Banska Bystrica / Dubnica, SlovakiaThe Slovak EAA permit meetings ‘Athletics Bridge’ to be held on Sunday 27 August in Banska Bystrica and Tuesday 29 August in Dubnica are building a fine Hammer Throw tradition.
In the women‘s contest all three Hammer Throw medallists from Gothenburg will compete with the best overseas athletes from Cuba. Russian World record holder Tatyana Lysenko will for the first time this season meet with former double World champion and last year‘s Helsinki silver medallist Yipsi Moreno from Cuba.
The organisers have put up a car (KIA) as bonus for a possible new global mark, and as well as Lysenko, Moreno wants also throw a decent mark, because she is the meet record holder with 74.95m (last year).
Also in the field is another former World record holder* Gulfiya Khanafeyeva from Russia.
In order to assist at least eight athletes in the Men’s Hammer Throw to have points from the three meetings necessary to qualify for the World Athletics Tour Final in Stuttgart, therefore both Banksa Bystrica and Dubnica will stage points scoring events in this event.
The competition thus includes tghe top-7 finalusts from Gothenburg.World and European champion Ivan Tikhon from Belarus, will face Finland's silver medallist, Olli-Pekka Karjalainen, the world leader and bronze medal winner from Gothenburg Vadim Deviatovskiy, also of Belarus. Also in the field three other European finalists (4th Esser, 5th Ziolkowski, 6th Pars, 7th Kozmus, 11th Lingua).
American shot putter Christian Cantwell will be another star making his last warm-up competitions before the IAAF World Athletics Final, while in the Triple Jump, Marian Oprea from Romania, a medallist in Athens, Helsinki and Gothenburg in the last three summers will compete.
The High Jump is also strong. World Indoor championships silver medallist Andrey Tereshin from Russia will compete along with Olympic finalist Svatoslav Ton from Czech Republic, and national record holders of Slovenia (Rozle Prezelj) and Brazil (Jesse de Lima).
Russian Yulia Golubchikova, German Nastja Ryshich, Hungarian record holder Krisztina Molnar and czech Helsinki bronze medallist Pavla Hamackova are the hot favourites in the women’s Pole Vault.
In the men’s sprints, European bronze medallist Matic Osovnikar from Slovenia takes on Darvis Patton and Rod Martin from USA, Jacey Harper from Trinidad and Tobago, and the Bahamian record holder Derrick Atkins.
Three 400m athletes with sub-45 seconds bests will be on the start too - Americans Jamal Ashley and Mitch Potter along with Ato Modibo from Trinidad and Tobago - and they will be joined by Poland’s Piotr Marciniszyn and Piotr Rysiukiewicz.
There is also a strong men’s sprint 110m Hurdles, with four Americans with bests between 13.22 and 13.31 - Joel Brown, David Oliver, Ron Bramlett and Aubrey Herring - and in the women’s 100m Hurdles, American Lolo Jones is the six fastest this season is the standout.
On the flat the ever young Merlene Ottey is hoping for another world best in category 45+. But she will find it tough with Central American Games winner Roxana Diaz from Cuba and two Goteborg 200 m finalists Yekaterina Kondratyeva from Russia and Angela Morosanu from Romania in the line-up.
By an IAAF Correspondent
Live results to be found at www.saz.sk (Slovak athletics federation website).
*subject to ratification
