The first Memorial Van Damme took place on 16 August 1977. What started as a one-off memorial meeting in honour of a Belgian athletics icon who passed away far too soon has grown into one of the most prestigious athletics events in the world.

Even before winning two Olympic medals in Montreal in 1976, Ivo Van Damme had urged several Belgian journalists to organise a major international athletics meeting in Brussels. He believed that Belgian athletes should also have the opportunity to compete against the world’s best in front of their home crowd. The idea gradually took shape during the winter of 1975-1976, but sadly Ivo would never live to see it come to fruition.

At his funeral, after Ivo had died in a traffic accident on 29 December 1976 at the age of 22, the project’s initiators met again. They decided to organise a one-off memorial meeting in his honour. That first evening in the then Heysel Stadium, on 16 August 1977, exceeded all expectations. The stands were packed, the atmosphere was unique and the athletes pushed themselves to the limit for Ivo. It soon became clear that this would not remain a single edition.

Athletics history has been written at the Heysel Stadium, later renamed the King Baudouin Stadium. Since 1977, virtually every major name in international athletics has shone at the Memorial. The meeting became a fixture at the highest level: an IAAF Grand Prix meeting from 1985 onwards, later part of the Golden Four and Golden League, and since 2010 a member of the Diamond League.

The first of what would become many world records was set in 1981 by Sebastian Coe. In 1995, Maria Mutola established the Memorial’s first women’s world record. Superstars such as Carl Lewis, Sergey Bubka, Yelena Isinbayeva, Usain Bolt and Mondo Duplantis have also made the stadium shake. Countless Belgian champions have created unforgettable moments there as well, from Fons Brydenbach and William Van Dijck to the Borlée brothers, Tia Hellebaut, Kim Gevaert, Bashir Abdi, Nafi Thiam and many others.

Over the past decades, the Memorial has provided fireworks not only on the track but also beyond it. International stars such as Village People, Gloria Gaynor, Shaggy and Sean Paul have set the stadium alight, alongside Belgian favourites including Clouseau, Soulsister, Plastic Bertrand, Milk Inc. and Henri PFR.

Half a century after its first edition, the Memorial Van Damme remains an institution; a world-class event where sporting excellence, entertainment and atmosphere reinforce one another. A winning formula that has stood the test of time for 50 years and will hopefully continue to attract generations of spectators to the King Baudouin Stadium.