Belgium at the 2018 Winter Paralympics facts for kids

Belgium sent people to compete at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. These games are a big sports event for athletes with disabilities from all over the world. The Belgian team had three skiers. They were Jasper Balcaen, Eléonor Sana, and her guide skier Chloé Sana.

Team Belgium at the Paralympics

Belgium sent three athletes to Pyeongchang to compete in para-alpine skiing. The team included Jasper Balcaen, Eléonor Sana, and her guide skier Chloé Sana. Eléonor Sana was the first Belgian athlete to qualify for the games. She was chosen to be the flag bearer at the Opening Ceremonies. This means she carried her country's flag during the big parade. Sana said, "This will be a unique moment in my life and I will try to enjoy it as much as possible."

The table below shows the members of "Team Belgium" who participated in the 2018 Games.

Medals and Rewards

Winning a medal at the Paralympics is a huge achievement. In Belgium, athletes who win medals also receive money from the government. A gold medal winner gets €25,000. A silver medal is worth €15,000. If an athlete wins a bronze medal, they receive €10,000. The coaches of these winning athletes also get 10% of the amount given to the sportsperson.

Para-alpine Skiing

Para-alpine skiing is a sport where athletes with disabilities ski down mountains. They compete in different races like downhill, slalom, and giant slalom.

Belgian Skiers

Eléonor Sana has been blind since she was born. She started skiing when she was a child. She began competing in ski races three years before the 2018 Games. Her sister, Chloé Sana, is Eléonor's guide skier. Guide skiers help visually impaired athletes navigate the course. They use a microphone and a headset in their helmets to talk to each other. This helps Eléonor know where to go.

Eléonor and Chloé won two medals at the 2017 World Championships. They earned a silver and a bronze medal. Competing in ski races can be very expensive. There isn't much sponsorship for para-athletes in Belgium. Chloé said this can make it hard to compete. Before the 2018 Games, Chloé hoped to win a medal. She was also very happy just to be going to Pyeongchang.

Marine Antoine also traveled with the Sana sisters to South Korea. She was a reserve guide. This meant she was ready to step in if Chloé had an accident or injury.

Jasper Balcaen competed in the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi. He finished twenty-ninth there. For the 2018 Games, he wanted to do much better. His goal was to finish in the top ten. After being chosen for the team in January 2018, he shared his feelings. He said, "I am happy and honored to be able to defend my country for the second time at the winter games. The road to this selection was not always easy and would have been impossible without my family and my 2 trainers Gustav & Mark Scorgie. The selection is the result of Teamwork. I hope this shows that no dream is impossible as long as you keep believing in it!" Jasper trains in Stubaital, Austria. He can do this because of financial help from Ligue Handisport Francophone.

Race Schedule and Training

Skiers had practice runs for the downhill race on March 7. However, their practice runs for downhill on March 8 and 9 were cancelled.

The first para-alpine event was the downhill race. It started on March 10, from 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM. The next event was the Super-G. All skiers raced between 9:30 AM and 1:00 PM on March 11. The super combined race took place on March 13. The Super-G part was in the morning, and the slalom part was in the afternoon.

The slalom event began on March 14 and finished on March 15. Women and men raced during the same morning sessions. In the afternoon, women did their second run first, followed by the men. The final para-alpine skiing race of the 2018 Games was the giant slalom. It happened on March 17 and 18. Men and women raced at the same time in the morning sessions. In the afternoon, women raced first, with men starting about half an hour later.

Race Results

Belgian skier Eléonor Sana, who is classified as B2 (meaning she has severe visual impairment), won a bronze medal. She earned it in the women's downhill vision impaired race.

Men

Women

Athlete	Event	Run 1			Run 2			Run 3			Total
		Time	Diff	Rank	Time	Diff	Rank	Time	Diff	Rank	Time	Diff	Rank
Eléonor Sana	Downhill, visually impaired	1:36.96	+5.46	4|colspan=6 style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A	1:31.60	+1.88
	colspan=9 style="background: #ececec; color: grey; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="table-na" | N/A	1:36.00	+5.83	4

See also

In Spanish: Bélgica en los Juegos Paralímpicos de Pyeongchang 2018 para niños