The 22nd edition of the Meeting International d’Athlétisme de la Province de Liège takes place on Wednesday 19 June. Cynthia Bolingo will go for the Belgian record in the 300 metres at the Province Naimette Arena, while Eliott Crestan will try to improve the BR in the 600 metres. Spectators in Liège can also look forward to the arrival of Liège resident and three-time World Para Athletics Champion Maxime Carabin.
The Meeting International d’Athlétisme de la Province de Liège will once again welcome the cream of Belgian athletics and top international athletes this year. A few weeks before the Paris Olympics, the Olympic atmosphere will also be tangible in Liège. Those not yet qualified for Paris can grab one of the last Olympic tickets in the cosy Province Naimette Arena. For those who are already sure of a place in Paris, Liège is the ideal meeting to hone their Olympic form.
That second category of athletes includes Cynthia Bolingo. The number 5 in the 400 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championships will run the 300 metres at the Meeting International d’Athlétisme de la Province de Liège. At this rather unusual distance, she will go for her own Belgian record, which has stood at 36.47 since August 2022. Helena Ponette, Bolingo’s colleague at the Belgian Cheetahs, is also at the start of the 300 metres in Liège.
Eliott Crestan, good for bronze in the 800 metres at the World Indoor Championships this spring, will attempt the 600 metres at the Meeting International d’Athlétisme de la Province de Liège. He too will try to break the Belgian record: Joeri Jansen’s 1:15.35 dates back to 2002! Crestan will compete in Liège against Kenyan Ferguson Rotich, who won silver in the 800 metres at Tokyo.
Hurdler Michael Obasuyi only recently ran a Belgian record. He too will be in Liège on 19 June. Can he improve his top time of 13.20 in the 110-metre hurdles? That same race will also see a happy reunion with Julien Watrin.
Other Belgians to definitely look out for are high jumper Thomas Carmoy (who will compete against former World Champion Bohdan Bondarenko and former European Champion Mateusz Przybylko), pole vaulter Ben Broeders, sprinter Rani Rosius (in the 100 metres) and two-time World Pentathlon Champion Noor Vidts (who will run the 100 metres hurdles).
Three-time reigning World Para Athletics Champion Maxime Carabin will also sparkle at the Meeting International d’Athlétisme de la Province de Liège. At the World Championships in Kobe, Japan, this month, the Liège wheeler took gold in the 100, 400 and 1500 metres in the T52 class. At the Province Naimette Arena, Carabin will make his appearance in front of his own crowd in the 100 metres.
Tickets are available to download for free on the website until Tuesday 18 June or will be on sale for €10 each from the main entrance of the Province Naimette Arena on Wednesday 19 June from 5pm.
