The ROYAL RACING CLUB DE BRUXELLES (RRCB) can be described as a pioneering club for athletics and sport in Belgium. It was founded on the heights of the Koekelberg plateau in 1891 by a group of sporting friends, and was one of the founding clubs of the Ligue Royale Belge d’Athlétisme (LRBA) in 1912.

In 1903, its activities, which at one time also included soccer and cycling, were moved to the Vivier d’Oie in Uccle.

From the very first athletics championships, the RRCB included several Belgian champions and record holders, including Jean Konings, who took part in the 1908 London Olympic Games in the 100m.

However, Racing faced increasing competition from new clubs in the capital (Union Saint Gilloise, Daring, Excelsior) and Antwerp (Beerschot, Antwerp) in the 20/30s, and it was not until the late 30s that it reached new heights, thanks in particular to Louis Van Hoof (who later became president) and Julien Diamant.

The real “golden age” of the RRCB was between 1947 (the year interclubs were created) and the end of the 50s, during which our club accumulated national titles in both interclub and individual events. The names of such remarkable champions as Bourgaux, Brancart, Schwartz, Delelienne, Denis, Dayer, Verhas and Van Zeune, and above all Roger Moens, who will forever remain the jewel in the RRCB’s crown, will live long in our memories. He became world record-holder in the 800m in 1955 in Oslo (1.45.7 on asphalt!) and, having moved on to Vlierzele in the meantime, came^2nd in the 800m at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.

Having moved to the renovated Stade des Trois Tilleuls in 1953, the RRCB continued to enjoy great success thanks to athletes such as Jacques Pennewaert and Henri Clerckx, both Olympic finalists. After a dull 65/70 period, the RRCB continued to enjoy success, thanks in particular to Anne-Marie Pira, multiple recordwoman and Belgian champion, the late Jean-Pierre Borlée, his brother Jacques and several other Belgian champions. This revival was crowned in 1977 by a^3rd place finish in the men’s interclubs.

Since then, for both the men’s and the women’s sections created in the second half of the 70s, it has become difficult to recapture the glory days of the past. As the number of clubs has multiplied, so has the competition. Recruiting young people has become more difficult, not least because of the growing number of sports on offer to the younger generation and the development of leisure sports.

Nevertheless, at the beginning of this century, the club underwent a revival with the advent of athletes from its Youth School. As a result, the club can boast a number of national titles won by these athletes, including a European junior title in 2009 for Anne Zagré.

In 1986, a cross-country running section was created, the “Groupe Allure Libre”(RCB-GAL), followed in 2000 by a triathlon section, the RCBT.

Realistic in its ambitions, the RRCB remains convinced that it can continue to offer an attractive physical and mental development activity for the youngest, as well as high-level support for the most ambitious athletes.

All the best to the Royal Racing Club de Bruxelles of the ^21st century!