Maellyse Brassart was born on 22 June 2001 in Uccle, and she began gymnastics when she was four years old.[1] She is studying law at the Université Saint-Louis Bruxelles, and she speaks French and English [2] as well as Dutch[3]. She trains at Belgium's national training center in Ghent.[4]
Junior career
Brassart made her international debut at the 2014 Top Gym Tournament where she finished tenth in the all-around.[5] In the event finals, she finished sixth on vault, ninth on the uneven bars, and seventh on the balance beam.[6]
2015
At the Belgian Championships, Brassart finished fifth in the all-around, and she won the gold medal on vault and the bronze medal on floor exercise.[7] She then competed at the Flanders International Team Challenge and helped the Belgian team win the silver medal behind Germany.[8] She finished 17th in the all-around with a total score of 51.650.[9] In September, she competed as a guest at the Romanian Championships and placed 18th in the all-around.[10] She then competed at the Elite Gym Massilia in Marseille and finished 14th in the all-around.[11] Her final competition of the season was the Top Gym Tournament where she finished 11th in the all-around. In the event finals, she finished 11th on vault, eighth on uneven bars and floor exercise, and 12th on balance beam.[12]
2016
Brassart first competition of the season was the International Gymnix in Montreal and she placed 29th in the all-around, and the Belgian team finished eighth.[13] She then competed at the Belgium Friendly and helped the Belgian team win the silver medal behind Romania.[14] Then at the Belgian Championships, she won the silver medal in the junior all-around.[15] She was then selected to compete at the Junior European Championships and helped the Belgian team finished eighth.[16] Brassart qualified for the all-around final and finished 14th.[17]
Senior career
2017
Brassart made her senior debut at the Belgian Championships where she finished second in the all-around behind Rune Hermans.[18] She then competed in the FIT Challenge where she once again won a silver medal in the all-around behind Hermans. In the team final, Belgium won the bronze medal behind Italy and France.[19] She was selected to compete at the World Championships in Montreal where she placed 25th in the all-around during the qualification round.[20]
2018
Brassart competed at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge in Stuttgart and helped the Belgian team win the gold medal.[21] Then at the Belgian Championships, she finished fourth in the all-around and won the silver medal on vault and the bronze medal on the floor exercise.[22] She then competed at the Heerenveen Friendly where the Belgian team finished fourth, and Brassart finished 13th in the all-around.[23] She was selected to compete at the European Championships alongside Nina Derwael, Senna Deriks, and Axelle Klinckaert, and they finished third in the qualification round.[24] However, the Belgian team withdrew from the team finals in order to preserve their health.[25] Brassart qualified for the balance beam final where she finished seventh with a score of 12.266.[26] Then at the Varsenare Friendly, the Belgian team won the gold medal, and Brassart finished fifth in the all-around and won the gold medal on the balance beam.[27] She was then selected to compete at the World Championships alongside Nina Derwael, Axelle Klinckaert, Senna Deriks, and Rune Hermans, and they finished 11th during the qualification round.[28]
2019
Brassart began her season at the International Gymnix where the Belgian team finished sixth, and she finished tenth in the all-around. In the event finals, she finished eighth on the uneven bars and sixth on the floor exercise.[29] She then competed at the European Championships and qualified for the all-around final where she finished 12th with a total score of 51.166.[30] At the FIT Challenge, she helped the Belgian team win the gold medal.[31] Then at the Worms Friendly, the Belgian team won the silver medal behind Germany and Brassart placed tenth in the all-around.[32] She was then selected to compete at the World Championships alongside Margaux Daveloose, Nina Derwael, Senna Deriks, and Jade Vansteenkiste and they finished tenth in the qualification round.[33] This result earned Belgium a team spot at the 2020 Olympic Games.[34]
2020-2021
In March 2020, Brassart competed at the International Gymnix in Montreal. The Belgian team won the silver medal behind the United States, and she finished 21st in the all-around. In the balance beam event final, she won the bronze medal behind American gymnast Faith Torrez and Australian gymnast Kate McDonald.[35] After the 2020 Olympic Games were postponed for a year, Brassart took a break from training. She resumed her training in April and began preparing for the 2021 season.[36]
Brassart competed at the 2021 FIT Challenge in Ghent and won the bronze medal in the all-around behind French gymnasts Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos and Aline Friess, and the Belgian team won the silver medal behind France.[37] In the event finals, she finished seventh on the balance beam.[38] She was selected to compete at the 2020 Olympic Games alongside Nina Derwael, Lisa Vaelen, and Jutta Verkest.[39] During the team finals, she competed on the vault and the balance beam, and the team finished in eighth place.[40] During the Olympics, a photo of Brassart and Derwael sitting in a split with tennis player Novak Djokovic went viral.[41]
2022
Brassart competed with the Belgian team that finished fifth at the City of Jesolo Trophy.[42] Individually, she finished seventh in the uneven bars final.[43] She then finished second behind Lisa Vaelen at the Belgian Championships.[44] In August, she competed at the European Championships in Munich, where she contributed to Belgium's fifth-place finish in the team final.[45] She qualified for the all-around final at the World Championships and placed 15th.[46]
2023
Brassart started the 2023 season at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge, helping Belgium win the team silver medal behind the United States.[47] Individually, she won a silver medal in the balance beam final.[48] Then at the European Championships, she finished fifth in the all-around final after qualifying for the final in last place.[49] She competed with the Belgian team that placed 17th in the qualification round of the World Championships in Antwerp.[50]
2024
Brassart began the season at the Cottbus World Cup where she won the bronze medal on the uneven bars- her first FIG World Cup medal.[51] Then at the Doha World Cup, she finished seventh on the uneven bars.[52] She then competed at the European Championships and placed tenth in the all-around. As the highest-placing all-arounder who had not previously qualified for the Olympics, she earned the continental quota for the 2024 Olympic Games.[53] At those Games, she finished 37th in the all-around, placing 24th in the uneven bars, 69th in balance beam, and 49th in floor exercise.[2]