Memorial Van Damme

Memorial van Damme is a yearly athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium. It takes place in late August or early September. Before it was one of the IAAF Golden League events. Now it is now part of the IAAF Diamond League.
It was first put together in 1977 by a group of journalists in honour of Ivo van Damme. Damme was a Belgian double medal winner at the Montreal Olympics who was killed 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. Later on, he ran in 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.