Limburg-born Clijsters continued her remarkable comeback this year with a victory at the Australian Open in January, claiming the top spot in the WTA world rankings before injuries forced her to pull out of Wimbledon and the US Open. She has announced that she will retire for good next year, either after the Olympic Games or after the US Open later in the summer. It is Clijsters’ eighth Sportswoman of the Year award, making her the joint record holder with judo’s Ingrid Berghmans.

Gilbert, the third-place sprinter in this year’s Tour de France, also won the Amstel Gold Classic in southern Holland, the Flèche Wallonne and the Liège-Bastogne-Liège. A member of Flanders’ Omega Pharma-Lotto team, he topped this year’s UCI WorldTour Ranking, was crowned IG Markets Pro Cycling Index Rider of 2011 and was named Flandrien of the Year by his fellow cyclists for the third year in a row.

Other winners of the annual awards were Flemish decathlete Thomas van der Plaetsen as Most Promising Athlete; the 400m men’s team for Team of the Year; hand cyclist Wim Decleir as Para-olympian of the Year; and athletics coach Jacques Borlée – father of runners Jonathan, Kevin and Olympic silver medallist Olivia Borlée – as Coach of the Year.