Since I was a little kid I told my parents I wanted to become a "sportsman". After testing and combining multiple sports - such as basketball, karate, swimming and tennis - a sports teacher convinced me to try track & field. Well known growth pain initially pushed me into the throwing events, but after a few years I discovered the world of jumping and running. Six years after my first steps on the track, I borrowed some spikes and participated at a local meet. Since that moment the athletics-virus infected my mind and body. "

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In 2006, I grabbed my first national title in the combined events. Ever since, I had grown ambitions for taking the next step, competing against the best of the best. A couple of years later (in 2011) I had a breakthrough season and became 9th in my first major championship (EC U23 in Ostrava). Later on, I scored even better with a 4th place at the summer Universiade in Shenzhen. In 2012, I got the honour to compete against the world's best decathletes at the prestigious decathlon in Götzis. During this competition, I competed at the side of Hans Van Alphen and witnessed the current national record. This was an eye opening and inspiring event that motivated me to keep focussing on progress.   Unfortunately after 2012 I couldn't line up at a single decathlon because of various injuries. After a thorough evaluation I took a drastic decision to focus on my best event: the long jump. Furthermore, I graduated from two master degrees at the Ghent University (MSc. Sports Science & MSc. Business Economics) and started cooperating with the Athletics federation as a "youth elite athletes coach".    After one year of training I jumped towards a double national title and qualified for my first two international championships as a long jumper. I got 9th place during the 2015 European indoor championships in Prague and managed a 6th place during the summer Universiade in Gwangju. This sounds the start of a new chapter of my sports career with the same ambitions of the previous one. ​ Parallel to my adventure as an athlete, my coaching career started rolling. During the 2015 summer season one of my athletes, Jorg Vanlierde, scored a silver medal at the U18 European Championships. Two years later Daniel Segers took the gold medal at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Györ. Result of an athlete-centered approach where I try to leverage the youth talent feeded by my own experience and study.

CEDRIC NOLF

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