Memorial Van Damme

The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it now serves as a final event of the Diamond League, along with Weltklasse Zürich between 2010 and 2019. In 2024 and 2026, Memorial Van Damme will serve as the sole final of the Diamond League.^[2]

Memorial Van Damme
Date	Late August – early September
Location	Brussels, Belgium
Event type	Track and field
World Athletics Cat.	GW/DF[1]
Established	16 August 1977; 47 years ago (1977-08-16)
Official site	Memorial Van Damme
2025 Memorial Van Damme

It was first organized in 1977 by a group of journalists in honour of Ivo Van Damme, a Belgian double medal winner at the Montreal Olympics who was killed the previous year in a car accident at the age of 22.^[3]

King Baudouin Stadium during the 2012 edition

Editions

Memorial Van Damme editions

Ed.	Meeting	Series	Date	Ref.
1st	1977 Memorial Van Damme		16 Aug 1977	[4][5]
2nd	1978 Memorial Van Damme		18 Aug 1978	[6]
3rd	1979 Memorial Van Damme		4 Sep 1979	[5]
4th	1980 Memorial Van Damme		22 Aug 1980	[5]
5th	1981 Memorial Van Damme		28 Aug 1981	[5]
6th	1982 Memorial Van Damme		27 Aug 1982	[6]
7th	1983 Memorial Van Damme		26 Aug 1983	[5]
8th	1984 Memorial Van Damme		24 Aug 1984	[5]
9th	1985 Memorial Van Damme	1985 IAAF Grand Prix	30 Aug 1985	[5]
10th	1986 Memorial Van Damme	1986 IAAF Grand Prix	5 Sep 1986	[5]
11th	1987 Memorial Van Damme	1987 IAAF Grand Prix	11 Sep 1987	[5]
12th	1988 Memorial Van Damme	1988 IAAF Grand Prix	19 Aug 1988	[5]
13th	1989 Memorial Van Damme	1989 IAAF Grand Prix	25 Aug 1989	[5]
14th	1990 Memorial Van Damme	1990 IAAF Grand Prix	10 Aug 1990	[5]
15th	1991 Memorial Van Damme	1991 IAAF Grand Prix	13 Sep 1991	[5]
16th	1992 Memorial Van Damme	1992 IAAF Grand Prix	28 Aug 1992	[5]
17th	1993 Memorial Van Damme	1993 IAAF Grand Prix	3 Sep 1993	[5]
18th	1994 Memorial Van Damme	1994 IAAF Grand Prix	19 Aug 1994	[5]
19th	1995 Memorial Van Damme	1995 IAAF Grand Prix	25 Aug 1995	[5]
20th	1996 Memorial Van Damme	1996 IAAF Grand Prix	23 Aug 1996	[7]
21st	1997 Memorial Van Damme	1997 IAAF Grand Prix	22 Aug 1997	[8]
22nd	1998 Memorial Van Damme	1998 IAAF Golden League	28 Aug 1998	[9]
23rd	1999 Memorial Van Damme	1999 IAAF Golden League	3 Sep 1999	[10]
24th	2000 Memorial Van Damme	2000 IAAF Golden League	28 Aug 2000	[11]
25th	2001 Memorial Van Damme	2001 IAAF Golden League	24 Aug 2001	[12]
26th	2002 Memorial Van Damme	2002 IAAF Golden League	30 Aug 2002	[13]
27th	2003 Memorial Van Damme	2003 IAAF Golden League	5 Sep 2003	[14]
28th	2004 Memorial Van Damme	2004 IAAF Golden League	2–3 Sep 2004	[15]
29th	2005 Memorial Van Damme	2005 IAAF Golden League	26 Aug 2005	[16]
30th	2006 Memorial Van Damme	2006 IAAF Golden League	25 Aug 2006	[17]
31st	2007 Memorial Van Damme	2007 IAAF Golden League	14 Sep 2007	[18]
32nd	2008 Memorial Van Damme	2008 IAAF Golden League	5 Sep 2008	[19]
33rd	2009 Memorial Van Damme	2009 IAAF Golden League	4 Sep 2009	[20]
34th	2010 Memorial Van Damme	2010 Diamond League	27 Aug 2010	[21]
35th	2011 Memorial Van Damme	2011 Diamond League	16 Sep 2011	[22]
36th	2012 Memorial Van Damme	2012 Diamond League	7 Sep 2012	[23]
37th	2013 Memorial Van Damme	2013 Diamond League	6 Sep 2013	[24]
38th	2014 Memorial Van Damme	2014 Diamond League	5 Sep 2014	[25]
39th	2015 Memorial Van Damme	2015 Diamond League	11 Sep 2015	[26]
40th	2016 Memorial Van Damme	2016 Diamond League	8–9 Sep 2016	[27]
41st	2017 Memorial Van Damme	2017 Diamond League	31 Aug, 1 Sep 2017	[28]
42nd	2018 Memorial Van Damme	2018 Diamond League	30–31 Aug 2018	[29]
43rd	2019 Memorial Van Damme	2019 Diamond League	5–6 Sep 2019	[30]
44th	2020 Memorial Van Damme	2020 Diamond League	4 Sep 2020	[31]
45th	2021 Memorial Van Damme	2021 Diamond League	1 Sep, 3 Sep 2021	[32]
46th	2022 Memorial Van Damme	2022 Diamond League	1–2 Sep 2022	[33]
47th	2023 Memorial Van Damme	2023 Diamond League	7–8 Sep 2023	[34]
48th	2024 Memorial Van Damme	2024 Diamond League	13–14 Sep 2024	[35]
49th	2025 Memorial Van Damme	2025 Diamond League	22 Aug 2025

World records

Over the course of its history, numerous world records have been set at Memorial Van Damme.^[36][37][38]

World records set at the Memorial Van Damme

Year	Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality
1981	Mile	3:47.33	Sebastian Coe	United Kingdom
1995	5000 m	13:07.38 WJR	Daniel Komen	Kenya
	1000 m	2:29.34	Maria de Lurdes Mutola	Mozambique
1996	10,000 m	26:38.08	Salah Hissou	Morocco
	1000 m	2:28.98	Svetlana Masterkova	Russia
1997	5000 m	12:39.74	Daniel Komen	Kenya
	10,000 m	26:27.85	Paul Tergat	Kenya
2001	3000 m	7:30.67 WJR	Kenenisa Bekele	Ethiopia
	3000 m steeplechase	7:55.28	Brahim Boulami	Morocco
2004	10,000 m	27:04.00 WJR	Boniface Toroitich Kiprop	Uganda
	3000 m steeplechase	7:53.63	Saif Saaeed Shaheen	Qatar
	Pole vault	4.92 m	Yelena Isinbayeva	Russia
2005	10,000 m	26:17.53	Kenenisa Bekele	Ethiopia
2006	4 × 800 m relay	7:02.43	Joseph Mutua William Yiampoy Ismael Kombich Wilfred Bungei	Kenya
2007	Two miles	8:58.58	Meseret Defar	Ethiopia
2009	4 × 1500 m relay	14:36.23	William Biwott Tanui Gideon Gathimba Geoffrey Kipkoech Rono Augustine Kiprono Choge	Kenya
2012	110 m hurdles	12.80 (+0.3 m/s)	Aries Merritt	United States
2020	20,000 m (track)	56:20.02+	Bashir Abdi	Belgium
	One hour	21,330 m	Mo Farah	Great Britain
		18,930 m	Sifan Hassan	Netherlands
	T51 100 m	19.71 (+0.4 m/s)	Peter Genyn	Belgium
2023	2000 m	4:43.13	Jakob Ingebrigtsen	Norway

Meeting records

Men

Men's meeting records of the Memorial Van Damme

Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Meet	Ref.	Video
100 m	9.76 (+1.3 m/s)	Usain Bolt	Jamaica	16 September 2011	2011	[39]
200 m	19.26 (+0.7 m/s) DLR	Yohan Blake	Jamaica	16 September 2011	2011	[40]
400 m	44.03	Michael Cherry	United States	3 September 2021	2021	[41]
800 m	1:42.20	Wilson Kipketer	Denmark	22 August 1997	1997
1000 m	2:14.95	Sammy Koskei	Kenya	30 August 1985	1985
1500 m	3:26.12	Hicham El Guerrouj	Morocco	24 August 2001	2001
Mile	3:47.30	Noureddine Morceli	Algeria	3 September 1993	1993
2000 m	4:43.13 WR	Jakob Ingebrigtsen	Norway	8 September 2023	2023	[42]
3000 m	7:23.09	Hicham El Guerrouj	Morocco	3 September 1999	1999
5000 m	12:39.74	Daniel Komen	Kenya	22 August 1997	1997
10,000 m	26:17.53	Kenenisa Bekele	Ethiopia	26 August 2005	2005
20,000 m	56:20.02+ WR DLR	Bashir Abdi	Belgium	4 September 2020	2020	[43]
One hour	21,330 m DLR	Mo Farah	Great Britain	4 September 2020	2020	[44]
110 m hurdles	12.80 (+0.3 m/s) WR	Aries Merritt	United States	7 September 2012	2012	[45]
400 m hurdles	47.51	Andre Phillips	United States	5 September 1986	1986
3000 m steeplechase	7:53.63	Saif Saaeed Shaheen	Qatar	3 September 2004	2004
High jump	2.43 m DLR	Mutaz Essa Barshim	Qatar	5 September 2014	2014	[46]
Pole vault	6.11 m	Armand Duplantis	Sweden	13 September 2024	2024	[47]
Long jump	8.65 m (+0.2 m/s)	Carl Lewis	United States	24 August 1984	1984
Triple jump	17.60 m (+0.3 m/s)	Jonathan Edwards	United Kingdom	25 August 1995	1995
Shot put	22.98 m	Leonardo Fabbri	Italy	14 September 2024	2024	[48]
Discus throw	69.96 m	Matthew Denny	Australia	13 September 2024	2024	[49]
Hammer throw	82.26 m	Lance Deal	United States	23 August 1996	1996
Javelin throw	93.48 m (old design)	Tom Petranoff	United States	26 August 1983	1983
	90.50 m (current design)	Jan Železný	Czech Republic	25 August 1995	1995
4 × 100 m relay	38.49	Xavi Mo-Ajok Taymir Burnet Hensley Paulina Raphael Bouju	Netherlands	8 September 2023	2023	[50]
4 × 800 m relay	7:02.43	Joseph Mwengi Mutua William Yiampoy Ismael Kipngetich Kombich Wilfred Bungei	Kenya	25 August 2006	2006	[51]
4 × 1500 m relay	14:36.23	William Biwott Tanui Gideon Gathimba Geoffrey Rono Augustine Choge	Kenya	4 September 2009	2009	[52]

Women

Women's meeting records of the Memorial Van Damme

Event	Record	Athlete	Nationality	Date	Meet	Ref.
100 m	10.72 (−0.3 m/s)	Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce	Jamaica	6 September 2013	2013	[53]
	10.72 (+0.6 m/s)	Elaine Thompson	Jamaica	9 September 2016	2016	[54]
200 m	21.48 (+0.2 m/s) DLR	Shericka Jackson	Jamaica	8 September 2023	2023	[55]
400 m	48.83	Sanya Richards	United States	4 September 2009	2009	[56]
800 m	1:55.16	Pamela Jelimo	Kenya	6 September 2008	2008
1000 m	2:28.98	Svetlana Masterkova	Russia	23 August 1996	1996
1500 m	3:54.75	Faith Kipyegon	Kenya	14 September 2024	2024	[57]
Mile	4:14.74	Sifan Hassan	Netherlands	3 September 2021	2021	[58]
2000 m	5:30.19	Gelete Burka	Ethiopia	4 September 2009	2009	[59]
3000 m	8:24.81+	Meseret Defar	Ethiopia	14 September 2007	2007
Two miles	8:58.58 WB	Meseret Defar	Ethiopia	14 September 2007	2007
5000 m	14:09.82	Beatrice Chebet	Kenya	14 September 2024	2024	[60]
One hour	18,930 m DLR	Sifan Hassan	Netherlands	4 September 2020	2020	[61]
100 m hurdles	12.27 (+0.1 m/s)	Jasmine Camacho-Quinn	Puerto Rico	2 September 2022	2022	[62]
400 m hurdles	52.11	Femke Bol	Netherlands	8 September 2023	2023	[63]
3000 m steeplechase	8:55.10	Beatrice Chepkoech	Kenya	31 August 2018	2018	[64]
High jump	2.05 m	Anna Chicherova	Russia	16 September 2011	2011	[65]
		Yaroslava Mahuchikh	Ukraine	2 September 2022	2022	[66]
Pole vault	5.00 m	Sandi Morris	United States	9 September 2016	2016	[67]
Long jump	7.25 m (+1.7 m/s)	Heike Drechsler	Germany	13 September 1991	1991
Triple jump	15.14 m (+0.3 m/s)	Tatyana Lebedeva	Russia	5 September 2003	2003
Shot put	20.59 m	Valerie Adams	New Zealand	5 September 2014	2014	[68]
Discus throw	69.84 m	Tsvetanka Christova	Bulgaria	5 September 1986	1986
Javelin throw	72.18 m (old design)	Fatima Whitbread	United Kingdom	5 September 1986	1986
	68.11 m (current design)	Kara Winger	United States	2 September 2022	2022	[69]
4 × 100 m relay	42.97	Gwen Torrence Sheila Echols Dannette Young Evelyn Ashford	United States	19 August 1988	1988