Tine Deckers

Tine created a landmark that nobody will ever be able to take away from her when she became the first Belgian woman to win an IRONMAN event, in France in 2009.

Not content with that iconic moment though, she has since returned to win the event a further four times (2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016). She was still showing her love for the Nice event in 2019 as she finished second. Her fondness for hilly courses was also displayed by her Alpe d’Huez victory in 2017.

To add to her successes over full IRONMAN distance, Deckers was a winner in 2017 and second in 2019 at Embrunman. She has a string of 70.3 wins to her credit as well.

Tine has been a model of consistency since taking up triathlon back in 2005 and turning professional three years later in 2008. Her CV includes multiple qualifications for the World Championship at Kona with a best finish of 12th in 2011.

She arrived on the Big Island in great shape in 2018 and was hoping to finally claim that elusive top-10 spot. But even her best time yet in the event (9:17:21) was not enough to achieve that in a red-hot field as she eventually placed 21st.

Deckers’ toughness and determination were displayed in full when she trained right through to the final day before her son Finn arrived in June 2013, and then returned just six weeks later.

Nine weeks after Finn’s birth Tine was riding the Hannibal Mountain Challenge (2300km through the eight Alpine states in 13 stages), and four months after she was back in 70.3 competition with a fourth in Lanzarote.

Away from the triathlon course Tine is keen that her legacy will be a good one and she acts as an ambassador for Giving Back, which looks to provide a better future for disadvantaged children and young people.