Throws steal the spotlight in Warsaw - Kusocinski Memorial report

Warsaw, PolandThe fiftysecond edition of the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial, which took place in the Warsaw Academy of Physical Education stadium today (18), was a high quality meet with world leading performances in two events, a number of world-class marks and several breakthrough performances by Polish athletes.

Heidler out-battles Skolimowska in the women's Hammer Throw...

The initial highlights came long before the meet was officially open, in the men's and women's Hammer Throw competitions. First it was the turn of the women. The Olympic champion from Sydney, Kamila Skolimowska took the lead in round one with a meet record of 71.83. The record proved short-lived, as in the next round the German record holder, Betty Heidler, send the hammer flying to 72.32, a result she replicated in round three. Skolimowska did not give up and in the fourth round managed to beat Heidler's best by 7cm. Yet in the end it was Heidler who prevailed, as on her last attempt she achieved 73.97. Volha Tsander of Belarus took third place in this high-quality competition with 71.81.

... while Ziolkowski's World-leading 81.52 dominates the men's

In the men's competition, in contrast, the winner was never really in doubt. Szymon Ziolkowski hit it big on his first throw with a world-leading 81.52, his farthest throw in nearly 5 years. He followed up with two more efforts beyond 80 metres, including an 81.22, to confirm his status as one of the favourites for this year's European Championships. Valeriy Sviatokha, the man whom Ziolkowski replaced at the top of the World list, finished second with a throw 79.65, and the Ukrainian veteran Andrey Skvaruk took third with 78.63.

Rybakov over Silnov, both better 2.32...

The men's High Jump competition, advertised as the highlight of the meet, was indeed of very high quality. Three men - Yaroslav Rybakov, Andrey Silnov and Olympic champion Stefan Holm - cleared 2.28. At 2.30, however, both Russians went clear with their first attempts, while the Swede missed in his three tries. Both Rybakov and Silnov went on to clear a world lead-equalling 2.32, Rybakov on his second attempt, his younger compatriot on his third. As 2.35 turned out to be beyond reach, Rybakov, the World indoor champion was declared the winner.

... while 17-year-old conquers 2.26

The big story to emerge from the competition, though, was the performance of the man, or rather boy, who finished fourth. The 17-year old Sylwester Bednarek (born 1989) improved his own national youth record twice, first going clear at 2.24 on his last attempt, then doing so at 2.26 on his first. Bednarek finished highest of the Polish jumpers, beating such big names as Grzegorz Sposob, Michal Bieniek and Aleksander Walerianczyk, and confirmed his medal ambitions for this year's World Junior Championships.

In the women's Pole Vault, the Polish athletes reduced all foreign guests to supporting roles. Even with Anna Rogowska absent due to a slight Achilles tendon injury, three Polish vaulters filled the podium. The favourite, Monika Pyrek, did not disappoint, although not without some problems along the way, as she only cleared 4.55 on her last attempt. Pyrek went on to clear 4.60, and then had three failures at a world-leading height of 4.71. Behind her, Joanna Piwowarska took second place with 4.50, the same height as Roza Kasprzak in third. This represented a major improvement for Kasprzak, as her previous PB was 4.40 (achieved indoors this year).

The horizontal jumps also saw good results, as Viktor Yastrebov of Ukraine won the Triple Jump with a wind-aided 17.00, and James Beckford took the Long Jump with an 8.10 leap, just ahead of the 8.05 produced by the Polish 21-year-old Marcin Starzak.

The distances achieved in both men's and women's Discus Throw contests suffered somewhat due to the same winds that helped the jumpers and sprinters. With world class fields assembled, there was nonetheless some exciting action. In the men's competition, World leader Aleksander Tammert won with first round throw of 64.82, before passing on his remaining attempts due to back problems. Frantz Kruger was second with 63.45, just ahead of the Polish up-and-comer Piotr Malachowski's 62.99. Current World Championships medallist Michael Mollenbeck was a distant seventh (60.27).

In the women's competition, Natalya Sadova sealed the win early with her first two throws going over 63 metres, the second measured at 63.39. Wioletta Potepa showed once again she is now a major force in the event as her fifth round effort of 61.85 was enough to beat World Championships medallist Vera Pospisilova into third place.

There was more world class throwing in the men's Shot Put. Andy Dittmar went into the lead in round one with 20.43, which was good enough for tje lead until round four, when Poland's Tomasz Majewski responded with a season's best 20.63. The order at the top did not change in the remaining rounds, with Olympic champion Yuriy Belonog finishing third behind the Pole and the German with a best of 20.29.

In the women's 400 meter hurdles, as expected, Anna Jesien was dominant, equalling her season best of 55.29. Malgorzata Pskit was the runner-up with 55.77. In third place came another breakthrough athlete - Agnieszka Karpiesiuk, who began the day with a modest PB of 57.17 and ended with a 55.88 to beat a strong Russian duo of Marina Shiyan and Yekaterina Bakhvalova, as well as World semi-finalist Marta Chrust-Rozej.

More excitement on the track was generated by the women's 800 meter race. Aneta Lemiesz, who recently dipped under two minutes for the first time in Victoria, Canada, almost matched her PB, winning in 1:59.95. A strong finish by Ewelina Setowska brought her second place with a personal best of 2:00.08. Four more women finished in under 2:01, among them 1500 meter specialists Lidia Chojecka and Anna Jakubczak, showing unexpectedly good speed at the shorter distance.

The main memorial race of 3000 meters was dominated by African runners, with Wilson Busienei of Uganda winning in 7:52.37 ahead of four Kenyans.

In the shorter races, Marcin Urbas showed good form winning the 200 metres comfortably in 20.64. Piotr Dabrowski emulated him in the one-lap race, running a season best of 45.65, as World Indoor silver medalist California Molefe only managed fifth (46.51). In the men's 800, there was another Polish victory as Grzegorz Krzosek outdipped Kenyan Solomon Birir, reaching the line in 1:46.38.

In the men's 4x100 relay race, run at the end of the meet, the Polish national team managed a time of 39.12.

The Kusocinski Memorial served as the final selection meet for the Polish European Cup team. The team lineup is to be announced later tonight.

For full results, please click here.

Pawel Jackowski for the IAAF