Bubka, Powell and Pérec in Hall of Fame

The Allianz Memorial Van Damme has a rich history, dating back to 1977. The organisation decided to establish a Hall of Fame in 2017 to honour the athletes whose top performances over the past decades have helped the meeting gain fame and renown. 

Sergey Bubka

Mondo Duplantis was not even two years old when Sergey Bubka put away his poles for good in 2001. The Ukrainian dominated pole vaulting in the 80s and 90s. His list of honours is impressive: Olympic Champion, six times World Champion, ... Bubka floated from one world record to another, adding one centimetre, maximum two each time.

35 times Bubka improved the world record, 17 times outdoor, 18 times indoor. He recorded his best jump 30 years ago in his own country: 6m15 at a meeting in Donetsk. In his career, he jumped over 6m or higher 47 times.

Bubka's first 6-metre jump was in Paris in 1985. "That was unimaginable at the time," says Wilfried Meert, Meeting Director of the Allianz Memorial Van Damme from 1977 to 2016. "Unfortunately, he never exceeded the magic 6-metre limit in Brussels, but he did win four times here, including twice going over 5m95. Phenomenal, because the wind still had free rein on the Heysel Plain back then. The stadium was not modified until 1998 when conditions for the jumpers improved."

Is Mondo Duplantis the new Sergey Bubka? "Duplantis' list of honours is not as long as Bubka's yet. But like Bubka, who turns 60 in December, he is a game changer. Back then, nobody thought jumps of 6 metres possible, but Bubka did it, time and again. The same now goes for Duplantis who jumps over 6m10 or 6m20 like it's nothing," says Meert admiringly.

Asafa Powell

Asafa Powell was a regular at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme for many years. The Jamaican sprinter started in the 100m at the King Baudouin Stadium nine times between 2003 and 2017 and won five times.

"He often won at meetings," Wilfried Meert explains. "But at the major championships, the stress got to him every time. He suffered from 'choking'. He never managed to win an individual World or Olympic title, but he did take Olympic gold with the Jamaican relay team and even twice at the World Championships."

"A memorable race in Brussels was the one in 2004," recalls Meert. "Powell won in 9.87, a Jamaican record. Of course, that was later swept off the tables by one Usain Bolt. In 2008, Powell almost beat Bolt at the Memorial. Powell was known for his rocket start while Bolt, with his long body, never got off to a flying start. Only in the last 20 metres did Bolt manage to overtake Powell: 9.77 versus 9.83."

Asafa Powell, who is married to Canadian-Ghanaian model Alyshia Miller, is 40 and put a stop to his career two years ago. "In his entire career, he came in under 10 seconds 97 times. 97 times," Meert stresses. "Pretty remarkable. Especially when you know that to this day no Belgian has managed to dip under 10 seconds even once ..."

Marie-José Pérec

Marie-José Pérec participated in the Allianz Memorial Van Damme six times, but never managed a win in Brussels. "Still, she absolutely deserves a spot in our Hall of Fame," insists former Meeting Director Wilfried Meert. "Pérec is la grande dame of French athletics and has a fantastic running record. And she loved coming to the Memorial."

In 1992, Pérec, born in Guadeloupe in 1968, captured gold in the 400 metres at the Barcelona Olympics. Four years later in Atlanta, she extended her Olympic title ... only to add Olympic gold in the 200 metres three days later. A phenomenal double!

"Three weeks after the Atlanta Games, we had a replay of the Olympic 400 metres final at the Memorial. It turned out to be a brilliant race," Meert recalls. "In Atlanta, Pérec narrowly beat Australia’s Cathy Freeman, but at our Brussels event it was the other way around: Freeman ran 49.48, Pérec 49.72."

Besides three Olympic titles, Pérec has two more world titles in the 400 metres and one European title in the 400 metres. Her husband, Sébastien Foucras, is also an Olympic medallist. At the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, the Frenchman took silver in freestyle skiing.

Another fun fact: thanks to her graceful (running) style, Pérec was nicknamed 'la Gazelle', but four years ago she very briefly became 'la Panthère'. Pérec took part in the French version of The Masked Singer in 2019 and donned a panther costume in the show. Unfortunately, the triple Olympic Champion was unmasked after just one episode.

Hall of Fame:

2023: Sergey Bubka
2023: Marie-José Pérec
2023: Asafa Powell
2022: Jackie Joyner-Kersee
2022: Paul Tergat
2022: Daniel Komen
2021: Mike Powell
2021: Blanka Vlasic
2019: Willie Banks
2019: Gail Devers
2019: Sebastian Coe
2018: Merlene Ottey
2018: Hicham El Guerrouj
2018: Kim Gevaert
2018: Tia Hellebaut
2017: Heike Drechsler
2017: Steve Cram
2017: Wilfried Meert