Desmet was born in Wilrijk, lives in Mechelen, and is the older sister of short track speed skater Stijn Desmet. When Stijn was scouted by Pieter Gysel, Desmet started short track speed herself.[1] Her partner is her coach and retired US long-track speed skater Joey Mantia.[2]
Desmet is a three-time Belgian all-round champion, and in 2018, she became this by winning all individual distances. Moreover, she holds the Belgian records for all distances.[3] At the 2019 European Championships, she took second place in the unofficial 3000m distance.
Desmet took silver in the 1000 meters at the 2021 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships. On 11 February 2022, Desmet took a historic bronze medal in the Women's 1000 metres at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, becoming the first Belgian woman to win a medal at a Winter Olympic Games in an individual event.[4]
In March 2025, she won the gold medal in the 1000 metres at the 2025 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Beijing, China.[5] In doing so, she became the first Belgian women skating world champion since Micheline Lannoy won golds in the pairs at the 1947 and 1948 World Figure Skating Championships together with her partner Pierre Baugniet, and the first in a speed skating event.
In February 2026, she became the first Belgian woman to have won two Winter Olympics medals, winning the bronze medal with the Belgian team, which also included her brother, in the mixed 2000 metre relay short-track speed skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, adding to the bronze medal she won four years before.[6] A month later the Belgian mixed relay team with Desmet and her brother took another bronze medal on a world stage coming in third in the 2000 m relay at the 2026 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Montreal, Canada.[7]
