Every thing that you must find out about this weekend’s Memorial Van Damme meet within the Belgian capital
The ultimate Diamond League of the season will likely be in Brussels and welcomes most of the world’s prime athletes to the 50,000 capability King Baudouin Stadium over two days (September 13-14).
A myriad of Olympic champions and medallists will make the journey to Brussels as they try to win the Diamond League trophy and take house the highest prize of $30,000 in every self-discipline.
There can even be para athletes in motion, nationwide races and younger athletes’ relays earlier than the principle Diamond League programme.
Round 70,000 tickets have been bought to date and UK viewers may also watch it stay on BBC Two and BBC Three from 7-9pm BST throughout each days respectively.
So who do you have to sit up for watching?
Mondo Duplantis in Brussels (Getty)
Mondo Duplantis goals to soar excessive once more
Mondo Duplantis has had one more stellar season and can purpose to finish it in some type.
The Swedish pole-vaulting famous person loves competing in Brussels and final yr set a gathering file of 6.10m, narrowly lacking out on what would’ve then been a world file of 6.23m.
In 2024, Duplantis has damaged his personal finest mark on three events and, if he’s in prime kind and circumstances are good, might clear 6.27m within the Belgian capital.
Duplantis’ important competitors will come from Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis and US’s Sam Kendricks, who’ve each jumped six metres-plus this season.
KC Lightfoot, Chris Nilsen, Ben Broeders and Thibaut Collet full the line-up.
Letsile Tebogo (Getty)
Letsile Tebogo leads a powerful 200m
Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo will hope to see off a powerful US problem in what could possibly be a spectacular males’s 200m.
Tebogo hasn’t misplaced a single race over both the 100m or the 200m since claiming gold over the latter in Paris one month in the past.
That point of 19.46 put Tebogo fifth on the 200m all-time listing and solely Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Noah Lyles and Michael Johnson have gone faster.
Tebogo will seemingly must be at his finest to win as Olympic silver medallist Kenny Bednarek appears in fantastic kind.
The American nearly beat Tebogo on the Zurich Diamond League and clocked 19.57 – going joint-eighth on the 200m all-time listing – to the Botswana’s 19.55.
Different US athletes embrace the likes of Fred Kerley, Kyree King, Courtney Lindsey and Erriyon Knighton, whereas Joseph Fahnbulleh and Alexander Ogando are additionally within the area.
Religion Kipyegon (Getty)
Religion Kipyegon will likely be favorite over 1500m
Religion Kipeygon has her eyes on a fifth Diamond League trophy and also you wouldn’t put it previous the Kenyan in Brussels.
On the Paris Olympics, Kipyegon gained a record-breaking third consecutive Olympic 1500m gold medal and in addition claimed silver within the 5000m.
A month earlier, in the identical metropolis, Kipyegon broke her personal world 1500m file with 3:49.04 and stays the one girl in historical past to have run sub-3:50 over the gap.
Her closest problem in Brussels is prone to come from Australia’s Jessica Hull, who’s now fifth on the all-time listing after working 3:50.83 again in that world file race.
New British 1500m record-holder Georgia Bell will seemingly be a menace and be careful for nationwide 2000m record-holder Melissa Courtney-Bryant.
Don’t depend out Ethiopians Diribe Welteji and Birke Haylom as effectively, who’ve respective private bests of three:52.75 and three:53.22.
Neeraj Chopra (Getty)
Neeraj Chopra hoping for first 90m-plus throw in javelin
World javelin famous person Neeraj Chopra is the standout identify on paper in what is anticipated to be a aggressive males’s javelin in Brussels.
The 2020 Olympic and reigning world champion has a season’s better of 89.49m and can little doubt be aiming to raised his private better of 89.94m.
If Chopra can clear that illusive 90m mark then he’ll give himself an incredible probability of victory within the Diamond League ultimate.
Anderson Peters doubtlessly goes into the competitors because the favorite with a better of 90.61m this season.
You also needs to be careful for Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch and Germany’s Julian Weber.
Emmanuel Wanyonyi (Getty)
Emmanuel Wanyonyi nears world 800m file
David Rudisha nonetheless holds the world 800m file with 1:40.91 however this yr has seen the most important problem to what appeared like an untouchable mark.
After turning into Olympic 800m champion in Paris with 1:41.19, Emmanuel Wanyonyi then clocked 1:41.11 on the Lausanne Diamond League, working the joint-fourth quickest time in historical past alongside Wilson Kipketer.
Nonetheless, Wanyonyi isn’t the one athlete in unbelievable kind in Brussels.
Marco Arop (1:41.20), Djamel Sedjati (1:41.46) and Gabriel Tual (1:41.61) have all gone sub-1:42 this season and can greater than seemingly check Wanyonyi within the Diamond League ultimate.
The British problem will likely be led by Ben Pattison, who ran 1:42.27 earlier this season to go second on the UK all-time listing behind Seb Coe.
Olympic ladies’s 100m ultimate (Getty)
Julien Alfred v Sha’Carri Richardson within the 100m
One of the crucial anticipated occasions in Brussels would be the ladies’s 100m and, extra particularly, seeing one other battle between Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred and world 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson.
Alfred beat Richardson with a successful time of 10.72 in Paris and have become Saint Lucia’s first ever Olympic gold medallist.
On the Zurich Diamond League, Richardson simply edged Alfred to the road and the pair will as soon as once more go head-to-head within the Belgian capital.
Dina Asher-Smith has gone sub-10.9 on two events for the reason that Olympics and will get near her British file of 10.83 in Brussels if circumstances are beneficial.
Daryll Neita, who completed fourth within the 100m and fifth over 200m on the Video games, can be a part of the star-studded line-up.
Yared Nuguse and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Getty)
Jakob Ingebrigtsen renews rivalries over 1500m
Followers of the boys’s 1500m have been handled to some unbelievable clashes this season and this one in Brussels will likely be no totally different.
Regardless that world 1500m champion and Olympic silver medallist Josh Kerr gained’t be current, these within the stadium will nonetheless get to look at Jakob Ingebrigtsen v Cole Hocker v Yared Nuguse.
Nuguse took the plaudits within the metric mile on the Zurich Diamond League whereas Hocker claimed the most important prize of all of them with gold on the Olympics.
Nonetheless, if Ingebrigtsen is totally match, might he doubtlessly higher his private finest of three:26.73 and shut in on Hicham El Guerrouj’s nearly unbreakable world file of three:26.00?
From a British perspective, Elliot Giles will certainly purpose to go sub-3:30 for the primary time in his profession, after turning into the world street mile record-holder with 3:51.3.
Beatrice Chebet (Getty)
Beatrice Chebet’s world file hopes over 5000m
Beatrice Chebet has had a stand-out season that features success on the observe and over cross-country.
After turning into world 5km champion and setting a world file of 14:13 final yr, Chebet continued the place she left off at first of 2024.
In powerful circumstances in Belgrade, she retained her particular person senior world cross-country crown and was additionally a part of the Kenyan staff that after once more triumphed within the world occasion.
Then, on the Olympics, Chebet noticed off a world class area to develop into Olympic 5000m champion, including to her 10,000m gold from Tokyo.
On the Zurich Diamond League, she ran 14:09.52 in what was a world file try and has eyes on Gudaf Tsegay’s 14:00.21.
With a brand new observe in Brussels, might Chebet turns into the primary girl to go sub-14 minutes within the 5000m?
Ryan Crouser (Getty)
Ryan Crouser searching for one other shot put trophy
The standout identify within the males’s shot put is triple Olympic champion and world-record holder Ryan Crouser.
After numerous accidents that included nerve entrapment in his proper elbow and a torn pectoral muscle, there have been doubts whether or not Crouser would even make it to the Olympics.
Nonetheless, the US athlete defied the chances and never solely competed in Paris however gained the gold medal with a finest of twenty-two.90m.
Crouser hasn’t been at his finest all season and it’s truly compatriot and triple Olympic silver medallist Joe Kovacs who has the most important throw with 23.13m.
Nonetheless, Crouser’s largest mark of the yr (22.93m) got here eventually week’s Boris Hanžeković Memorial in Croatia.
It due to this fact might as soon as once more be an in depth battle between the 2 People.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (Getty)
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone doubles up in “particular” 200m/400m races
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone gained’t be racing within the official Diamond League programme however she is going to double up over each the 200m and 400m in Brussels.
The world 400m hurdles record-holder and a number of Olympic champion wasn’t eligible for a world wild card as she hadn’t competed in a Diamond League race this season.
Nonetheless, Memorial Van Damme organisers have placed on a 200m and 400m to “honour her outstanding achievements”.
McLaughlin-Levrone claimed her second Olympic 400m hurdles gold medal in Paris – breaking her personal world file with 50.37 – and was additionally a part of the US ladies’s 4x400m staff that stood on the highest of the rostrum.
Nonetheless, her pace in particular person flat races is one thing to behold and he or she boasts bests of twenty-two.07 and 48.74 respectively.
Sanya Richards-Ross holds the US file of 48.70 and if McLaughlin-Levrone runs effectively then that can certainly go.
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