When Jef Scherens later turned out to be a very fast sprinter with a cat-like final jump, that nickname was given existence.

From the age of five until the end of WWI, young Jef stayed with his family near Bordeaux, where he learned to speak French.

His qualities as a sprinter did not go unnoticed and the team's president Edward Van Hove, offered him a contract to compete in a sprint competition at the Brussels Sports Palace.

In 1932, Scherens competed in the world championship in Rome and faced the Frenchman Lucien Michard in the final.

Michard was chosen and Scherens, with his famous spurt, won the title of world champion.

He subsequently won the world track championships five times: in 1933 in Paris, in 1934 in Leipzig, in 1935 in Brussels, in 1936 in Zurich and in 1937 in Copenhagen.

[3] Scherens also won numerous Grand Prix in various countries, breaking records at all the major velodromes in Europe.

Since 1963, the Grote Prijs Jef Scheren has been held in his honour in Leuven, the place where he died in 1986.