Olympic and Paralympic athletic stars head to Brussels for Diamond League final
Headline names from the Olympics and Paralympics will be in Brussels this week for the Memorial Van Damme athletics meeting. This year, the meet forms the backdrop of the Diamond League final and will be organised over two days for the first time.
“It will be an exceptional edition,” meeting director Kim Gevaert said at a press conference at the King Baudouin Stadium on Monday. “It is an honour to be able to organise the final of the Diamond League. The number of disciplines has doubled from 16 to 32 and we also have a very extensive parasports programme.”
A total of 70,000 tickets have been sold, 37,000 for Friday’s programme and 33,000 for Saturday. Traditionally, the event has been held in the King Baudouin Stadium on Friday, with one field event held in the city on the previous evening in recent years.
“As organisers, we had to wait and see the spectator reaction to two days of athletics in Belgium, but we are pleasantly surprised,” Gevaert said. “The Olympics and Paralympics have provided a huge boost and the fantastic results of the Belgians obviously help. People probably want to come and watch the same stars as in Paris.”
Among the main draws are pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis of Sweden and Ukrainian high jump champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh, as well as Belgian wheelchair athete Maxime Carabin, double gold medallist at the Paralympics.
They will be joined by track stars including Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Sha’Carri Richardson, Femke Bol and Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
The event will begin with a parade of sports stars and end with a concert and laser show.
Three-time Olympic champion heptathlete Nafi Thiam would normally compete in the high jump at the meeting, but Gevaert confirmed she will not take part in this year’s event. The meeting will also be a farewell for 400m runners Jonathan and Kevin Borlée.
Yaroslava Mahuchikh at the 2023 Memorial Van Damme © ANTHONY DIBON/ICON SPORT
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