Brother of Brussels bomber will compete for Belgium at Rio Olympics

After winning Europe's taekwondo championship, Mourad Laachraoui is Rio-bound for the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he'll represent Belgium. 

But that's just the beginning of this story. 

Mourad once had an older brother named Najim Laachraoui. Two months ago, Najim was one of three suicide bombers who attacked the Belgian capital of Brussels and killed 32 victims. Najim also allegedly helped make bombs for last November's attacks in Paris, which left 130 dead.

Now Mourad is headed to the Olympics.

Thursday night in Montreux, Switzerland, Mourad Laachraoui beat Jesus Tortosa of Spain to win Europe's taekwondo championship in the 54-kilogram (119-pound) division. Laachraoui's win qualifies him for this summer's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the AFP reports.  

The Belgian Olympic team's Twitter account posted a message of support for Laachraoui this week.

Two months ago, the Belgium government declared a period of national mourning after Najim Laachraoui and two accomplices blew themselves up and killed 32 others in the name of Islamic extremism. 

Najim, who was 24 at the time of the attack, was the eldest of five Laachraoui children, The New York Times reported after the March bombing. The Laachraoui children were raised primarily in Brussels, the Times reported, after their parents immigrated from Morocco. But Najim absconded to Syria in 2013, and reportedly stopped communicating with his family.

"When we were younger we were close, but as I became more passionate about sport we grew apart," 21-year-old Mourad said of his brother in a press conference after the Brussels attack.

"Our family has the same questions you all have," Mourad said in March. "He used to be a nice intelligent guy. I couldn't believe it."

Mourad said then he was "ashamed and sad" of what his brother had done. Now he gets a chance to represent Belgium with pride and dignity in Brazil this summer.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable