Belgian-Moroccan Taekwondo Champion Wins Belgium’s Top Sports Award
The Belgian-Moroccan double world taekwondo champion and medical student Sarah Chaâri has been named the 2026 National Sports Merit Trophy winner. It is a historic first for her sport, recognized by a jury that included several Belgian sports legends.
Between medical school in Brussels and taekwondo training in Charleroi, Sarah Chaâri still finds time to collect international medals. At 21, the daughter of a Moroccan father and a Belgian mother has added another distinction to her record: the 2026 National Sports Merit Trophy, one of Belgium’s most prestigious sports awards. She is the first taekwondo representative to win the prize, which has been awarded for nearly a century.
The jury, which met on Thursday, 15 October, at Brussels City Hall, praised not only her performances on the mat. It particularly highlighted her ability to pursue demanding university studies while competing at the highest level worldwide. The young athlete has been following this path for several years at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB).
This double life requires rigorous organization. Before the Paris Olympic Games, Sarah was already juggling classes and training from Monday to Friday, usually from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Her academic record showed the same determination: while preparing for her medical school entrance exam, she devoted several extra hours on Saturdays to mathematics. She then passed her university exams before leaving to compete at the Games.
Her progress on the mat was just as rapid. In 2022, at just 17, she became world champion in both the junior and senior divisions, a historic double in her sport. Two years later, she won Olympic bronze in Paris in the under-67 kg category.
A new honor after an exceptional year
The year 2026 has further bolstered her record. In May, Sarah Chaâri won the European Championships in Munich in the under-73 kg category. In late August, she took gold at the World Women’s Open Championships in Taiyuan, China. These victories follow her second world title, won in October 2025 in Wuxi.
Fourteen Belgian sports figures took part in the deliberations to select the National Sports Merit Trophy winner. They included legendary cyclist Eddy Merckx, former table tennis world champion Jean-Michel Saive and former gymnastics champion Nina Derwael.
“It doesn’t come naturally, but she does it very well,” Jean-Michel Saive said of her dual career in sport and university. The former world No. 1 also considers Sarah Chaâri an important athlete for Belgium’s Olympic ambitions in Los Angeles in 2028.
The award has one special feature: it can be given to the same athlete only once in their career. Sarah Chaâri succeeds basketball player Emma Meesseman, who received it in 2025, and joins a list of winners that includes Kim Clijsters, Remco Evenepoel and Nafissatou Thiam.
According to the Belga news agency, as reported by Circus Daily, the champion will officially receive her trophy from Princess Astrid of Belgium. The date of the ceremony has not yet been announced.
Until then, the Olympic medalist is pursuing two goals: her medical studies at ULB and preparation for the next major international competitions. After two world titles, several European titles and the bronze medal in Paris, Olympic gold is the one prize still missing. The Los Angeles Games in 2028 are her next major target.
