To celebrate its 40th anniversary the AG Insurance Memorial Van Damme visits a number of Belgian cities. These so called Urban Memorial events turn a central city square into a boiling athletics arena where the spectators can watch national and international athletes from close by. After Namur (High Jump), Ghent (Long Jump) and Antwerp (Pole Vault) Ostend (Discus Throw) was the next stage in the row.
In what is called the Queen of the Coastal Towns the Urban Memorial drove its ambitions to the edge in transforming not only the Sea Heroes Square but also a large part of Ostend Beach into a theatre for the most spectacular Discus Throw competition of the year. The level of the competition was extremely high, with 4 competitors holding a personal best of 65 meter or more : Mauricio Ortega from Columbia (65.84m), Andrius Gudzius from Lithuania (66.11m), Eric Cadee from the Netherlands (67.30m) and Belgian national hero Philip Milanov (67.26m), the World and European silver medalist in the event.
Carried by sea winds most of the participants threw their discus longer than they ever did before. The results in Ostend can not be officially ratified but that didn’t disturb the athletes. They were excited about the unique setting, the rhythmic handclapping of the spectators and the enticing music, chosen by the athletes to support their effort.
Philip Milanov, who operates under the name of Drommics as an amateur mixer of drum and bass tracks, opted for Are You With Me of the Belgian artist Lost Frequencies. On these summer beats Milanov made it a try of 68.44m for victory in his fifth attempt. Gudzius (67.96m) and Ortega (67.45m) finished in 2nd and 3rd.
A small celebration followed the win of Milanov on Ostend Beach. Will this be followed by a great celebration on Copacabana Beach next month ? Having won silver medals at the World and European Championships in Beijing and in Amsterdam in the past year the 25 year old athlete from Bruges is one of the major Belgian medal contenders at the Rio Olympics. The Olympic Discus Throw Final will take place on August, 13th. Will we meet at Copacabana Beach for an afterparty with Drommics ?
Ahead of the international Discus Throw event a competition for athletes Under 18 and Under 16 was held and all through the afternoon there were Kids Athletics sessions lead by Kim Gevaert and coaches from local track club Hermes. At Sea Heroes Square the kids could participate in Long Jump, High Jump and Shot Put sessions.
All the other spectators were invited to compete and become either the Strongest or the Fastest man or woman on Ostend Beach. Sam Erdekens crowned himself to Fastest Man in 7”43 while Stefanie Brosens became the Fastest Woman in 8”02. Seppe Ceulemans is now the Strongest Man on the beach : he won the Shot Put with 13.31m. Strongest Woman Tyra Steur landed the Shot at 12.22m.
The next stage of the AG Insurance Urban Memorial Van Damme will be held on Sunday September, 4th in Brussels. Anspach Avenue will be transformed in a 200m straight track on which the three Borlée brothers will compete ! Five days later the 40th edition of the AG Insurance Memorial Van Damme will be held in the King Baudouin Stadium.
