Bydgoszcz, Poland - Just three days after the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Warsaw, Poland’s other major international meet will take place in Bydgoszcz on Wednesday (10).

Among a number of major players on the entry lists for the meeting, four names stand out: those of the current Olympic champions Brimin Kipruto, Tomasz Majewski, Gerd Kanter and Primoz Kozmus.

The IX European Athletics Festival in Bydgoszcz is part of a select group of Area meetings at which points can be acquired by athletes to qualify for the IAAF / VTB Bank World Athletics Final, to be held on 12-13 September in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Majewski takes on weighty cast of opponents

Once again, the throwing events, which brought Poland its only two athletics medals in the Beijing Olympics, will be the centre piece of the show.

The home favourite in the Shot is of course Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski, who has been showing great consistency this year, with 21.22m, 21.19 and 21.26 in his three outdoor competitions, but he will certainly not have it easy.

One obvious challenger to his supremacy is USA’s Christian Cantwell, silver medallist from Beijing and the current World Indoor champion, who has thrown 21.53 this year, but lost to Majewski in both of their direct encounters in 2009.

The field, however, also features the current World outdoor champion Reese Hoffa, who has recently been unstoppable with three successive World Athletics Tour wins, finishing ahead of Majewski each time. The last of these wins came in Sunday’s Prefontaine Classic (7), where the American set a world leading mark of 21.89m, and he is certainly looking forward to keeping the series going. The impressive line-up also features Russian Olympic finalists Pavel Lyzhyn and Pavel Sofin, this year’s European Indoor finalist Lajos Kurthy (HUN), and 21 metre+ putter Dorian Scott (JAM).

Kozmus vs Pars

Nearly as impressive is the men’s Hammer Throw field. The Olympic 1-2, Primoz Kozmus and Krisztian Pars, will go head to head for the second time in Poland this year. Pars has been unbeaten in his five appearances so far this year and is the current world leader with 81.43m, while Kozmus has kept a lower profile and has not yet reached 80 metres, but his form has been steadily improving.

Attempting to challenge these two will be World Championship bronze medallist Libor Charfreitag, 80+ metre thrower this year Aleksey Zagornyi, and two in-form Italians, Marco Lingua and Nicola Vizzoni.

The competition will naturally also feature Poland’s top thrower for many years, former Olympic and World champion Szymon Ziolkowski, who started the season on a low note, but is expected to improve on his current season’s best of 75.95.

Unmatchable Kanter

The Discus Throw competition will be yet another opportunity for a Beijing rematch. The current World and Olympic champion Gerd Kanter is also the current world season leader and has been unbeaten in 2009. The Estonian is peerless currently.

The man who came closest to beating him in Beijing, Poland’s Piotr Malachowski, has, however, also been in impressive form, winning all his competitions, including a national record of 68.75 in Halle and a win in Warsaw over former multiple global title winner Virgilijus Alekna of Lithuania. Bydgoszcz will be the first time these two go head to head in 2009.

Add the current World Championship silver medalist Robert Harting (GER), Olympic medallist from Athens Zoltan Kovago (HUN) and Olympic finalist Bogdan Pishchalnikov (RUS), and you will likely get another competition of the highest caliber.

Kipruto faces fellow Beijing medallist Matelong

The most exciting track event should be the 3000m Steeplechase in which the current Olympic champion, Brimin Kipruto, who has already run 8:06.46 this season, is the star. His strongest rival in the race is another Olympic medallist Richard Matelong, third in the Beijing final. Also in the field will be Tareq Mubarak Taher of Bahrain, an Olympic finalist with a personal best of just over 8:07.

Two solid 800 metre races are also on the cards.

The women’s competition is highlighted by the participation of a Russian duo composed of the current European champion Olga Kotlyarova and Olympic fourth placer Svetlana Klyuka, plus another Beijing finalist Kenia Sinclair of Jamaica.

In the men’s race two strong Kenyans, Gilbert Kipchoge and Justus Koech, will try to withstand the attack from Poland’s ‘youth’; 21-year-old Marcin Lewandowski, who recently set a personal best of 1:45.03 in Hengelo and the 19-year old new find Adam Kszczot.

Rawlinson, Sanchez, Payne, Perry and Jones in the hurdles

There will also be plenty of world-class action in the Hurdles races.

In the women’s 400m Hurdles, the Australia’s current World champion Jana Rawlinson will be making her season debut. Going against her will be the Olympic fourth-placer Anastasiya Rabchenyuk, who won at the Kusocinski Memorial on Sunday in  54.74sec and Poland’s World Championship medallist Anna Jesien, who was marginally beaten by the Ukrainian in that race. The race will also feature another Beijing finalist Yekaterina Bikert of Russia, and her compatriot, the current European champion Yevgenya Isakova.

A host of major names will appear in the men’s version of the same event, too. Former two-time World champion Felix Sanchez will face a field including the Olympic fourth- and fifth-placers, Danny McFarlane (JAM) and LJ van Zyl (RSA), as well as the current World Championship medalist Marek Plawgo of Poland, for whom the race will be his first in 2009.

In the men’s 110m Hurdles, the star of the line-up is the current Olympic and World medallist, David Payne of the USA. Attempting to stay with him will be a group of other Americans, including Anwar Moore and Dexter Faulk, and two finalists from Beijing: veteran Maurice Wignall and the Polish youngster Artur Noga, who will try to make a comeback after a groin injury kept him out of the Kusocinski Memorial.

The women’s 100m Hurdles will again feature major names. World’s fastest hurdler of 2008 and World Indoor champion Lolo Jones (USA), and the current double World outdoor champion Michelle Perry (USA) are the stars of the field that also includes the former World Indoor champion Derval O’Rourke, Olympic finalist Sarah Claxton, the experienced Lacena Golding-Clarke and the fast-progressing Belgian Eline Berings.

The men’s flat sprints will feature the former World 100m champion Kim Collins (SKN) who competes in both 100 and 200 metres. The women’s 100m field includes Laverne Jones and Stephanie Durst, while the 200m has Durst as well as Cydonie Mothersill.

High quality jumps too

Finally, the jumping arenas will also be the witness to the performance of some highly distinguished names. The women’s High Jump will see the comeback of the Olympic champion from Athens, Yelena Slesarenko. In the Triple Jump, former World Indoor medallist Anna Pyatykh will face another Russian, this year’s European Indoor champion Anastasiya Taranova-Potapova.

The men’s Pole Vault, too, has a strong field including top German pole vaulters, Danny Ecker, Tim Lobinger and Malte Mohr, as well as Russia’s former World Indoor champion Igor Pavlov and his compatriot Viktor Chistyakov. Attempting to make an impression against his more experienced rivals will be the Polish youngster Lukasz Michalski, who improved to 5.70m indoors this year.

Pawel Jackowski for the IAAF