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 is now the final event of the Diamond League, along with Weltklasse Zürich.

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.

World records
Over the course of its history, numerous world records have been set at Memorial Van Damme.

2001

 * 3,000 m men Junior 7:30.67 Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopia
 * 3,000 m steeplechase men 7:55.28 Brahim Boulami, Morocco

1997

 * 5,000 m men 12:39.74 Daniel Komen, Kenya
 * 10,000 m men 26:27.85 Paul Tergat, Kenya

1996

 * 10,000 m men 26:38.08 Salah Hissou, Morocco
 * 1,000 m women 2:28.98 Svetlana Masterkova, Russia

1995

 * 5,000 m men Junior 13:07.38 Daniel Komen, Kenya
 * 1,000 m women 2:29.34 Maria de Lurdes Mutola, Mozambique

1981

 * 1 mile men 3:47.33 Sebastian Coe, United Kingdom