Najim Laachraoui was one of two suicide bombers in the March 22 Brussels airport attacks that took the lives of seventeen victims. Two months later, his younger brother, Mourad Laachraoui, won the gold medal for the 54 kilogram weight class at the 2016 European Taekwondo Championships in Switzerland.
Belgium-based Mourad Laachraoui, whose parents immigrated from Morocco, was named among the 185 athletes on the Belgium squad for the Rio 2016 Olympics after meeting the qualification standards in 2015.
According to NBC Sports, Laachraoui is one of three candidates for the U-58 kg spot to represent Belgium in this year’s Olympics. His main competitor is Si Mohamed Ketbi, who has been struggling to maintain his weight and thus may not be named as Belgium’s representative in Rio De Janeiro.
Dubbed as “Europe’s king of the lightweights” by the Flemish Taekwondo Federation after last week’s victory, the younger Laachraoui brother has proven himself worthy of the ticket to Rio. Experts and media outlets speculate that he has secured his spot on Belgium’s 2016 Olympic team.
Najim Laachraoui, on the other hand, was born in Morocco and raised in Belgium where he studied engineering and electromechanics. He used his knowledge and intelligence to become an expert bomb-maker for ISIS. He lost contact with his family when he left for Syria in 2013 to become an Islamic jihadist. Prosecutors have linked him to November’s Paris attacks, believing he made the suicide vests that were used.
At the press conference after his brother’s suicide bombing, Mourad Laachraoui expressed his shock and disappointment, claiming he had been a nice and intelligent guy. "I was moved and stunned. I didn't want to believe it was him, but you can't choose your family," said the champion.
Mourad Laachraoui’s lawyer Philippe Culot commented, "It's crazy, really - the same parents, the same upbringing, and one turns out really well and the other really bad."
Nonetheless, Mourad Laachraoui refuses to distance himself from his heritage. Le Soir reports that he has refused to change his last name despite being advised to do so.