49th Memorial Van Damme Set to Showcase Elite Athletes
The 49th edition of the Memorial Van Damme 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, reports 24brussels.
The women’s 100 metres, scheduled for 8:45 p.m., promises to be the highlight of the evening. Saint Lucian sprinter Julien Alfred and Americans Melissa Jefferson-Wooden and Sha’Carri Richardson, all medalists at the Paris Olympics, will compete in what is expected to be a thrilling race.
Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who has won eight Olympic medals, will make her final appearance in Brussels before retiring at the season’s end, adding to the anticipation.
Other Olympic champions making their presence felt include Thea LaFond (triple jump), Yemisi Ogunleye (shot put), Rojé Stona (discus), and Hamish Kerr (high jump). Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi, competing in the 3,000m steeplechase, is aiming for a world record in the rarely contested mile steeplechase.
Thiam Targets Long Jump in Preparation for Tokyo
Belgian heptathlete Nafi Thiam, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, will compete in the long jump as part of her preparations for the Tokyo Games. She faces British rival Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who won silver in Paris. “I don’t really have a distance in mind,” Thiam stated. “But I always want to do better.”
Thiam aims to improve upon her performance at the recent Diamond League meet in Lausanne, where she finished ninth in the high jump, 21 centimeters below her personal best. “It was terrible,” she remarked, expressing her reluctance to take risks in the adverse weather conditions. “It will be difficult to take away anything from that competition.”
This Brussels meeting serves as the fourteenth and penultimate round of the Diamond League, with the final set for 27-28 August in Zurich. The World Championships in Tokyo are scheduled to take place from 13 to 21 September.