Doctors recommend medical screening for 20km of Brussels

Medical screening of each participant before a mass sporting event should be mandatory, according to Pedro Brugada, heart specialist at UZ Brussel, and sports doctor Chris Goossens, following Sunday’s death by heart failure of one of the runners of the 20km of Brussels.

"People overestimate themselves and underestimate the race," said Goossens. “In France, you are only allowed to participate in such an event if you pass the medical screening beforehand. It is high time that Belgium also required that.”

According to Brugada, the number of participants is a problem. “More than 40,000 people running through the streets at once; that's too much, too dangerous. It's really irresponsible to allow them all to run without prior screening and thorough preparation.”