HEIDI RAKELS

Photo: Stephan Vanfleteren

BIO

As a young girl I was passionate about gymnastics, but after a serious accident I switched to judo. At the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992 I won the bronze medal and I became Belgian champion 11 times.

Meanwhile, I also studied computer science. After my judo career, my passion went out to software programming. I worked as an independent software engineer for 10 years. In 2014, my partner, Eric Lafortune, and I founded the cybersecurity company Guardsquare. For 5 years I was CEO. We grew into a successful, international scale-up.

Now I am a sculptor. I make works of art in bronze, alabaster and clay.

"Vecht wel en zie niet om"

Abraham Lincoln

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count, it's the life in your years."