Kevin Borlee bid an emotional farewell to athletics in front of his home supporters in the Brussels Diamond League on Saturday.
Borlee ran his last individual race in the invitational 400m on the Friday although fittingly, his last ever appearance in a competitive race was in the Belgian Championships 4x400m which preceded the main programme on the Saturday.
A stalwart of the Belgian 4x400m team for more than 15 years, Borlee accrued a plethora of medals as part of the Belgian Tornadoes - the nickname of the Belgian 4x400m team - including three European outdoor gold medals, bronze medals at the 2019 and 2022 World Athletics Championships and gold at the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships.
But Borlee was also an excellent individual 400m exponent, winning individual 400m gold at the 2010 European Athletics Championships as well as individual bronze in the 400m at the 2011 World Athletics Championships in Daegu.
After his last competitive appearance in the 4x400m, Kevin Borlee embarked on an emotional lap of honour with his twin brother Jonathan - another integral component of Belgium’s hugely successful 4x400m relay team in the 2010s who also held the Belgian 400m record with 44.43 earlier this season - who also announced his retirement earlier this year.
"It's been a difficult year, but I'm happy to end here. It wasn't an easy day, I knew it would end here. I don't really know what to say. I've always pushed myself to the limit in my career. I've never shied away from being an example. And if I've been able to inspire young people, so much the better. I certainly hope so," said an emotional Kevin Borlee as quoted by Sporza.be.
Borlee’s career spanned five Olympic Games and the 36-year-old made the Olympic 4x400m final in all five of his Olympic appearances between 2008 and 2024, finishing just out of the medals in fourth four times (2008, 2016, 2020, 2024) and fifth once (2012). He was also fifth in the individual 400m in 2012.
Another regular of Belgian 4x400m teams in recent years to retire at the Brussels Diamond League was Hanne Claes who bowed out after finishing fifth in the invitational 400m in 52.03.
Claes finished fourth in the 400m hurdles at the 2018 European Athletics Championships as well as fourth in the 4x400m at the 2018 and 2022 European Athletics Championships.
In the latter final, Claes was part of the Belgian team which set a still-standing national record of 3:22.12.