Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson (© Matt Quine)
Sprint showdowns and a packed programme featuring world record-holders Mondo Duplantis, Yulimar Rojas, Ryan Crouser, Tobi Amusan and Jakob Ingebrigtsen are on offer at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial on Sunday (16).
Quality clashes abound at the eighth meeting in this season’s Wanda Diamond League in Poland, where athletes will be keen to make a mark with just over a month to go to the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23.
That will certainly be the case in the women’s 100m, as the two fastest women in the world so far this season – Shericka Jackson and Sha'Carri Richardson – meet for the second time this year in what will be their sixth career 100m head-to-head.
Jackson leads this season’s top list thanks to the PB of 10.65 she recorded when winning at the Jamaican Championships in Kingston a week ago. That mark moved her to equal fifth on the world all-time list – one place ahead of Richardson, who improved to 10.71 in the heats at the US Championships and went on to win the national title in 10.82.
Richardson won the battle the last time the two athletes clashed – running 10.76 to Jackson’s 10.85 at the Doha Diamond League in May – but Jackson leads 3-2 when it comes to their career head-to-head record.
They will be joined by four other athletes who have dipped under 11 seconds so far this season: Bahamas’ Anthonique Strachan, New Zealand’s Oceanian record-holder Zoe Hobbs, Britain’s Daryll Neita and Jamaica’s Shashalee Forbes, who was second behind Jackson at the national championships, as well as home star Ewa Swoboda.
Fred Kerley – the world 100m champion – focused on the 200m at the US Championships and had to settle for fourth place in that final, but he’ll be looking to rebound in the shorter event in Silesia, as he goes up against the recently crowned US champion Cravont Charleston.
Further domestic competition comes from world silver medallist Marvin Bracy-Williams and Pjai Austin, while the Jamaican trio of Ackeem Blake, Kishane Thompson and Yohan Blake are also in action.
Fred Kerley wins the 100m at the Golden Gala in Florence (© AFP / Getty Images)
There’s an intriguing match-up in the men’s 400m, as Brazil’s world 400m hurdles champion Alison dos Santos races for the first time since September following injury and lines up alongside South Africa’s world record-holder Wayde van Niekerk and Zambia’s world leader Muzala Samukonga, who ran 43.91 in Gaborone in April.
Dominican Republic’s world and Olympic silver medallist Marileidy Paulino – second on this season’s top list with 48.98 – leads the entries in the women’s 400m.
A thrilling clash is on the cards in the women’s 100m hurdles. The 2019 world champion Nia Ali won the US title ahead of Kendra Harrison, Masai Russell, Alaysha Johnson and Tia Jones in Eugene, and four of those five – Ali, Harrison, Johnson and Jones – meet again in Silesia, where they face Nigeria’s world record-holder and world champion Amusan and Jamaica’s Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper, winner of the Jamaican title last weekend.
Crouser, Duplantis and Rojas ready to put on a show
A certain level of expectation follows athletes such as Crouser, Duplantis and Rojas whenever they compete, given the remarkable world record-breaking feats they have already achieved, and the trio will be in the spotlight again in Silesia.
Crouser improved his world shot put record to 23.56m in Los Angeles and most recently won the US title with a 22.86m throw. All three medallists from the 2022 World Championships are in action, with his US compatriots Joe Kovacs and Josh Awotunde looking to build on their respective season’s bests of 22.69m and 22.10m, while New Zealand’s Tom Walsh – third on this season’s top list behind Crouser and Kovacs with 22.22m – adds further strength to the field.
The top two from last year’s World Championships clash in the men’s pole vault, too, but if performances go to the form book, then Duplantis will lead the way.
The Swedish 23-year-old took the world record to 6.22m in Clermont-Ferrand in February and set his world lead of 6.12m in Ostrava. USA’s Chris Nilsen has a best this year of 5.92m and recently won the US title, but the athlete closest to Duplantis so far this season is Nilsen’s compatriot KC Lightfoot, who set an area record of 6.07m in June but finished fourth at the US Championships. The field also features 2016 Olympic gold medallist Thiago Braz, two-time world champion Sam Kendricks and Australia’s Kurtis Marschall.
Rojas heads the women’s triple jump field, fresh from her world-leading 15.16m leap to win at the Central American and Caribbean Games. The Venezuelan jumps star, who set her world record of 15.74m at last year’s World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, will not be the only athlete seeking to surpass the 15-metre mark in Silesia as Cuba’s Leyanis Perez Hernandez came close with a 14.98m PB for the runner-up spot at the Central American and Caribbean Games and is also back in action.
So too is Liadagmis Povea, third behind Rojas and Perez Hernandez in San Salvador, plus Ukraine’s Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk.
Yulimar Rojas soars to another triple jump victory at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Lausanne (© AFP / Getty Images)
Australia’s Olympic silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers and Ukraine’s world indoor champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh are separated by a single centimetre in the high jump so far this season and they compete again in Silesia. Olyslagers improved the Oceanian record to 2.02m to win in Lausanne, while Mahuchikh cleared 2.01m in Rabat. Ukraine’s Iryna Gerashchenko is the third athlete in the field to have soared over 2.00m this season thanks to her PB-equalling performance in Lausanne. Australia’s Eleanor Patterson will also be one to watch, as the world champion competes for the first time since February due to injury.
Qatar’s Olympic and world gold medallist Mutaz Barshim is also making a comeback in the men’s event, as he returns to action after finishing third in the Diamond League in Doha. He goes up against his fellow Olympic champion Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy, New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr and Cuba’s Luis Zayas.
In the women’s javelin, Norway’s world leader Sigrid Borge takes on Lausanne winner Mackenzie Little, two-time world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber and world bronze medallist Haruka Kitaguchi, who won in Paris.
At a meeting named in memory of Poland’s 2000 Olympic champion Kamila Skolimowska, the hammer events will also be in the spotlight. Poland’s five-time world champion Pawel Fajdek and Olympic champion Wojciech Nowicki go head-to-head in the men’s event, while in the women’s contest USA’s world champion Brooke Andersen faces her compatriot Janee' Kassanavoid, the world bronze medallist.
Ingebrigtsen and El Bakkali resume hunt for fast times
Norway’s Ingebrigtsen and Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali have both spoken of their ambition to break the world records in the 1500m and 3000m steeplechase, respectively, and Silesia gives them another opportunity to chase fast times.
It is now 25 years since Hicham El Guerrouj ran his world 1500m record of 3:26.00 in Rome. Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen edged closer to it with the European record of 3:27.95 he recorded in Oslo and now the world indoor 1500m record-holder will have his sights on another win and another quick run. Among those looking to chase him to a fast time will be Azeddine Habz of France.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen on his way to a 1500m win in Lausanne (© Getty Images)
El Bakkali’s target is now 7:52.11 – the time that Lamecha Girma recorded when breaking the world 3000m steeplechase record in Paris in June. Olympic and world champion El Bakkali improved his lifetime best to 7:56.68 when winning in Rabat in May and if he’s anywhere near that sort of form in Silesia then victory should be secured. Among those hoping to challenge him will be Ethiopia’s Getnet Wale and Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot.
Kenya’s world bronze medallist Mary Moraa leads the entries for the women’s 800m, following the 1:57.43 she clocked to win in Lausanne. She then dropped down to 400m, winning the Kenyan trials in a national record of 50.38, and she races her specialism again in Silesia where she takes on Natoya Goule and Catriona Bisset.
In the women’s 3000m, Kenya’s Lilian Kasait Rengeruk will look to build on the PB of 8:25.90 she set when finishing second at the Diamond League in Oslo, while Ethiopia’s world indoor 800m silver medallist Freweyni Hailu makes her outdoor race debut at the distance.
The non-Diamond League women’s 1500m features Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji, Birke Haylom and Hirut Meshesha.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
