At the occasion of the Belgian national athletics championships more Belgian athletics stars walked around the track together with some 1000 spectators. The initiative was taken by the national governing bodies of Belgian Athletics (both the French speaking and the Dutch speaking athletics federations) in collaboration with the Solidarity Athletics movement that was created by athletics coach Jacques Borlée. That movement wants to assure that there remains a future for the sports of athletics in Belgium.
The King Baudouin stadium has to disappear as a result of a decision taken by the government of the Region of Brussels Capital to build a new national football stadium nearby the actual stadium by 2020. That new stadium will not have an athletics track and that puts our sports in great danger. In Belgium no other stadium can host an international athletics event of the highest level. Solidarity Athletics does not act against the new football stadium. It wants to save the actual stadium of being demolished by 2020.
The King Baudouin stadium is a mythical and a world famous athletics stadium that hosts the Brussels Diamond League Final, known as the Memorial Van Damme since 1977. Many World Records have been set in this stadium including the actual World Records in the 10000m men (Kenenisa Bekele, 26’17”53 in 2005), the 3000m steeplechase men (Saïf Saaeed Shaheen, 7’53”63 in 2004), the 110m Hurdles men (Aries Merritt, 12”80 in 2012), the 4 x 800m men (Kenya, 7’02”43 in 2006) and the 1000m women (Svetlana Masterkova, 2’28”98 in 1996).
"If plans continue as they are now, the actions will also continue”, said Jacques Borlée. “We want to mobilise everybody who supports our sports. We need to extend the sympathy for this initiative as much as we can and keep mobilizing as many citizens as possible in favour of the future of our sports in Belgium."
At the occasion of the Night of Athletics in Heusden-Zolder on July, 18th, a so-called Legends Race was held to launch the Solidarity Athletics initiative. Amongst many other former stars of Belgian athletics the 1964 3000m steeplechase Olympic Champion Gaston Roelants, now at the age of 78, was present to support the initiative.
