Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen heads into next weekend's European Olympic Distance Triathlon Championships Istanbul in the form of her life. A WTCS career-best fourth in Hamburg, silver in the Tiszaujvaros World Cup, and a European Sprint Championship title in Melilla, have set the stage. But at the same time, several 2025 performances have continued to be shaped by a race that should have been the crowning moment of last year: a crash on the slippery Paris 2024 bike course, and then the fallout from a post-race interview that took on a life of its own.
“It just escalated so quickly,” she recalls of seeing her words about the Seine water quality twisted, amplified and spread into newspapers the world over. “I never said I wished I swam in cola – I joked it wasn’t like Sprite or Coke when they asked about how the water tasted. But by the time it went through translations, it was like I was mad and exaggerating. I cried the next day. That wasn’t the image I wanted for myself, or for the sport.”
Listen to the full interview on Apple, Spotify, YouTube and Amazon.
Vermeylen is honest about still learning how to handle those moments since her instinct has always been to wear her heart on her sleeve. “If I’m suffering, you’ll see it on my face. I don’t have a poker face. Maybe I should – but I’d rather be authentic. The danger is, of course, sometimes the words come out before I think them through!”
That authenticity is also what has made her a fan favourite, and one of the most engaging voices in the sport. Her enthusiasm is infectious, whether talking about racing through castles in Melilla, learning to corner in the rain, or her beginnings as a triathlete that go back to a family holiday in Corfu.
“I borrowed the Brownlee brothers’ book Swim, Bike, Run from a friend and read it on the beach,” she smiles. “I went for some little runs, sometimes even in sandals, and thought, ‘I want to try this.’ By the end of that summer, I did my first triathlon. My dad found me a bike – it had to be red, that was the only condition – and that was it.”
The journey from swimmer to Olympian wasn’t straightforward. She kept swimming for another year, dabbled in triathlon “for fun”, and taught while trying to combine sport with work. But Belgium’s small international squad meant opportunities were both precious and, when they did come, they were firmly in the limelight, including a baptism by fire at WTCS Abu Dhabi. Role models like Claire Michel and Valerie Barthelemy helped her find her way.
“They were so patient. I really had no clue at the start, even with simple things like finding the race briefing. I’m very grateful for them. I spoke to Valerie after Hamburg, she is amazing. I still love talking to her.”
Shortly after that Melilla win, the Brownlee connection came full circle. “In Toronto I was in the same team as Johnny. I told him the book story at breakfast and he was like, ‘Is it true? You made my week!’ To think that reading his book on holiday changed my whole life, and then I got to race with him… that was really special.” Clearly inspired, Vermeylen went on to win the 2025 supertri opener.
Paris, though painful, has given her perspective. “I was proud to be in the front pack before I crashed. I just wanted to finish as well as I could. Of course it hurt afterwards, but I’ve realised it’s not the only race that defines you. Triathlon gives you so many chances – WTCS, Europeans, Super League, T100 – I want to explore them all and just keep progressing as an athlete.”
She still trains with youngsters who can push her in every discipline, and jokes that in training she rarely looks world-class. “I’m not a great trainer,” she admits. “But throw me in a race and something changes. I just love it.”
With the European Championships in Istanbul and the WTCS finale still to come, Vermeylen is very much in the mix at the top of the sport. The Paris crash and media storm may have been setbacks, but they haven’t dimmed her outlook. “Do it with passion or not at all,” she says. “That’s how I want to race. That’s how I want to live this career.”
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