Kim Gevaert brings down the house in Brussels (© Getty Images)
The Brussels ÅF Golden League meeting, the Memorial Van Damme (MVD), has strengthened its alliance with title sponsor Belgacom, and after years of assisting the organisation of the IAAF World Athletics Tour meeting in Dakar, the MVD organisation will also now assist the Area Permit meeting in Rabat, Morocco.
With more than 16,000 tickets already sold, the MVD will once again welcome a capacity crowd on Friday 5 September 2008, and the five-year agreement with Belgacom will allow the MVD to develop and to secure its position as one of the world leading ÅF Golden League meetings.
The partnership between Belgacom and the Memorial Van Damme started in 1993. “The MVD and the AF Golden League promote excellence and quality”, said Belgacom CEO Didier Bellens. “We have asked the organisers to include a weelchair race in the programme and to establish a link with the young Belgian athletes. Those are the values that Belgacom would like to integrate in the event.”
The actual Golden League contract expires at the end of 2009 and the MVD is already looking into the future and beyond 2009. “Only the strongest will survive,” said MVD President and Meeting Director Wilfried Meert. “There is no doubt that other cities are interested to become part of the ÅF Golden League. Brussels absolutely wants to keep its spot and that is why we are working to improve our financial backing. But our road map for the next years also focuses on creativity, quality and innovation.”
MVD Managing Director Bob Verbeeck announced that the MVD will be widening its international range in the following years. Already helping to organise the IAAF Grand Prix meeting in Dakar, Senegal, “in 2008 we are launching cooperation with the Rabat (MAR) meeting as a CAA Grand Prix. This is a business that the MVD wants to extend in the future.”
Meert told the audience that World champions Jeremy Wariner (USA) and Janeth Jepkosgei (800m) have recently confirmed their participation in the MVD 2008. The MVD 2008 will be a star-studded edition, as the organisers want to present as many fresh Olympic champions as they possibly can.
Ivo Hendrix for the IAAF