Elien Vekemans

Elien Vekemans (born 30 April 2001) is a Belgian pole vaulter. In 2024, she became the national record holder in the event.

Biography In 2018, she set a junior Belgian record of 4.25 metres competing in Oordegem. She won the bronze medal at the 2019 European Athletics U20 Championships in Borås. Later that month she set a new junior Belgian record of 4.26 metres whilst competing in Amiens.

In June 2023, she finished fourth competing for Belgium at the 2023 European Athletics Team Championships First Division in Silesia with a height of 4.50 metres. She won the silver medal at the 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships in Espoo, Finland behind Frenchwoman Marie-Julie Bonnin. She competed at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, placing 29th in qualifying with a 4.35 metres clearance but not reaching the final.

In July 2024, Vekemans broke the Belgian outdoor record with a 4.52 metres clearance at the Flanders Cup in Leuven, but was still 1 cm short of the overall Belgian record of Fanny Smets 4.53 metres clearance from 2021. In Krk, Croatia on 30 August 2024 she set a new national record height of 4.54 metres.

In Rouen on 25 January 2025, she increased her national record with a 4.56 metres clearance. She competed at the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, and progressed to the final finishing in the top-eight. In June 2025, she twice bettered the national record, clearing 4.61 metres at the Paavo Nurmi Games leg of the 2025 World Athletics Continental Tour in Turku, Finland and then 4.65 metres at the 2025 2nd Division European Athletics Team Championships in Maribor, Slovenia. She cleared 4.60 metres to win gold at the 2025 Summer World University Games in Germany.

She competed at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, in September 2025, without advancing to the final.

In August 2026, she competed at the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, England, placing joint-fourth overall.

Personal life Her brother Daan Vekemans is a professional footballer. Their parents emigrated to Austria in 2021 to open a hotel. She studied in the United States at and competed for the University of Oklahoma and the University of Arkansas. She later returned to study bioengineering at KU Leuven the city of Leuven located in the province of Flemish Brabant, Flemish Region, Belgium after a period of ill health.