Tia Hellebaut
Tia Hellebaut ( born February 16, 1978 in Antwerp) is a former Belgian high jumper and multi- fighter. She was 2006 European Champion and 2008 Olympic champion in high jump.
Hellebaut was heptathlete, before embarking on their best single discipline, the high jump, specialized. She holds the Belgian heptathlon record with 6201 points. In the 2004 Olympics she was twelfth in the high jump and at the 2005 World Championships she reached the sixth place. At the European Championships in Gothenburg in 2006, she won gold with a sensational skipped height of 2.03 m. Thus, they also improved the Belgian high- jump record. Also at the European Indoor Championships in 2007, she won the high jump competition. With 2.05 meters, it set a new Belgian indoor record.
At the World Indoor Championships 2008 Hellebaut started back in the all around and became world champion in the pentathlon. At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing Hellebaut surprisingly won the gold medal by jumping over the 2.05 m in the first attempt. Blanka Vlasic The favorite failed, however, even at this height, so they 2.07m only won the silver medal after three not successful jumps.
The end of 2008 Tia Hellebaut was the end of her career as a competitive athlete known and cited as their main justification pregnancy. In June 2009, she was the mother of a daughter. Surprisingly, it announced in February 2010 their return to competitive sports, but only as a high jumper and not in the all around. At the European Championships 2010 in Barcelona, she took fifth place with a height of 1.97 m skipped.
2011 Hellebaut was the second time mother. This time she returned to the sport. At the World Indoor Championships in 2012, she was fifth. Also at the Olympic Games in London, where they flag bearer for the Belgian team was at the opening ceremony, she reached the fifth place. According to the European Indoor Championships in 2013, where she was eighth, Hellebaut ended her sports career.
Tia Hellebaut is nearsighted and does not tolerate contact lenses. Due to an eye infection they therefore since 2005 also contributed to the sports glasses that became her trademark. In 2007, she campaigned for the products of a Belgian optics manufacturer. At a height of 1.82 m her competition weight was 62 kg.