does not only have some excellent sports infrastructures at your disposal. Thanks to its dense road network (the second most dense in the European Union) and train network (the densest in the EU), the facilities to practise various sports are always in the immediate proximity of your accommodations. This makes Belgium the ideal host country for a multidisciplinary sports training.
5. Excellent healthcare
In terms of healthcare, Belgium is one of the most developed countries worldwide with an international reputation for sports medicine. The Belgian population and other residents (such as pre-Olympic delegations!) benefit from our top-class health
network, infrastructures and technology. But they are not the only ones to do so: athletes from all over the world, such as
Ronaldo, Kaká, Filippo Inzaghi, Paolo Bettini, Fernando Redondo, etc. travel to Belgium to put their bodies in the capable hands of some of the best sports medicine practitioner’s world-wide.
38,000 doctors, 1 for every 250 inhabitants, 215 hospitals including the world-renowned Erasmus hospital (Brussels) and the academic hospitals of Leuven, Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent and Liège.
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6. Training in weather conditions identical/similar to those in London.
Belgium’s climate is quite similar to the climate in London, offering the same temperature, humidity and other climate aspects and making it the ideal country for any pre-Games training. And although the climate is identical to that in London, Belgium boasts better air conditions, with not much pollution and all the benefits of training in close proximity to healthy maritime air!
7. A multicultural and multilingual society
Many European and global organisations have chosen Belgium, and more specifically Brussels, as their location of choice for their headquarters. As the capital of Europe, Brussels hosts several European institutions and multinationals. Tens of thousands of foreign politicians, diplomats, civil servants, and businessmen enjoy Brussels as a safe and stable place to stay or live, with a well-established infrastructure and hotel accommodations that are equipped to welcome the world.
Belgium has three official languages. In comparison with other countries where more than one national language is spoken, many Belgians speak two or even three of the country’s official languages! Belgians have earned a reputation world-wide for their
comprehensive knowledge of international languages. The result is that visitors from all over the world encounter a hospitable environment in Belgium, where they can often express themselves in their own language. Brussels especially, as the capital of Europe, is a melting pot of different cultures: 45% of the population has a foreign nationality. Belgium thus can pride itself on an open, multicultural society that extends great hospitality and shows great tolerance to other cultures, nationalities and languages. The majority of Belgium’s population speak English and French, and you will often find that Belgians are quite familiar with other world languages!
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8. Culture and entertainment
Preparing for the Olympics means that you also will require a little rest and relaxation now and then, to relieve some of the tension of your training schedule. Time for some enjoyment in your host country. Belgium’s abundant culture offers several distractions for visiting athletes from all over the world.
Throughout history, Belgium has served as the centre of Europe, both literally as well
as figuratively speaking. As a prosperous crossroad, Belgium carved out a rich cultural heritage for itself. Culture cities, such as Bruges, Antwerp (the host city of the 1920 Olympics), Brussels, Ghent and Liège; pride themselves on their fantastic display of old architecture. A day trip to any of these cities is an excellent way to relieve some of the stress. In these cities, you can choose from a number of options, including some shopping in the fashion streets of Antwerp, or in the boutiques of the “Antwerp Six”, or admiring the masterpieces of Belgian painters such as Brueghel, Rubens, Van Eyck, Jordaens, Van Dyck, Ensor, Permeke and Magritte. If you are looking for other art forms, such as music, dance or sculpture, Belgian culture offers it too! One eye-catcher among Belgium’s impressive array of museums, which athletes will surely appreciate, is Sportimonium, an entire museum dedicated to Belgium’s sports history. And for those visitors, who are in search of some lighter forms of entertainment, they can always find it within close proximity of their accommodations!
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9. Food: the safest ingredients and some incredible haute cuisine
Belgium has quite a reputation when it comes to food, with the same number of Michelin star restaurants per capita as the Michelin country par excellence, France. But Belgium’s culinary reputation is not only built on our world-renowned haute cuisine and Michelin-star restaurants. We also have a wonderful heritage of homemade traditional products, such as pastries, chocolates, cheeses,
and of course, our world-famous Belgian beers.
These delicious traditional products are the true exponents of a food culture, which attaches enormous importance to the quality of its produce, something which athletic delegations visiting Belgium will undoubtedly appreciate. This importance is expressed in the undertakings of the FAVV (the Federal Food Safety Agency), a government agency that controls and inspects the whole food chain. As a result, Belgian food products are among the safest in the world. Foreign delegations will be surprised to learn that they can find all the ingredients that they need here in Belgian, but what’s more, they can also be sure that these are of top-notch quality!
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10. The financial aspect
Compared to its neighbours, Belgium is a cost-efficient choice in terms of transportation, the use of sports accommodations, hotel and restaurant expenses.
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