Koen Naert

Koen Naert (born 3 September 1989) is a Belgian athlete who specializes in cross-country and long-distance running. Naert finished seventh at the 2015 Berlin Marathon and 13th at the 2015 Hamburg Marathon. In 2018, he won the gold medal in the marathon at the European Athletics Championships in Berlin with 2:09:51 for a championship record. His personal best of 2:06:56 comes from the 2023 Rotterdam Marathon, where he placed sixth. In 2020, he competed in the men's race at the 2020 World Athletics Half Marathon Championships held in Gdynia, Poland. As a marathon runner, he represented Belgium in 3 successive Summer Olympic Games, finishing in 22nd place in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 10th place in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and, after an offday, in 61st place in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.