The Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, the fourth meeting of
the coronavirus-hit Diamond League athletics season, will be staged behind
closed doors on September 4, organisers have said.
Officials explained that as a decision has still not been
made by the Belgian government on whether fans can return to stadiums from
September, they were erring on the side of caution.
“The health and the safety of the spectators, the
athletes and the staff are our highest concern and priority,” Brussels
meeting director Cedric Van Branteghem said in a statement on Tuesday.
“From a practical point of view the best thing to do
was to decide now and to clearly communicate with our fans and our audience on
ticketing issues.”
The Diamond League season is set to belatedly get underway
on August 14 in Monaco, but meetings in Eugene, London, Paris, Rabat, Gateshead
and China have all been cancelled.
The Brussels meet will feature four-time Olympic champion
Mo Farah and Belgian Bashir Abdi attempting to break the track hour record set
by Haile Gebrselassie in 2007.
Sweden’s pole vault world record holder Armand Duplantis
will also compete at the King Baudouin Stadium.
Olympic
heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam is set to go head-to-head with rival
Katarina Johnson-Thompson, the world champion, in a triathlon featuring the
100-metre hurdles, high jump and shot put.
