Moroccan pride in Belgium: Sara Chaari becomes the first woman in a hijab to win a historic award

After an exceptional season...

Sarah Chaari has made history. The 21-year-old Belgian taekwondo fighter of Moroccan descent has been handed Belgium's National Sports Merit Award for 2026, the first taekwondo athlete ever to claim the honour, recognition for a run of results that swept across Europe and the world.

Belgian channel "Star Sports" reported that Chaari picked up the award after an exceptional season. She won the European Championship title in the under-73kg category in Munich, then added gold at the World Open Championship in Taiwan.

Few fighters her age carry a record like it. Two world championship titles sit on her CV already, the first in 2022 in the under-62kg category, the second in 2025 at under-73kg, and they explain why she is now counted among the sport's leading global names.

Paris 2024 brought her a bronze medal in the under-67kg competition. She had already taken the European Championship that same year in the same weight category, and before that came gold at the 2023 European Games in the under-62kg division.

Dating back to 1928, the National Sports Merit Award goes to a Belgian athlete or team for exceptional achievements. Nobody can win it twice.

A judging panel of 14 members chose Chaari for the 2026 edition. Former champions and prominent figures in Belgian sport made up the group, seven of whom had received the award themselves.

Women have dominated the roll of honour of late. Cyclist Lotte Kopecky took it in 2024, basketball player Emma Meesseman followed in 2025, and now the champion of Moroccan descent keeps the run going while adding a new chapter to a remarkable career.