History

This year,  ,the  Royal  OLSE Merksem Athletics Club will organize the 46th edition of her famous and well known International Antwerp Athletics GALA.

Our International Meeting has been founded in the late fifities, when contacts with other clubs (as Bratislava and Euskirchen) let to a real international Meeting. Each year, Inspirator and current President of Honour, Jos Nuyens succeeded to present the Antwerp spectators a meeting with many  different and famous international athletes !

Many Belgian top athletes, world record holders and even Olympic Champions were present at our meeting, - in former days at the old cinder- track of the ‘Jef Mermans’ stadium, later on, as of 1978 on the new track of the “ Rode Loop Stadium”

One should remember  the famous worldrecord attempt of Belgian legend Miel Puttemans, Gaston Roelants, who ran against Olympic champion Mohammed Gammoudi l, Karel Lismont, William Van Dyck, Pol Thys, Willy Polleunis, the Antwerp wonderboys and brothers Desruelles Patrick en Ronald, Eddy Annys, Marc Borra, Bruno Brokken, Fons Brydenbach and so many others.

Also names like highjumpers Dwight Stones, Patrick Sjöberg, Carlo Tränhardt, Olympic disc champion Mac Wilkins, Olympic 100m champion in Montreal Hasley Crawford, IAAF member and former 400m runner Irena Szewinska, Olympic pole vault champ Tadeus Slusarski, and many other top athletes, they all passed the Merksem track !

Since few years, the athletics scene has been professionalized in a way that it has become hardly impossible to get any world champ or Olympic champ to our stadium. Even though, OLSE Merksem Athletics Club still offers a large field of athletes with several Belgian top athletes and different young, promising European athletes and even some worldchampionship finalists and Olympic participants !

Past 5 years we’ve hosted most Belgian Top athletes and all former club athletes like Olympic Champion Tia Hellebaut,  Belgian Polevault champion Kevin Rans, and Olympic silver medalist Hanna Mariën (4 x 100m). 

Edition 2010

Since couple of years our meeting takes part in the famous Flemish “Flanders Cup” circuit (link : www.val.be).  With this opportunity, we will be sure to that even more Belgian athletes will find their way to Merksem,aswell as more spectators and more media coverage.

We will host athletes out of more than 25 different countries !  Apart from teams from the Midlands and the South West,  we will host a lot of international top Athletes in different high level competitions !

Entertainment

Right after the meeting,  you will be invited to enjoy a fantastic performance of  coverband ‘The Frontbrakes’. They will  play a set and mix of world famous rock classics !