# Helena Ponette

Helena Ponette (born 3 February 2000) is a Belgian sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. She competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics as a 400 metres runner and as a member of the Belgian women's 4x400 metres and mixed 4x400 metres relay teams. She also participated at multiple World and European Athletics championships, indoor and outdoor, individually and as a member of the 4x400 metres relay teams. She was national champion in the women's 400 metres in 2023. Also at the time of 2024 Olympic Games, she was finishing her studies in medicine at KU Leuven, and starting internship in September 2024.

## Career

Ponette competed in the 4 x 400 m event at the 2021 European U23 Championships in Tallinn, Estonia. At the same event, she was selected for the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, but did not start.
In 2022, Ponette finished second at the 2022 Belgian Athletics Championships behind Naomi Van Den Broeck in the 400 m with a time of 51.93 s. She was the fifth Belgian to run faster than 52 s. She thus secured a place in the Belgian 4 x 400 m relay team for the World Championships later that year in Eugene, Oregon, U.S.A. Her international debut with the seniors Belgium 4 x 400 m relay team came at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon where the team finished 6th. Little more than a month later, she and the team finished 4th at the 2022 European Athletics Championships in Munich, Germany .
In 2023, she was a member of the Belgian 4 x 400 m relay team at the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary that finished 5th in the final. She also ran the 400 metres where she was eliminated in the heats but did run a personal best.
In 2024, at the World Athletics Relays in The Bahamas, she was on the team that qualified Belgium for the women's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. And later that same year, she was on the Belgian 4 x 400 metres women's relay team that won a bronze medal at the European Athletics Championships having anchored the team in the final.
At the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, she ran in the heats and final of both the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay and the women's 4 × 400 metres relay with the Belgium teams finishing 4th resp. 7th in the finals. Having also qualified individually for the women's 400 metres via the World Athletics Rankings, she finished 6th in her round 1 heat and was eliminated in the repechages but did set a new personal best of 51.46 seconds.
In March 2025, she ran the anchor leg of Belgium's 4×400 m mixed relay team that won a silver medal at the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands.

## Personal life

Her parents are physicians, so are her grandfathers. A younger brother is also a medical student as of 2024.

## International competitions

| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
| Representing Belgium ||||||
| 2022 | European Championships | Munich, Germany | 4th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:22.12 |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, Oregon, USA | 6th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:26.29 |
| 2022 | World Championships | Eugene, Oregon, USA | 10th | 4 × 400 m relay mixed | 3:16.01 |
| 2023 | European Indoor Championships | Istanbul, Turkey | 7th (sf) | 400 m | 53.07 |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 27 (h) | 400 m | 51.52 PB |
| 2023 | World Championships | Budapest, Hungary | 5th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:22.84 |
| 2024 | World Indoor Championships | Glasgow, Scotland | 4th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:28.05 |
| 2024 | World Relays | Nassau, The Bahamas | 1st (r) | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:26.79 |
| 2024 | European Championships | Rome, Italy | 11th (sf) | 400 m | 51.65 |
| 2024 | European Championships | Rome, Italy | | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:22.95 |
| 2024 | European Championships | Rome, Italy | 4th | 4 × 400 m relay mixed | 3:11.03 |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 14th (r) | 400 m | 51.46 |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 7th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:22.40 |
| 2024 | Olympic Games | Paris, France | 4th | 4 × 400 m relay mixed | 3:09.36 |
| 2025 | European Indoor Championships | Apeldoorn, Netherlands | 13th (h) | 400 m | 52.32 |

## Personal bests

Outdoor
* 200 metres – 23.65 (Oordegem 2022)
* 400 metres – 51.46 (Paris 2024)
Indoor
* 200 metres – 25.41 (Gent 2020)
* 400 metres – 52.31 (Istanbul 2023)