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Alison dos Santos clocked 45.80 in the 400m hurdles, smashing Karsten Warholm’s previous world record by an impressive 0.14 seconds. Masai Russell ran 12.09 to become the fastest woman ever over the 100m hurdles. She took the record from Tobi Amusan, who herself produced a season’s best in Zurich. All of which sets the stage for a thrilling showdown in Brussels on Saturday.
Three other athletes who set world records this year will also be in action. Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Olympic and world champion over 800m, broke the 27-year-old world record in the 1,000m at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco, lowering it to 2:11.83. In Brussels, Wanyonyi will compete in the 800m, where his 1:41.11 ranks as the second-fastest performance in history.
In pole vault, Mondo Duplantis has set at least one world record every year for the past five seasons. On 12 March, in his hometown of Uppsala, Sweden, he cleared 6.31m to claim his 15th world record.
Perhaps the most remarkable world record holder heading to Belgium in 2026 is Ja’Kobe Tharp (110m hurdles). The 20-year-old American made athletics history on 10 June when he broke Aries Merritt’s 14-year-old world record at the NCAA Championships in Eugene. Merritt had set that mark at the 2012 Memorial Van Damme. Tharp stopped the clock at 12.75, five hundredths of a second faster than Merritt, and has since confirmed his credentials in Europe with Diamond League victories in London and Silesia. In Brussels, he will be looking to cap a sensational season.
Four more new names added
Four other stars have also been added to the start lists. In the 200m, Letsile Tebogo will take on Kenneth Bednarek in a clash between the Olympic gold and silver medallists from Paris. Over 100m, reigning world champion Oblique Seville will line up after emerging as the standout performer in the Diamond League’s blue-riband event this season.
The women’s 400m will also feature a mouthwatering contest, with Henriette Jæger facing Marileidy Paulino in a duel between the European champion and the reigning Olympic champion. Paulino is unbeaten in the Diamond League in 2026. Will she extend that streak in Brussels?
The 50th edition of the Allianz Memorial Van Damme will once again host the Wanda Diamond League Final, just as it did in 2024. On both Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September, the King Baudouin Stadium will stage finals in 16 disciplines.