The AG Memorial Van Damme meeting in Brussels is to take place in a unique format this year, with stars such as Mo Farah, Mondo Duplantis, Nafi Thiam and Katarina Johnson-Thompson descending on the Belgian capital on September 4.
With the 2020 athletics calendar still taking shape due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, meeting organisers in Brussels announced plans on Tuesday for a one-off, early autumn event involving a combined events competition and a long distance world record attempt.
British legend and multiple Olympic champion Mo Farah is to attack Haile Gebre Selassie’s one hour world record of 21,285km, while Ethiopians Yeshane Ababel and Birhane Dibaba will take on the women’s record, currently held by their compatriot Dire Tune with 18,517km.
“Together with my training partner Bashir Abdi it is my target to attack the one hour world record at the Memorial Van Damme. This is a great challenge for me and I am really looking forward to it. Everything is possible! The track in Brussels is fast, I have good memories of my previous races there," said Farah.
The event in Brussels will also see Mondo Duplantis compete in the men’s pole vault, while heptathlon stars Nafi Thiam and Katarina Johnson-Thompson go head to head in a triathlon of shot put, high jump and hurdles.
"I can’t wait to step on the track on September, 4th for this special and challenging event," said Thiam.