| The pictures above show a delighted Tia celebrating after clearing
2.05m in the final of the womens High Jump at the 2008 Olympic Games in
Beijing. Croatia's Blanka Vlasic also cleared the same height but when
both athletes failed at 2.07m it was Hellebaut who took the gold medal
on the countback rule. It was a fantastic performance from Tia on the
biggest stage of all and saw her become the first Belgian woman to win a
gold medal in Athletics at the Olympic Games. Indeed, it was only the
second medal of any colour and came just a day after the women's 4x100m
quartet had become the first ever Belgian women medalists! In December
2008 Hellebaut, who also won a gold medal at the 2006 European
Championships, announced that she was pregnant and retired from
professional athletics. |
| |
|
Women's High Jump Final.
2008 Olympic Games.
|
| 1. Tia HELLEBAUT |
|
BEL |
|
2.05m |
| 2. Blanka VLASIC |
|
CRO |
|
2.05m |
| 3. Anna CHICHEROVA |
|
RUS |
|
2.03m |
| 4. Elena SLESARENKO |
|
RUS |
|
2.01m |
| 5. Vita PALAMAR |
|
UKR |
|
1.99m |
| 6. Chaunte HOWARD |
|
USA |
|
1.99m |
| 7. Ruth BEITIA |
|
ESP |
|
1.96m |
| 8. Ariane FRIEDRICH |
|
GER |
|
1.96m |
| |
Photo George Herringshaw 3rd. March 2007. ©
| The pictures above on the left show Tia clearing 2.05m during the
final of the women's High Jump at the 2007 European Indoor Athletics
Championships in Birmingham. The clearance was a new Belgian national
record, a new championship record and also a world leading mark for
2007. Hellebaut comfortably won the gold medal, her nearest challengers
Antonietta di Martino, Venelina Veneva and Ruth Beitia all ending the
competition at 1.96m. |
| |
|
Womens High Jump Final.
2007 European Indoor Championships.
|
| 1. Tia Hellebaut |
|
BEL |
|
2.05m |
| 2. Antonietta di Martino |
|
ITA |
|
1.96m |
| 3. Venelina Veneva |
|
BUL |
|
1.96m |
| 4. Ruth Beitia |
|
ESP |
|
1.96m |
| 5. Blanka Vlasic |
|
CRO |
|
1.92m |
| 6. Melanie Skotnik |
|
FRA |
|
1.92m |
| 7. Anna Chicherova |
|
RUS |
|
1.92m |
| 8. Marta Mendia |
|
ESP |
|
1.87m |
| |
Tia Hellebaut is pictured above at the 2006 Grand Prix Final in Stuttgart, where she
finished in second place in the High Jump. A week later she represented Europe in the World Cup,
finishing in second place on the countback rule behind Yelena Slesarenko,
who was representing Russia.
| |
|
Women's High Jump.
2006 Grand Prix Final.
|
| 1. Kajsa Bergqvist |
|
SWE |
|
1.98 |
| 2. Tia Hellebaut |
|
BEL |
|
1.98 |
| 3. Venelina Veneva |
|
BUL |
|
1.98 |
| 4. Yelena Slesarenko |
|
RUS |
|
1.94 |
| 5. Amy Acuff |
|
USA |
|
1.94 |
| 6. Ruth Beitia |
|
ESP |
|
1.90 |
| 6. Anna Chicherova |
|
RUS |
|
1.90 |
| 6. Blanka Vlasic |
|
CRO |
|
1.90 |
|
|
|
Women's High Jump.
2006 World Cup.
|
| 1. Yelena Slesarenko |
|
RUS |
|
1.97 |
| 2. Tia Hellebaut |
|
EUR |
|
1.97 |
| 3. Amy Acuff |
|
USA |
|
1.94 |
| 4. Marina Aitova |
|
ASI |
|
1.94 |
| 5. Nicole Forrester |
|
AME |
|
1.94 |
| 6. Anna Ksok |
|
POL |
|
1.87 |
| 7. Persefoni Hatzinakou |
|
GRE |
|
1.83 |
| 8. Rene van der Merwe |
|
AFR |
|
1.83 |
| |
Photograph of Tia Hellebaut taken on 8th August 2006. by G.H. ˙©
| The left hand photo above shows a delighted Tia celebrating after
jumping a new championship record - and new national record - of 2.03m
to go into the lead at the at the 2006 European Championships in
Gothenburg. Bulgaria's Veneline Veneva also cleared the same height but
when neither athlete was able to improve the record Hellebaut took the
gold on the coutback rule. The right hand picture shows Tia sailing over
the bar during an earlier jump in the final. |
| |
|
Women's High Jump Final.
Euro Champs 2006.
|
| 1. Tia HELLEBAUT |
|
BEL |
|
2.03 CR |
| 2. Venelina VENEVA |
|
BUL |
|
2.03 =CR |
| 3. Kajsa BERGQVIST |
|
SWE |
|
2.01 |
| 4. Blanka VLASIC |
|
CRO |
|
2.01 |
| 5. Yelena SLESARENKO |
|
RUS |
|
1.99 |
| 6. Iryna MYHALCHENKO |
|
UKR |
|
1.95 |
| 7.=Yekaterina SAVCHENKO |
|
RUS |
|
1.95 |
| 7.=Anna CHICHEROVA |
|
RUS |
|
1.95 |
| |