Stefan Holm celebrates 2.32m in Malmö (© Göran Lenz)
Warsaw, PolandThe 52nd edition of the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial, taking place on Sunday, 18 June, will once again feature a number of international stars, including many Olympic and World championship medallists. Poland’s top athletes will also come out in force – some of them still looking for European Championship qualifying standards, while others will be trying to secure team berths for the European Cup Super League.
Strong men's High Jump field
Arguably the best field of the meet has been assembled in the men’s High Jump, featuring the current world outdoor and indoor champions – Yuriy Krymarenko of Ukraine and Russia’s Yaroslav Rybakov-- and the current Olympic champion Stefan Holm of Sweden. Joining them in the contest will be a second Russian, Andrey Silnov, with a PB of 2.35, Tomas Janku of the Czech Republic and a strong group of Polish jumpers, including Aleksander Walerianczyk, Michal Bieniek (both boasting PBs of 2.36) and Grzegorz Sposob. In total, the competition features 10 men with PBs over 2.30.
Sadova, Ziolkowski, Tammert and Bilonog among the stars in the throws
The women’s Discus Throw will also be one of the highlights of the meet. The current Olympic champion and world leader this year, Natalya Sadova, will star in a competition that also includes World championship medallist Vera Cechlova, No. 2 in the world this year Wioletta Potepa, Olena Antonova of Ukraine and former World champion Olga Chernyavskaya.
In the men’s Hammer Throw, Poland’s Szymon Ziolkowski, the former World and Olympic champion, will face a battle against the world leader this year, Valeri Sviatokha of Belarus (81.49 in 2006). Also in the competition are four other men with career bests of over 81 metres: Aleksey Zagorniy, Andrey Skvaruk, Miloslav Konopka and Libor Charfreitag. In the women’s competition, 2000 Olympic champion Kamila Skolimowska will meet Betty Heidler, who recently took the German record to 75.38 and the Belarussian Olga Tsander, who has a PB of 76.66.
Other throwing events will also see world-class action. The men’s Discus Throw will also feature the 2006 world leader, Aleksander Tammert. His rivals include the current World bronze medallist, Michael Mollenbeck, and Frantz Kruger, Olympic medallist from 2000. The reigning Olympic champion Yuriy Bilonog will be the chief attraction of the men’s Shot Put competition. Trying to match the Ukrainian will be Poland’s No. 1, Tomasz Majewski.
Monika Pyrek looks to be the class of the field in women’s Pole Vault. Poland’s No. 3, Joanna Piwowarska (4.53 this year) will also be on hand to test the foreign competition, including the new South American record holder Fabiana Murer and Anastasiya Shvedova of Russia (PB 4.55).
James Beckford will start as favourite in the Long Jump contest. The men trying to beat the Jamaican veteran will include World Indoor medallist from 2004 Vitaliy Shkurlatov, Chris Tomlinson of Great Britain and the in-form young Polish jumper Marcin Starzak, who recently upped his PB to 8.08.
The main memorial race will be 3000 metres, the event in which Janusz Kusocinski was world record holder. This year, the race will feature a host of Kenyans, including Mark Bett (PB 12:55.63 at 5000), Steven Koech (13:04.43 at 5000), as well as Wilson Busienei of Uganda and Essa Ismail Rashed of Qatar.
The men’s 800 metres will have a deep international field, starring, among others, Youssef Saad Kamel of Bahrain who has a career best of 1:43.11; Majid Saeed Sultan of Qatar (PB 1:44.27), and the bronze medallist at the 2001 World Championships, Pawel Czapiewski. The women’s race includes Svetlana Cherkasova, Faith Macharia and the top Polish specialists Ewelina Setowska (World Indoor finalist) and Aneta Lemiesz (1:59.93 this year), as well as the 1500 metre stars Lidia Chojecka and Anna Jakubczak.
Some of the stars of the men’s short sprint race include Eric Nkansah, Freddy Mayola, World Indoor silver medallist Andrey Yepishin and the 20-year old Dariusz Kuc, who recently took his PB from 10.45 to 10.17. The men’s 400 will feature a match-up between this year’s World Indoors silver medallist California Molefe, James Godday of Nigeria (44.99 this year), Michael McDonald of Jamaica and Poland’s best runners. The women’s one-lap race is noteworthy for the participation of the Jamaican veteran Sandie Richards and Tatyana Levina of Russia, as well as the top Polish runners, headed by Monika Bejnar, who has shown good form recently with a PB of 22.98 at 200 meters.
Pawel Jackowski for the IAAF
