Women sprinters to headline Brussels Diamond League meeting
The 49th edition of the Memorial Van Damme athletics meeting takes place on Friday evening at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. The Diamond League meeting has attracted a host of world-class athletes and offers competitors one of their last chances to qualify for next month’s World Championships in Tokyo.
The women’s 100m, scheduled for 20.45, is set to be the highlight of the evening. Saint Lucian star Julien Alfred and Americans Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Sha’Carri Richardson, all medal winners at the Paris Olympics, will line up for what promises to be a thrilling race.
They will be joined by Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, winner of eight Olympic medals, who will make her final appearance in Brussels before retiring at the end of the season.
Other Olympic champions from Paris include Thea LaFond in the triple jump, Yemisi Ogunleye in the shot put, Rojé Stona in the discus and Hamish Kerr in the high jump, as well as Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi (3,000m steeplechase), who is aiming for a world record in the rarely run 1 mile steeplechase.
Thiam picks long jump
Belgian heptathlete Nafi Thiam, three-time Olympic gold medallist, will compete in the long jump as part of her preparation for Tokyo. She faces her British rival Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who won silver in Paris.
“I don’t really have a distance in mind,” Thiam said. “But I always want to do better.”
Thiam is looking to improve on her performance at Wednesday’s Diamond League meet in Lausanne, where she finished ninth in the high jump, 21cm below her personal best.
“It was terrible,” said Thiam, who did not want to take any risks in the pouring rain. "It will be difficult to take away anything from that competition.”
The Brussels meeting is the 14th and penultimate round of the Diamond League, with the final set for 27-28 August in Zurich. The World Championships in Tokyo run from 13-21 September.
Melissa Jefferson, Julien Alfred and Sha'Carri Richardson at the 2024 Paris Olympics © PHOTO ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP
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