Elke Vanhoof

Elke Vanhoof
Vanhoof in 2014
Personal information
Born (1991-12-16) 16 December 1991 (age 34)
Mol, Belgium
Cycling career
SportCycling
DisciplineBMX racing
RoleRider
Medal record
Women's BMX racing
Representing  Belgium
European Championships
Gold medal – first place2015 ErpBMX racing
Silver medal – second place2017 BordeauxBMX racing
Silver medal – second place2022 DesselBMX racing
Bronze medal – third place2013BMX racing

Elke Vanhoof (born 16 December 1991) is a former Belgian female BMX rider. She represented her nation at international competitions.

Career

In 2014 Vanhoof won the European League BMX (since then renamed BMX European Cup [fr]) in the elite category . After that successful 2014 season, and with an eye on the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she joined the Belgian Armed Forces's elite athlete topsport program.

In June 2015, despite having posted the fastest run of the competition, Vanhoof missed out on a medal at the inaugural edition of the 2015 European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan due to a fall in the women's BMX final. Less than a month later she bounced back and won the gold medal at the European Championships in Erp, The Netherlands. At the end of July, she went on to compete in the time trial event and race event at the 2015 UCI BMX World Championships on home turf in Zolder, Belgium but failed to win a medal. She did renew her BMX European Cup [fr] title of 2014 winning it for the second year in a row.

In January 2016, Vanhoof tore the meniscus of her left knee in training but decided not to have surgery in order not to compromise her chances of going to the 2016 Summer Olympics. By reaching the final, semi-final and final resp. of the UCI BMX Racing World Cup events in Santiago del Estero (Argentina), Manchester (Great Britain) and Papendal (The Netherlands), she nonetheless managed to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics. At the Olympics, having qualified by for the final, Vanhoof got off to a good start but was hampered early in the race by a crash involving Frenchwoman Manon Valentino and then again impeded by a tumble from Dutchwoman Laura Smulders, and had to settle for 6th place.

Vanhoof missed five months of competition in 2019 after a fall in March during a training run in Verona, Italy for the UEC BMX European Cup event. The fall resulted in a difficult to recover from concussion and whiplash that forced her to miss the Belgian, European and World Championships that year and stopped her from scoring valuable ranking points for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

In July 2022, on home turf in Dessel, Belgium, and having been able to start training only three weeks before the Championships due to an elbow injury and having dealt with a corona infection a week and a half before the start, she finished second in the 2022 European BMX Championships beaten in the final only by the reigning world and Olympic champion Beth Shriever.

In June 2023, Vanhoof sustained three fractures to her spine in a fall during the 2023 UCI BMX Racing World Cup round in Papendal, The Netherlands that took her out of the European and World Championships for that year. Vanhoof returned to competition in September to ride the 2023 UCI BMX Racing World Cup rounds in Sarrians, France, and Santiago del Estero, Argentina, where she was however plagued by food poisoning.

Vanhoof started 2024 hoping to qualify for a third Olympics in a row. Those hopes were dented when in February, during the first leg of the 2024 UCI BMX Racing World Cup in Rotorua, New Zealand, she fell and broke the scaphoid bone in one of her wrists which required surgery to repair.

In December 2024 she announced her retirement from the sport as an athlete. In October 2026 however, Vanhoof announced a surprise comeback, not as a BMX rider, but as a track cyclist and that she had been selected by Belgian Cycling to represent her country at the 2026 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Shanghai, China as starter for the women's team sprint.

References

  1. ↑ "Elke Vanhoof wint European League BMX" [Elke Vanhoof wins European League BMX]. het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 18 July 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  2. 1 2 "My 2015: Looking back with European Champion Elke Vanhoof (BEL) on 2015". FatBMX The Bmx Network. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  3. ↑ "Elke Vanhoof is Europees kampioene BMX" [Elke Vanhoof is European BMX champion]. Sporza (in Dutch). 13 July 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  4. ↑ "Charlotte Green finished seventh on a challenging day for the Great Britain Cycling Team at the UEC European BMX Championships on Sunday". British Cycling. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  5. ↑ "'Niet denken. Doen!'" [‘Don’t think. Do!’]. De Standaard (in Dutch). 8 May 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  6. 1 2 "BMX'ster Vanhoof mag (met afscheurde meniscus) naar Rio" [BMX rider Vanhoof allowed to go to Rio (with a torn meniscus)]. Sporza (in Dutch). 21 May 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  7. ↑ "Elke Vanhoof 6e de la finale de BMX" [Elke Vanhoof 6th in the BMX final]. RTBF (in French). 21 May 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2026.
  8. ↑ "Na vijf maanden blessureleed koerst Elke Vanhoof tegen de tijd" [After five months of injury woes, Elke Vanhoof is racing against time.]. Belgian Cycling (in Dutch). 16 September 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
  9. ↑ "Elke Vanhoof verovert zilver op EK BMX in Dessel: "Dit is geen verloren goud, maar gewonnen zilver"" [Elke Vanhoof wins silver at European BMX Championships in Dessel: “This is not lost gold, but won silver”]. Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). 10 July 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
  10. ↑ "BMX'ster Elke Vanhoof loopt drievoudige breuk op aan wervelkolom: "Veel pijn"" [BMX rider Elke Vanhoof suffers triple fracture of spine: "A lot of pain"]. Sporza (in Dutch). 25 June 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
  11. ↑ "Elke Vanhoof roept hulp in om pechjaar met olympisch ticket af te sluiten: "Ik maakte mijn trainingsschema's zelf"" [Elke Vanhoof calls in help to end unlucky year with an Olympic ticket: "I made my training schedules myself"]. Sporza (in Dutch). 27 November 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
  12. ↑ "Elke Vanhoof, spécialiste de BMX, se fracture le poignet à cinq mois des Jeux Olympiques" [BMX specialist Elke Vanhoof fractures her wrist five months before the Olympic Games]. RTBF (in French). 12 February 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2026.
  13. ↑ "Tweevoudig olympiër Elke Vanhoof zet punt achter BMX-carrière: "Deze reis was buitengewoon"" [Two-time Olympian Elke Vanhoof ends BMX career: "This journey was extraordinary"]. Sporza (in Dutch). 9 December 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  14. ↑ ""Plottwist" rond Elke Vanhoof: anderhalf jaar na BMX-afscheid trekt ze naar WK baanwielrennen" ["Plot twist" surrounding Elke Vanhoof: a year and a half after retiring from BMX, she is heading to the Track Cycling World Championships.]. Sporza (in Dutch). 2 October 2026. Retrieved 5 October 2026.