Abdi arrived in Belgium on Tuesday after an intensive training camp in the French Pyrenees. "Everything went well, I managed to train hard there," the 34-year-old from Ghent said at the pre-event press conference in the athletes' hotel. I am really looking forward to Friday, the Allianz Memorial Van Damme is a great celebration of athletics for the entire country."
On Friday over 35,000 spectators will push Abdi, a bronze medal winner in the Olympic marathon, to a memorable time in the 10,000m. "My last participation was in the Covid year 2020, when we sadly had to run in an empty stadium. I remember receiving a Belgian flag after my hour run, but on my lap of honour I could only show it off to the birds..."
This time around the stadium will be pulsating if Abdi breaks the Belgian and European records. The Belgian record dates back to the 1999 Memorial, a 26:52.30 set by Mohammed Mourhit, while the European record is held since 2011 by Abdi's friend Mo Farah (26:46.57), who joined Abdi's training camp.
"Mo even paced me in training," Abdi revealed. "He is helping me and I think he would be happy for me if I took his record." But first I am focusing on the Belgian record, I need that one. The current BR is not clean," Abdi stated firmly. "Everyone in my environment is pushing me to break the record. I am going to start on a Belgian record schedule on Friday, but if I feel the European one is possible too then I won't turn that one down either."
Abdi is not worried his current personal best - a 27:24.41 - is far removed from either record. "The 10,000 metres have never been a specific goal for me. I am still focused on the Olympic marathon in Paris next year, but the 10,000 records are a nice goal in between. I've been training more on speed on the track recently, which is necessary for this record attempt. But if you want a fast marathon, you also need to work on your speed. So 80% of my preparation is the same."
With France's Jimmy Gressier Abdi will face another fast European on Friday. Could he spoil the party? "I like a challenge," Abdi smiled. "Look, the Memorial is part of the Diamond League. The best athletes in the world are here. Jimmy and I can push each other to a higher level and help each other once the pacers have done their bit. He has been messaging me a lot the past few days. In the 1500 metres he's faster than me, but the 10K is a different story."
