Kenyan athletics legend Mike Boit has been inducted into the Memorial Van Damme Hall of Fame, nearly five decades after winning the 800 metres at the inaugural edition of the prestigious Brussels athletics meeting. Boit was among three athletes honoured during a gala ceremony in Brussels, joining American athletics greats Carl Lewis and Dwight Stones in this year’s Hall of Fame class. The recognition formed part of celebrations marking the 50th edition of the Memorial Van Damme, which was held at the King Baudouin Stadium as the 2026 Diamond League Final.

Boit has a particularly strong connection to the Brussels meeting. He won the men’s 800m at the first Memorial Van Damme in 1977, making him one of the event’s earliest champions. The meeting was established in memory of Belgian middle-distance runner Ivo Van Damme, who won Olympic silver in the 800m at the 1976 Montreal Games before his death in a road accident later that year. According to the Memorial Van Damme organisers, Boit was also the first Kenyan athlete to compete regularly on the international athletics meeting circuit, placing him among the pioneers of Kenya’s emergence as a major force in global athletics. Boit had already secured an Olympic medal before his Brussels victory, winning bronze in the men’s 800m at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Boit was inducted alongside Lewis, one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history, and Stones, a former world-record holder in the high jump. Lewis won the long jump at the Memorial Van Damme in 1984 with a distance of 8.65 metres, while Stones won the high jump at the inaugural 1977 meeting. Both athletes were part of the generation that helped establish the Brussels event as a major fixture on the international athletics calendar. The Hall of Fame selections were made by a jury chaired by Memorial Van Damme founder Wilfried Meert.

The induction has been welcomed in Kenya, with Tourism Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano congratulating Boit on the honour. Miano described the recognition as acknowledgement of Boit’s contribution to athletics and his role in raising Kenya’s profile internationally. Boit’s induction also comes at a time when Kenyan athletes continue to feature prominently at the Brussels Diamond League Final. Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi won the men’s 800m at the 2026 final, while world champion Faith Cherotich claimed victory in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase. For Boit, the Hall of Fame recognition brings his connection with the Memorial Van Damme full circle: he won its first 800m race in 1977 and has now been formally recognised among the athletes whose careers are closely associated with the history of the Brussels meeting.