Pieter Gysel came closest to the podium with his ninth place finish in the 1500m short-track skating event. But, despite promising to do better in other events, he failed to make it out of the heats in the 1000m and only reached the quarter-finals in the 500m.

This year’s Belgian flag-bearer, 2009 European Figure Skating bronze medallist Kevin Van der Perren, wearing an eye-catching skeleton outfit, came 12th in the short programme, but fell to 17th in the free skating part of the event.

In the women’s slalom, Karen Persyn came 27th but said she was happy to finish in the top 30. In the men’s slalom, Jeroen Van den Bogaert trailed in 42nd and Bart Mollin skied off course and did not finish his run. Belgians are talking, though, about bobsleigh duo Elfje Willemsen and Eva Willemarck. Considering they only tried the sport for the first time two-and-a-half years ago, a 14th place proved surprising and exciting for the women and the rest of the country.

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