Crouser, Jackson, Ceh and Amusan set to highlight Memorial Gyulai in Szekesfehrvar
World champions Ryan Crouser, Shericka Jackson, Kristjan Ceh and Tobi Amusan will headline the Memorial Istvan Gyulai in Szekesfehrvar, the penultimate Continental Tour Gold meeting of this season.
The Hungarian meeting dedicated to the memory of former World Athletics General Secretary Istvan Gyulai will be an important test for many global stars one month before the start of the World Championships at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest from 19 to 27 August.
Men’s discus throw:
World champion Kristjan Ceh will clash against Olympic champion Daniel Stahl from Sweden, world silver medallist and European champion Mykolas Alekna and 2017 world champion Andrius Gudzius from Lithuania, and Olympic silver medallist Simon Petterson from Sweden.
Ceh improved his Slovenian record to 71.86m in Johvi setting the fourth best performance on the world all-time list and won four top meetings in Doha with 70.89m, Rabat with 70.32m, Ostrava with 68.55m and Stockolm with 69.83m. The Slovenian thrower threw over the 70 metres barrier with 70.54m in Velenje.
Stahl beat Ceh at the Continental Tour Gold in Turku with 70.38m and finished second in Johvi with the second best throw of his career of 71.45m. Stahl is tied with Ceh in their career head-to-head clashes at 14-14.
Alekna improved his PB to 71.00 in Berkeley last April and won the European Under 23 gold medal with 68.34m in Espoo last week.
Men’s hammer throw:
All three medallists from the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 and the World Championships in Eugene 2022 will be in the spotlight in the men’s hammer throw. Olympic champion Wojciech Nowicki will renew his rivalry against five-time world champion Pawel Fajdek and Elvind Henriksen. Wojciech threw three times over the 80 metres and set the world seasonal lead with 81.92m at the Bislett Games in Oslo. The Polish thrower took the win at the Memorial Kamila Skolimowska in Chorzow with 80.02m.
The line-up also features 2019 world bronze medallist Bence Halacz from Hungary and Olympic fourth placer Mykhaylo Kokhan from the Ukraine.
Men’s shot put:
Olympic and world champion Ryan Crouser Is aiming to continue his winning streak this year. Crouser broke his own world record with 23.56m in Los Angeles and won four consecutive competitions in the past month in Ostrava with 22.63m, Lausanne with 22.29m, at the US Championships in Eugene with 22.86m and Chorzow with 22.55m.
Crouser will take on two-time world champion and Olympic silver medallist Joe Kovacs and world bronze medallist Josh Awotunde, Olympic bronze medallist Tom Walsh and Payton Otterdahl.
Awotunde finished third at the US Championships with 22.10m, while Kovacs placed fourth with 21.90m. Kovacs won last year’s edition of the Memorial Gyulai with 22.89m and went on to win the Diamond League final in Zurich with 23.23m. Kovacs, whose grandfather is Hungarian, will rely on the strong support of local fans.
Walsh set a seasonal best of 22.22 in Bydgoszcz and finished second in Ostrava with 22.15m, Lausanne with 21.99m and third in Chorzow with 21.78. Otterdahl finished third at the US Championships with 22.09m and second at the Memorial Kamila Skolimowska with 21.88m.
The best European shot putter in the line-up is Zane Weir from Italy. Weir won the European Indoor title with a national indoor record of 22.06m and the European Team Championships in Chorzow with 21.59m.
Women’s 200 metres:
World 200m champion Sherika Jackson will run her third race in the 200 metres this season after winning in Rabat in 21.98 and at the Jamaican Championships in Kingston in 21.71 into a head-wind of -0.5 m/s, the second fastest time in the world this year behind the world lead of 21.60 set by Gabby Thomas at the US Championships. Jackson also won the 100m at the Jamaican Championships with a world leading time of 10.65 and finished second to Sha’Carri Richardson in 10.78 in Chorzow.
Jackson will face Kayla White, who finished third at the US Championships in Eugene in 22.01, and Tamara Clarke, fourth in the 100 metres in 11.03 at the US Championships
Women’s 100 metres:
Sha’Carri Richardson is looking to continue her unbeaten streak this season in the women’s 100 metres. The 23-year-old US sprinter improved her PB to 10.71 in the heats of the US Championships in Eugene before winning the final in 10.82. She won two Diamond League 100 metres races in Doha and Chorzow with the same time of 10.76.
Julien Alfred from Santa Lucia, Commonwealth Games silver medallist last year, will make her debut on the European circuit after winning two NCAA titles in the 100 metres in a wind-assisted 10.72 and the 200 metres in a wind-assisted 21.73. Alfred ran legal times of 10.83 in the 100m and 21.91 in the 200m.
The line-up also features USA’s Tamari Davis, third at the US Championships in 10.99, and Natasha Morrison, third at the Jamaican Championships in Kingston in 10.98.
Men’s 200 metres:
Erryion Knighton will lead the line-up in the men’s 200 metres. The 19-year-old world bronze medallist won the men’s 200 metres at the US Championships in Eugene in 19.72 and won three European races in Florence in 19.89, Bydgoszcz in 19.95 and Oslo in 19.77. Knighton set the meeting record of 19.88 at last year’s edition of the Memorial Gyulai.
Knighton will face Alexander Ogando, who finished fifth at the World Championships in Eugene in 19.93, Terrance Laird, NCAA champion in 2021, and Jamaica’s Julian Forte, who set his PB of 9.91 in Berlin in 2017.
Women’s 100 metres hurdles:
World champion and record holder Tobi Amusan from Nigeria will chase her second consecutive win in the women’s 100 metres hurdles after claiming victory in a meeting record of 12.34 ahead of Kendra Harrison and Nia Ali at the Wanda Diamond League in Chrorzow.
Amusan will go head to head against Ali again in Szekesfehrvar. Ali won the US National Championships in Eugene in 12.37 and finished third in 12.38 in Chorzow.
The world-class line-up will also feature USA’s Alaysha Johnson, who finished second in New York in a wind-assisted 12.30 and fourth at the US Championships in Eugene in 12.46, Tia Jones, who placed second in Ostrava in 12.44, third in Lausanne in 12.51 into a head-wind of -1.4 m/s and fifth at the US Championships in Eugene in 12.50, Pia Skrzyszowska from Poland and Luca Kozak from Hungary, who won gold and silver medals at the European Championships in Munich.
Men’s 110 metres hurdles:
Reigning Commonwealth Games champion Rasheed Broadbell showed his good form winning the Jamaican title in a world seasonal lead of 12.94 and won at the Rabat Diamond League in 13.08. Broadbell took the win at last year’s edition of the Szekesfehrvar meeting in 13.12 before beating Grant Holloway in Lausanne in 12.99.
Broadbell will go head-to-head against Olympic champion Hansle Parchment from Jamaica, and Daniel Roberts and Freddie Crittenden, who finished first and third at the US Championships in Eugene this year.
Men’s 100 metres:
The men’s 100 metres will feature Ackeem Blake from Jamaica and PJ Austin. Blake took the win at the Los Angeles Grand Prix in 9.89 and finished fourth at the Jamaican Championships in Kingston in 9.89. Austin also clocked a PB of 9.89 in the NCAA Championships semifinal in Austin before finishing fifth in the final in 9.97.
The line-up also features world silver medallist Marvin Bracy Williams, 2018 world indoor bronze medallist Ronnie Baker and 2011 world champion Yohan Blake.
Women’s 400 metres hurdles:
Janieve Russell leads the line-up in the women’s 400m hurdles. Russell won the Jamaican title in 53.75 this year. Russell finished fourth at the Olympic Games in 53.08.
The line-up will also feature Jamaican hurdlers Andreanette Knight, Rushell Clayton and Shiann Salmon, who finished second, third and fourth at the Jamaican Championships in 53.78, 53.81 and 53.97, European silver medallist Viktoriya Tkachuk, and Ayomide Folorunso from Italy, who finished second at the European Team Championships in Chorzow in 54.79 and third in Lausanne in 55.12.
Men’s 400 metres:
Steven Gardiner will run his fourth 400 metres race of the season after winning in Devonshire in 44.42, in Rabat in 44.70 and at the Bahamian Championships in Nassau in 44.64. Gardiner won the world gold medal in Doha 2019 in a national record of 43.48 and the Olympic title in 43.85 in Tokyo 2021.
Gardiner will face Vernon Norwood, second at the US Championships in 44.39 in Eugene, Ryan Willie, who finished fifth at the US Championships in 44.87 and Chorzow in 44.77, and Attila Molnar from Hungary, who improved his PB to 44.88 and won the European Under 23 Championships in Espoo last week.
Men’s long jump:
Olympic and European champion Miltiadis Tentoglou will face this year’s US champion Marquis Dendy, 2019 world champion Tajay Gayle and LaQuan Nairn, who won at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne. Tentoglou won at the European Team Championships in Chorzow with 8.38m and at the Greek Championships with a seasonal best of 8.38m.
Women’s long jump:
World silver medallist Ese Brume from Nigeria will take on US Championships second placer Quanesha Burks and Brooke Bushkuehl, Australian record holder with 7.13m.
Men’s 800 metres:
Joseph Deng from Australia showed his good form improving Peter Bol’s national record by 0.01 to 1:43.99 in France earlier this month.Deng will face Olympic bronze medallist Clayton Murphy from the USA and Saul Ordonez from Spain, who won in Ostrava in 1:44.65 and finished second in Stockolm in 1:44.67.
Women’s 1500 metres:
Nelly Chepchirchir, who set PBs of 1:58.23 in the 800m in Grosseto and 3:58.96 in the 1500m in Hengelo, will face Uganda’s Winnie Nanyondo, Brenda Chebet from Kenya (PB 4:01.30), Spain’s Marta Perez in the women’s 1500 metres and Fedderica Del Buono, who clocked 4:05.09 at the Golden Gala in Florence.
Men’s 3000 metres:
World under 20 silver medallist Samuel Firewu will run his first 3000 metres steeplechase race this season. Firewu clocked a PB of 8:19.22 in Ostrava last year.
