Diamond League, Brussels, Belgium 22.08.2025
Source: https://www.diamondleague.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/diamondleagueathletics/ ; https://www.instagram.com/europeanathletics/ ; https://www.instagram.com/athleticslux/
The Wanda Diamond League is the premier annual series of elite track and field athletics competitions, organized by World Athletics. It’s considered the top tier of one-day meet competitions in the sport.
Here’s a breakdown of what it is:
- Annual Series: It runs annually, typically from April to September, featuring a series of meetings around the world.
- Elite Competition: It brings together many of the world’s top track and field athletes who compete in various disciplines, including sprints, middle and long-distance races, hurdles, jumps (high jump, long jump, triple jump, pole vault), and throws (shot put, discus, javelin).
- Point-Based System: Athletes earn points based on their performance (placement) at each of the series meetings. These points accumulate throughout the season.
- Road to the Final: The accumulated points determine which athletes qualify for the prestigious Wanda Diamond League Final, held at the end of the season.
- Winner-Takes-All Final: At the final, the winners of each discipline are crowned Wanda Diamond League champions. They receive a Diamond Trophy, prize money, and often a wildcard entry to the World Athletics Championships.
- Global Reach: The series crosses four continents and multiple countries, aiming to enhance the worldwide appeal of athletics.
- Wanda Group Sponsorship: The “Wanda” in Wanda Diamond League comes from the Wanda Group, a Chinese conglomerate that became the title sponsor in 2019, signing a ten-year agreement.
- High Stakes: Athletes compete for prestige, significant prize money (which has increased for 2025), and a chance to set world records. Many world records have been broken at Diamond League meetings.
History
The Allianz Memorial van Damme is the best athletics meeting in the world
The Memorial has been achieving very high performance scores since 1977. 14 world records have been set at the Memorial, 6 of them still stand, making the Memorial van Damme and King Baudouin stadium holders of the greatest number of current world records. In addition, 3 World Bests were set there, all of them also still standing. Numerous European and continental records were broken as well as a flood of national records.
That rich history of high performance is brought together in the Allianz Memorial van Damme all time top 20. This all time list is a unique summary of more than three decades of international world class athletics at the Memorial!
9 actual worlds records or World Bests have been set at the Allianz Memorial van Damme
Actual world records
- 1000m W 2.28.98 Svetlana Masterkova 1996
- 2000m M 4.43.13 Jakob Ingebrigtsen 2023
- 4 x 800m M 7.02.43 Kenya 2006 (Mutua, Yiampoy, Kombich, Bungei)
- 110m hurdles – Aries Merritt – 12.80 – 2012
- One Hour – 21,330m – Mo Farah – 2020
- One Hour – 18,930m – Sifan Hassan – 2020
World Bests:
- 20000m M – 56.20.02 – Bashir Abdi – 2020
- 2 Mile W – 8:57.46 – Meseret Defar – 2007
- 15000m – 41.51.61 – Sabastian Kimaru Sawe – 2022
A huge victory from 🇱🇺 Ruben Querinjean! 🔥
First sub-8:10 clocking in the 3000m steeplechase with 8:09.47!
And he becomes the first male athlete from Luxembourg to win a Diamond League! 💎
Ruben Querinjean delivered the performance of his life at the Diamond League meeting in Brussels this night, winning the 3000m steeplechase and smashing the national record*.
🔥 New national record: 8:09.47 📉 Old record: 8:14.33
It was a controlled race. Querinjean stayed tucked into the back of the pack early on, always within reach, before gradually moving his way forward. On the final lap he positioned himself perfectly, then unleashed a brilliant last 200 meters to surge ahead and secure victory at the finish line.
This stunning performance is not only a milestone for Luxembourg, but also a clear signal of Querinjean’s outstanding form just weeks before the World Championships.
It also marks the second ever Diamond League victory for Luxembourg – following Patricia van der Weken’s triumph last year – underlining the remarkable rise of Luxembourgish athletics on the world stage.
