The Allianz Memorial Van Damme is an athletics meetings of the highest level which is part of the IAAF Diamond League. The meeting was named after the Belgian athlete Ivo Van Damme who died tragically in 1976. Earlier that year, he had obtained the silver medal at the Montreal Olympics in both the 800m and the 1500m. The first “Memorial” took place in 1977 and quickly achieved international recognition. In 1985 the meeting became an IAAF Grand Prix meeting, afterwards a meeting in the Golden Four and Golden League series. The Memorial was ahead of the pack in the way athletics events were organized. It was the first athletics meeting to introduce fireworks, drums, a dynamic presentation and much more. Since 2009 the Memorial is part of the IAAF Diamond League, a yearly series of athletics meetings which take place in 14 cities over the world. The Memorial is one of two final events in the IAAF Diamond League and marks the end of the season. The next edition of the Memorial will take place on 3 September 2021 in the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.