Belgium’s Nele Gilis has won the Female Athlete of the Year award after winning the final round of voting on the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee (Team Belgium) Facebook page.

The 27-year-old enjoyed a spectacular 2023, capped by a rise to a career-best World No.4 ranking in November of this year.

Belgium’s top squash player also finished the year with three major pieces of silverware. In August, Gilis won the European Individual Championship before capping the year with two titles on the PSA World Tour; the Gold-level Singapore Open and the Silver-level New Zealand Open.

Gilis, who was up against boxer Oshin Derieuw and figure skater Loena Hendrickx, finished with 43.8% of the public vote, narrowly beating Hendrickx (42.3%).

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