Ilke Lagrou
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citizenship | Belgian | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 27 January 1998 | ||||||||||||||
| Home town | Torhout, Belgium[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Physiotherapist | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Country | Belgium | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Hammer throw, Weightlifting | ||||||||||||||
| Weight class | 81 kg | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Koninklijke Olympic Gent vzw[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Tom Goegebuer and Bieke Vandenabeele[2] | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Ilke Lagrou (born 27 January 1998)[3] started her athletics career as a Belgian hammer thrower but converted to become a weightlifter. She is a silver medalist at the European Weightlifting Championships. [4]
Career
Lagrou picked up hammer throwing at around the age of 12. Later she also competed in the heptathlon but the main focus remained on the hammer throw. She holds all four national titles in age categories U16 through U23 in the hammer throw.[2]
Sensing no more progress in her performances, she switched to weightlifting in September 2022 [1] and a mere 1.5 years later she surprised herself by picking up a bronze medal in the snatch at the 2024 European Weightlifting Championships held in Sofia, Bulgaria.[2] One year later, in April 2025, she won the silver medal in the women's 81 kg event at the 2025 European Weightlifting Championships held in Chișinău, Moldova.[4] The latter result was all the more surprising, coming after breaking a foot in August of 2024, and then tearing a shoulder muscle at a training camp in January of 2025. She was given the all-clear to compete by her doctor, but only after her coach Bieke Vandenabeele took instructions on how to replace a dislocated shoulder “just in case”.[5]
Achievements
| Year | Venue | Weight | Snatch (kg) | Clean & Jerk (kg) | Total | Rank | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Rank | 1 | 2 | 3 | Rank | |||||
| European Championships | ||||||||||||
| 2024 | Sofia, Bulgaria | 81 kg | 97 | 100 | 103 | — | — | — | ||||
| 2025 | Chișinău, Moldova | 81 kg | 98 | 101 | 104 | 5 | 128 | 134 | 238 NR | |||
References
- ^ a b c "Ilke Lagrou (26) mag eind dit jaar naar het WK gewichtheffen in Bahrein: "Een fysieke en mentale uitdaging"" [Ilke Lagrou (26) will be allowed to go to the World Weightlifting Championships in Bahrain at the end of this year: “A physical and mental challenge”]. kw.be (in Dutch). 21 February 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ a b c "Ilke Lagrou (26) in anderhalf jaar van het hamerslingeren naar EK-brons in het gewichtheffen: "Ik verklaar mezelf goed zot"" [Ilke Lagrou (26) from hammer throw to European weightlifting bronze in a year and a half: “I declare myself completely crazy] (in Dutch). Het Nieuwsblad. 21 February 2024. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ "Athlétisme - Ilke Lagrou". www.les-sports.info. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ a b "Straffe zilveren plak: Ilke Lagrou kaapt mét geblesseerde schouder 2e plek weg op EK gewichtheffen" [Impressive silver medal: Ilke Lagrou takes 2nd place at European Weightlifting Championships with an injured shoulder] (in Dutch). Sporza. 19 April 2025. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
- ^ "Chisinau Day 7: Karlos Nasar starts with world records at new weight – and Erighina wins landmark gold for hosts". International Weightlifting Federation. 19 April 2025. Retrieved 20 April 2025.
External links