Event by Event Preview for the Silesia Diamond League - Memorial Kamila Skolimowska

Posted by: Watch Athletics

The Wanda Diamond League will resume on 6 August at the Memorial Kamila Skolimowska at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzow. Organisers have announced 19 world champions and 49 medallists from Eugene 2022. 

The list of recently crowned world champions in Eugene 2022 features Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce, Shericka Jackson, Armand Duplantis, Michael Norman, Shaunae Miller Uibo, Ryan Crouser, Alison Dos Santos and Pawel Fajdek. 

Men’s pole vault: 

Armand Mondo Duplantis won his first world outdoor title in Eugene breaking the world record with 6.21m. Duplantis has already qualified for the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich after a very successful season, in which he has won four competitions in Doha (6.02m), Eugene (5.91m), Oslo (6.02m) and Stockolm (6.16m). In his career Duplantis has won 17 Diamond League competitions, including the Zurich final with 6.06m last year. 

The 22-year-old Swedish star has cleared the 6.00 metres barrier 48 times in his career, overtaking Sergey Bubka, who vaulted this height 46 times over 13 seasons. The World Championships in Eugene was his 11th competition at 6 metres or higher for Duplantis in 2022. On Polish soil Duplantis set the first world record of his career in the World Indoor Tour meeting in Torun with 6.17m in February 2020 and won the European Indoor gold medal in the same venue last year with 6.05m. 

Armand Duplantis: “The beautiful thing about athletics, and especially pole vaulting, is there is always a little bit more that you can do. There is more that you can push to get those few extra centimetres out of yourself. I am enjoying everything right now: the process of travelling, of coming to competitions. I love being out here competing. If I wasn’t having such a good time with the process and striving to push the boundaries and see what I am capable of, then it would be different. As far as now, I am enjoying it. Motivation is the least of concerns. 

Duplantis will renew his rivalry against Christopher Nilsen, who won the world silver medal with 5.94m in Eugene, the Olympic silver in Tokyo with 5.97m and the world indoor bronze in Belgrade. Nilsen has always performed well on Polish soil clearing 5.92m at the Memorial Szewinska in 2021 and 5.86m in the past edition of the Memorial Skolimowska in Chorzow. 

The entire podium of the World Championships is completed by Ernest John Obiena, who became the first athlete from the Philippines in history to win a medal at the World Championships improving his Asian record to 5.94m. 

Thiago Braz Da Silva won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo with 5.87m and finished fourth at the World Championships in Eugene with  the same height. 

Former world record holder Renaud Lavillenie returned to his best form by finishing fifth at the World Championships in Eugene with his seasonal best of 5.87m. In this year’s edition of the Diamond League the Frenchman placed second in Paris with 5.80m and fifth in Stockolm with 5.87m. 

The hopes of the Polish fans are carried by Piotr Lisek, who set two national records with 6.01m in Lausanne and 6.02m in Monaco in 2019 and won the world bronze medal in Doha 2019 with 5.89m. 

The other athletes to watch are Sondre Guttormsen, who placed third at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene with his PB of 5.81m and second at the Bislett Games in Oslo with 5.80m, and Thibaut Collet from France, who improved his PB to 5.82m at the Memorial Odlozil in Prague and won the French title with 5.70m beating Lavillenie in Caen last June.

Women’s 200 metres: 

Jamaica’s Sherika Jackson will compete in her first 200 metres race since her world 200 metres gold in Eugene. Jackson set the second fastest time in history with 21.45 missing Florence Griffith Joyner by 11 hundredths of a second. Jackson is currently second in the qualification ranking for the Wanda Diamond League final and could secure her spot for Zurich with a win at the Silesia Stadium in Chorzow. In this year’s Diamond League Jackson won the 200m in Rome in 21.91 beating Elaine Thompson Herah, Dina Asher Smith and Shaunae Miller Uibo. In her first race after the World Championships in Eugene Jackson won the 100 metres in 11.13 in Lignano Sabbiadoro. 

The Jamaican sprinter also won two world silver medals in the 100 metres in her PB of 10.73 and in the 4x100 in 41.18 and three Olympic medals in Tokyo last year (gold medal in the 4x100 relay, silver in the 100m and in the 4x400 relay). 

Shericka Jackson: “When you achieve a goal, you go back and set another goal. So for this season it is to have fun. I know proper execution will get me to run fast. I love challenges. If I go back to the 400m, I know I will do pretty well. I am not giving up as yet. All events are up for grabs”

Jackson will go head-to-head against 400 metres Olympic and world champion Shaunae Miller Uibo, who will step down in distance to test her speed over the 200 metres distance. Miller Uibo set the 400m world seasonal list with 49.11 beating Marileidy Paulino. The Bahamian star set her national records of 21.74 in the 200m in Zurich in 2019 and 48.36 in the 400m in the Olympic final in Tokyo last year. She will aim to break into the top eight in the 200 metres qualifying ranking for the Diamond League final. 

The best US sprinters in the line-up are Tamara Clarke, who finished second at the US Championships in 21.92 and sixth in the 200m final at the World Championships in Eugene in 22.32, and Jenna Prandini, who clocked her seasonal best of 22.01 at the US Championships and won the world gold medal with 41.14 in the 4x100 relay in Eugene, 

Women’s 100 metres: 

Five-time 100 metres world champion Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce will take on 2019 European Indoor gold medallist Ewa Swoboda in a non-DL 100 metres race . Fraser Pryce won the 100m world gold medal in 10.67 and two silver medals in the 200m in 21.82 and in the 4x100 in 41.18. The Jamaican sprint star broke the Kamila Skolimowska meeting record clocking 10.81 last year, just one week after setting the third fastest time in history with 10.60 in Lausanne. She set the world seasonal list with 10.67 three times in Nairobi, Paris and Eugene. 

Swoboda placed fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade last March in the 60 metres in 7.04. The Polish sprinter improved her PBs in the 60 metres to 6.99 at the Polish Indoor Championships and in the 100 metres to 11.05 in the Paris Diamond League meeting last June. 

Ewa Swoboda: “I feel proud to have my name mentioned alongside Shelly Ann’s. She is an icon. Each athlete dreams of achieving at least half of what Fraser Pryce has and stay at the top for so long. I hope it will be the best women’s 100 metres race to ever to take place on Polish soil. On 6 August I would like to finish as close to the legend as possible”. 

The line-up also features three US sprinters Melissa Jefferson, Aleia Hobbs, and Twanisha Terry, who won the world gold medal in the 4x100 relay. Jefferson won the US Championships title in Eugene in a wind-assisted 10.69. At the World Championships in Eugene she finished eighth in the 100m final in 11.03 and won the world 4x100 gold medal in 41.14. Hobbs finished second in the US National Championships in 10.72 and sixth in the World Championships in Eugene in 10.92. 

Men’s 100 metres: 

Marvin Bracy and Trayvon Bromell won the silver and bronze medal at the World Championships sharing the same time with 9.88. The two US sprint stars will go head-to-head again on the blue track of the Slaski Stadium in Chorzow in a race that features nine sprinters with a seasonal best under 10 seconds. 

Bracy won two silver medals this year at the World Indoor Championships in the 60 metres in Belgrade in 6.44 and at the World outdoor Championships in the 100 metres in Eugene. He also won the world silver medal in the 4x100 relay in 37.55 at Hayward Field and finished second in the 100m at the US Championshiips in 9.85.

Bromell won the 100m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in 9.92 and set his seasonal best of 9.81 in the semifinal of the US Championships in Eugene last June before finishing third in the final at Hayward Field.

The line-up also features three more finalists of the World Championships in Eugene: Akani Simbine from South Africa, 2022 world indoor silver medallist Christian Coleman, who finished fifth and sixth respectively with the same time of 10.01, Abdul Hakim Sani Brown from Japan, seventh in 10.06. 

The other sub-10 sprinters in the field are Elijah Hall, world silver medallist in the 4x100 relay and fifth at the US Championships in 9.90, Kyree King, sixth at the US Championships in 9.96, Jamaican sprinters Yohan Blake and Akeem Blake, who finished first and third respectively in 9.85 and 9.93 at the Jamaican Championships in Kingston last June. 

Men’s 400 metres hurdles: 

Fresh 400 metres hurdles world champion Alison Dos Santos is set to continue his winning streak in the Diamond League after claiming four consecutive victories in Doha (47.24), Eugene (47.23), Oslo (47.26) and Stockolm (46.80). The Brazilian hurdler set his seventh South American record, improving from 46.72 to 46.29 to win the world gold medal in Eugene. Dos Santos is ranked third in the world all-time list behind Karsten Warholm and Raj Benjamin, who won Olympic gold and silver medals in Tokyo in 45.94 and 46.17. 

Dos Santos will face Frenchman Wilfried Happio and Khallifah Rossier, who finished fourth and fifth at the World Championships in Eugene. Happio clocked 47.41, a time that would have enough to win 14 of the past 17 world titles. Rossier finished third at the US Championships in 47.65 and fifth at the World Championships in Eugene in 47.88. 

The line-up is completed by CJ Allen and Amere Lattin, who finished fourth and sixth in the US Championships final in 48.17 and 48.53, and Ramsey Angela from the Netherlands, European under 23 bronze medallist in Tallin 2021 with his PB of 49.07 and semifinalist at the World Championships in Eugene. 

Men’s 400 metres: 

Michael Norman will renew his rivalry against world silver medallist Kirani James in the men’s 400 metres. 

Norman won his first 400m world title in 44.29 in Eugene bouncing back from his fifth place at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and completed the double by winning the 4x400 relay in 2:56.17. Norman broke the 44 seconds barrier twice this year clocking 43.60 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene and 43.56 at the US Championships on the same Hayward Field track. 

James won the world silver in Eugene in 44.48 completing a full set of medals in the 400 metres in both the Olympic Games and the World Championships. 

The line-up also features US Champion Allison, who placed second at the US Championships in a seasonal best of 43.70 and fourth in the World Championships final in Eugene in 44.77, Bryce Deadmon, who won the world 4x400 gold medal in Eugene, Michael Cherry, fourth in the 400m and Olympic champion with the 4x400 relay in Tokyo,  Liemarvin Bonevacia from the Netherlands and Isaac Makwala from Botswana, Olympic silver and bronze medallists in the 4x400 relay. 

Women’s 100 metres hurdles:  

Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho Quinn is aiming to win her fourth Diamond League race this season in the women’s 100m hurdles after claiming victories in Eugene in 12.45, in Rome in 12.37 and Stockolm in 12.46. The Puerto-Rican hurdler won the world bronze medal in a wind-assisted 12.23. She returns to the Chorzow Slaski Stadium, where she took the win at the Memorial Janusz Kusocinski. 

Camacho Quinn will face Olympic silver medallist and former record holder Kendra Harrison, who won the US Championships final in 12.34 and set a seasonal best of 12.27 in the semifinal of the World Championships in Eugene. Nia Ali, world champion in Doha 2019, will be looking to bounce back from the disappointment at World Championships in Eugene, where she fell in the semifinals. 

The other top hurdlers in the line-up are Alaysha Johnson, who finished second to Harrison in 12.35 at the US Championships in Eugene, Tonea Marshall, who improved her seasonal best to 12.46 in Walnut last April, Gabriele Cunningham, Olympic finalist and world indoor bronze medallist in the 60 metres hurdles in Belgrade 2022, Tia Jones, who clocked 12.52 in Memphis on 30 July, Chanel Brisset, Panamerican Games silver medallist in 2019 and winner in two Italian meetings in Lignano Sabbiadoro in 12.99 and Nembro in 12.92. 

The best European hurdlers in the field are Pia Skrzyszowska from Poland, who finished fifth in the 60m hurdles in 7.95 in the European Indoor in Torun, Ditaji Kambundji from Switzerland, European Under 20 champion in Tallin 2021 and semifinalist at the World Championships in the 100m hurdles In Eugene in 12.70, and Sarah Lavin from Ireland, seventh at the World Indoor Championships in the 60 metres hurdles in Belgrade last March.  

Women’s 400 metres: 

European 400m hurdles record holder Femke Bol will run over the flat distance this time against four 400m world championships finalist from Eugene: Stephanie Ann McPherson from Jamaica (fifth), Fiordaliza Cofil from Dominican Republic (sixth), Candice McLeod from Jamaica (seventh) and Anna Kielbasinska (eighth). 

Bol won the world silver medal in the 400m hurdles in 52.27 in Eugene missing her European record by 0.24. The Dutch athlete won three Diamond League races in Rome (53.02), Oslo (52.61) and Stockolm (52.27). 

Women’s high jump: 

Two world championships medallists from Eugene Yaroslava Mahuchick from the Ukraine and Elena Vallortigara from Italy will renew their rivalry on the track of the Slaski Stadium. 

Mahuchik started her season with three consecutive Diamond League wins in Eugene with 2.00m, Rabat with 1.96m and Paris with 2.01m, but she had to settle with fifth place in Stockolm with 1.89m. The 20-year-old Ukrainian jumper won her second consecutive world outdoor silver medal  in Eugene losing to Eleanor Patterson on countback with 2.02m. 

Vallortigara cleared the 2.00m barrier for the first time since 2018 to win the world bronze medal in Eugene beating Iryna Geraschenko on countback. The 31-year-old Italian high jumper also jumped 1.98m to win the national title in Rieti last June. 

Gerashchenko is a consistent performer and placed fourth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and at the World Championships in Eugene. 

The line-up features Nadezhda Dubovitskaya from Uzbekhstan, world indoor bronze medallist with 2.00m in Belgrade 2022, Yuliya Levchenko from the Ukraine, world silver medallist in London 2017, Safina Sadullayeva from Uzbekhstan, fifth at the World Championships in Eugene with 1.96m, Kateryna Tabashnyk from the Ukraine, fifth at the European Championships in Berlin 2018, Marija Vukovic from Montenegro, fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade 2022, and US jumper Rachel McCoy, third at the US Championships in Eugene last June.  

Men’s shot put: 

The line-up features Joe Kovacs and Josh Awotunde, who won the silver and bronze medals at the World Championships in Eugene. 

Kovacs has enjoyed a very consistent season. He won in Ostrava with 22.25m, Rome (21.85m) and finished second to Crouser in three Eugene competitions at the Prefontaine Classic with 22.49m, at the US Championships with 22.87m and at the World Championships with 22.89m. 

Awotunde improved his PB to 22.29m to complete the US medal sweep in Eugene. 

Another global medallist is Tom Walsh from New Zealand, double Olympic bronze medallist in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021 and world champion in London 2017. Walsh placed fourth  at the World Championships in Eugene with 22.08m. He set his seasonal best of 22.31m at the Memorial Janusz Kusocinski on the same Chorzow track last June. 

The line-up also features two-time Italian outdoor champion Nick Ponzio, who placed ninth at the World Championships in Eugene and threw over the 21 metres barrier 9 times in his 19 competitions this season, Darrell Hill, who finished fourth at this year’s Prefontaine Classic in Eugene with his seasonal best of 21.84m, Konrad Bukowiecki from Poland, European outdoor silver medallist in Berlin 2018, Michal Haratyk from Poland, European outdoor champion in Berlin 2018.

Men’s triple jump: 

World and Olympic champion Pedro Pablo Pichardo will take on world silver and bronze medallists Fabrice Hugues Zango from Burkina Faso and Zhu Yaming from China, world indoor gold medallist Lazaro Martinez and Andy Diaz from Cuba. 

Pichardo won the world outdoor gold medal in Eugene with 17.95m one year after claiming the Olympic title in Tokyo with 17.98m. The Portuguese triple jumper of Cuban origin also won the European Indoor gold medal in Torun 2021 and the world indoor silver medal in Belgrade 2022. 

Zango won the world silver medal in Eugene with 17.55m following his third places at the World Championships in Doha 2019 and at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021.

Zhu Yaming followed his Olympic silver medal with a world bronze medal in Eugene with 17.31m. 

Italian-based Andy Diaz improved his lifetime best three times this season to 17.64m in Grosseto, 17.65m in Paris and 17.68m in Rieti. Diaz is coached by 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Fabrizio Donato. 

The US contingent will be represented by two-time Olympic champion Christian Taylor, this year’s US champion Donald Scott and Chris Benard. 

Martinez won the world indoor gold medal in Belgrade with 17.64m and jumped 17.30m twice this season in La Nucia and Montreuil. 

Men’s hammer throw: 

The top four finishers of the World Championships in Eugene Pawel Fajdek and Wociech Nowicki, Elvind Henrksen from Norway and Quentin Bigot from France will compete at the Slaski Stadium. Polish star Pawel Fajdek won his fifth world title with a world leading mark of 81.98m. Only former pole vault record holder Sergey Bubka has won more world titles in a single discipline in the history of the World Championships. This year Fajdek won two Diamond League competitions in Oslo with 80.56m and Paris with 80.11m. 

Fajdek will go head to head against his compatriot Wojciech Nowicki, who won the world silver medal in Eugene with 81.03m one year after winning the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo. Nowicki beat Fajdek in the Continental Tour meeting in Chorzow last June. 

Henriksen won the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo last year with his national record of 81.58m and the world bronze medal with 80.57m. Bigot won the world silver medal with 78.19m in Doha 2019 and placed fifth at the Olympic Games with 79.39m and fourth at the World Championships in Eugene with 80.24m. 

Women’s hammer throw: 

Fresh world champion Brooke Andersen will clash against world bronze medallist Janee Kassanavoid in a re-match of the World Championships in Eugene. Andersen set the world lead with 79.02m in Tucson last April and won the world title with 78.96m in Eugene. 

Kassanavoid is the only athlete who has beaten Anderson in Tucson on 21 May with 78.00m. 

The hopes of Polish fans are carried by Malwina Kopron, who won the 

Olympic bronze medal with 75.49m. 

Women’s shot put: 

World champion Chase Ealey will clash against world bronze medallist Jessica Schilder from the Netherlands, World and European Indoor champion Auriol Dongmo, and Sarah Mitton from Canada, who set the national record with 20.33m and won the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham earlier this week with 19.03m. 

Ealey won three Diamond League competitions this year in Doha with 19.51m, in Oslo with 20.13m and Stockolm with 20.48m and set the three best performances this year with 20.51m, 20.49m and 20.48m. Schilder won the world bronze medal with a national record of 19.77m. 

Women’s 1500 metres: 

Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay will start as the big favourite after a successful season, in which she won the world indoor 1500m title in Belgrade and the world outdoor 5000m gold medal in Eugene. Tsegay returns to the Chorzow track where she set her outdoor lifetime best of 3:54.01 last year. 

Tsegay will take on her compatriots Hirut Meshesha, world 1500m indoor bronze medallist in Belgrade 2022, and Lemlem Hailu, world indoor champion in the 3000 metres. 

Men’s 800 metres: 

Reigning Olympic and world champion Emmanuel Korir will start as the favourite in the men’s 800 metres race that also features European indoor champion and Olympic bronze medallist Patryk Dobek from Poland, Olympic silver medallist Ferguson Rotich from Kenya, Bryce Hoppel from the USA, fourth at the World Championships in Doha 2019 and world indoor bronze medallist in Belgrade 2022, Clayton Murphy, Olympic bronze medallist in Rio de Janeiro 2016, Tony Van Diepen from the Netherlands, who finished third in 1:44.14 in the Paris Diamond League meeting. 

Women’s 800 metres: 

World Indoor champion Ajée Wilson will face Olympic bronze medallist Raevyn Rogers in a US battle in the women’s 800 metres. Wilson won her first big international gold medal in Belgrade last March in 1:59.09 after two consecutive world indoor silver medals in Portland 2016 and Birmingham 2018 and finished second at the US Championships in her seasonal best of 1:57.23. 

Rogers won the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo setting her PB of 1:56.81 in 2021. This year the former student at the University of Oregon finoshed third at the US Championships in Eugene in 1:57.96 and finished sixth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1:58.26. 

The other names to watch are Anita Horvat from Slovenia, who finished seventh in the World Championships final in 1:59.83, and Elena Bellò from Italy, who improved her PB to 1:58.89 in the Rome Diamond League meeting and won the Continental Tour Gold race in Turku in 1:59.84. 

Women’s 3000 metres: 

Reigning Olympic 5000m and 10000m champion Sifan Hassan will be looking to bounce back from the disappointment at the World Championships in Eugene, where she finished fourth in the 10000m and sixth in the 5000m. 

Hassan will face this year’s world 10000m bronze medallist and 2019 world 5000m silver medallist Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi and Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye, who  set the world seasonal best time in the 5000 metres with her lifetime best of 14:12.98 at the Prefontaine Classic. Taye finished fifth at the Olympic Games in the 5000m in Tokyo and sixth in the 10000m at the World Championships in Eugene. 

Men’s long jump: 

Miltiadis Tentoglou will be looking to return to winning ways after finishing second at the World Championships. The Greek jumper won the European title in Berlin 2018, Olympic gold medal in Tokyo 2021, the World Indoor gold medal in Belgrade 2022 with his national record of 8.55m and two European Indoor gold medals in Glasgow 2019 and Torun 2021. 

Tentoglou will take on three top-ten jumpers from the World Championships in Eugene: Mayel Massò from Cuba (fourth), Steffin McCarter (fifth) and Marquis Dendy (sixth). 

Men’s javelin throw: 

Olympic silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch from Czech Republic is looking to continue his successful season in which he won the world silver medal in Eugene with 88.09. Vadlejch improved his PB to 90.88m when he finished second to Anderson Peters in the Diamond League meeting in Doha. 

Vadlejch will take on Julian Weber from Germany, who finished fourth at the World Championships in Eugene with 86.86m. Weber threw twice over the 89 metres barrier (89.54m in Hengelo and 89.08m in Stockolm). 

Women’s javelin throw: 

Haruka Kitaguchi from Japan will line up against world record holder Barbora Spotakova from Czech Republic. Kitaguchi won her first Diamond League competition in Paris Charlety with 63.13m and went on to win the world bronze medal with 63.27m in Eugene. 

Spotakova set the world record with 72.28m in Stuttgart 2008 and won two Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012 and three world titles in 2007, 2011 and 2017. She won a Diamond League competition in Monaco last year at the age of 40. 

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