Memorial van Damme is an annual athletics event at the Stade Roi Baudouin in Brussels, Belgium that takes place on August 26 as the fifth part of the IAAF Golden League.

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. A former footballer, he turned to athletics and in particular the 1500 m and 3000 m disciplines. Later on, he discovered the 800 m. In 1976, he took part in the Montreal Olympic Games, where he won silver medals in both the 800 m and 1500 m.

World records

2006

• 4 x 800 m relay men 7:02.43 Kenya (Joseph Mutua, William Yiampoy, Ismael Kombich, Wilfred Bungei)

2005

• 10,000 m 26:17.53 Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopia

2004

• 10,000 m men Junior 27:04.00 Boniface Kiprop, Uganda
• 3,000 m steeplechase men 7:53.84 Saif Saaeed Shaheen, Qatar
• Pole vault women 4.92 m Yelena Isinbayeva, Russia

2001

• 3,000 m men Junior 7:30.67 Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopia
• 3,000 m steeple 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

External links

• Memorial van Damme web site