Credit: Ievgenii Karanov, Chronicle.lu

On Wednesday 16 July 2025, Luxembourgish sprinter Patrizia van der Weken claimed victory at the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting held at Stade Naimette-Xhovémont in Liège, Belgium.

The 2025 edition of the Meeting International d’Athlétisme de la Province de Liège brought together around 150 athletes competing across fifteen disciplines, with Luxembourg’s national team represented in three of them.

Luxembourg’s Patrizia van der Weken delivered the best result, winning the women’s 100m final in 11.20 seconds, finishing 0.15 seconds ahead of her closest competitor, Lotta Kemppinen from Finland. In an interview with Chronicle.lu, van der Weken commented: “I had a couple of niggles, so my technique is a little off and I'm trying to work on that and I think it's way better than last times. So that's good. It's a bit chilly […] Windy, but not in the right direction. I think it's good [result]. I'm competing again on Saturday [19 July 2025]. Hope the conditions will be better. I've been very unlucky with conditions lately, but I think if I have a good day, good weather, good wind, I'll be back to very fast.”

Her compatriot Viktoria Rausch competed in the 110m hurdles, clocking a time of 13.24 seconds, just one hundredth of a second slower than the national record she set three weeks ago at the European Team Championships in Maribor, Slovenia.

“Actually, I came into this race not really good. I had a little niggle on my foot the whole week, so I wasn't really prepared for the race. So actually I'm super positively surprised,” said Viktoria Rausch. She added: “[The main goal for this season is] to run really good at nationals because that's a lot of points and that's going to be good for next season.” Like Patrizia van der Weken, she is set to compete again on Saturday 19 July 2025 in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, she told Chronicle.lu.

Another representative of the Grand Duchy, Charles Grethen, competed in the 1,500 metres event, finishing fifth with a time of 3:36.62. He was 1.70 seconds behind the winner, Ruben Querinjean of Belgium.

One of the most decorated athletes competing in Liège was Olympic champion, world champion and world record holder in the high jump, Yaroslava Mahuchikh. The Ukrainian cleared 1.91m on her second attempt. After failing at 1.94m, she raised the bar to 1.96m but was unable to clear it. Nevertheless, her 1.91m jump was enough to secure first place. Charity Hufnagel (USA) finished second with the same height but with more failed attempts.

“Honestly, I wasn’t aiming for anything big at this competition. I just wanted to work on my approach, but something didn’t go to plan,”  Mahuchikh told Chronicle.lu. She added: “In fact, I liked how I launched off at 1.96m. On the third attempt, it felt like I jumped really high, but I still need to bring that over the bar to clear it. On the second attempt, I basically knocked it off with my lovely calves. The next competition is already soon, on 19 July in London, and I think the result will be much better there.”

Among other notable results, Elise Vanderelst set a new Belgian national record in the women’s 5,000 metres, finishing with a time of 14:51.13.