New Zealand shot putter Tom Walsh (© Sonya Maleterova)
Heavy throws will likely produce some of the standout moments at the Szewinska Memorial – a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting – in Bydgoszcz on Friday (30).
The men’s shot put will essentially be a rematch of the entire podium from the World Indoor Championships as the three medallists from Nanjing – Tom Walsh, Roger Steen and Adrian Piperi – reunite. The addition of world leader Payton Otterdahl and Jamaica’s Olympic bronze medallist Rajindra Campbell, who currently occupy the top two places on the world list after throwing 21.97m and 21.95m respectively in Rabat last weekend, adds further quality to the contest.
In the women’s event, the meeting record of 19.10m – set 24 years ago – could come under threat by Maggie Ewen and Jamaica’s Danniel Thomas-Dodd, both of whom threw beyond 19 metres last weekend in Arizona.
The home crowd will be out in force to support their leading exponents in the men’s hammer, led by five-time world champion Pawel Fajdek and 2021 Olympic champion Wojciech Nowicki. They’ll have their work cut out for them, though, as three other men in the field have already thrown beyond 80 metres this year: US record-holder Rudy Winkler, Olympic silver medallist Bence Halasz and Olympic bronze medallist Mykhaylo Kokhan.
On the track, perhaps the biggest focus of the meeting will be on the women’s 400m as it features Natalia Bukowiecka, the woman who broke the long-standing Polish record held by Irena Szewinska, after whom the meeting is named.
Bukowiecka, the world silver medallist, got her outdoor campaign underway earlier this month, placing second in Doha in 50.92. She’ll be aiming to go quicker on Friday, especially with memories still fresh from setting a meeting record of 49.86 here last year.
Along with compatriot Justyna Swiety-Ersetic, Bukowiecka’s main opposition could come from Colombia’s Evelis Aguilar, who recently clocked a PB of 49.80.
Polish hopes will also be high over two laps of the track, where European indoor champion Anna Wielgosz will be contesting her first outdoor 800m of the year. But so too will world indoor bronze medallist Patricia Silva, who hasn’t raced since she clocked a Portuguese indoor record of 1:59.80 in Nanjing.
In the men’s event, Sweden’s Andreas Kramer takes on Ireland’s Mark English and Czech record-holder Jakub Dudycha.
Fresh from a 5000m PB in California last month, Australia’s Linden Hall steps back down to her specialist distance, the 1500m. Meanwhile, Tunisia’s two-time world finalist Marwa Bouzayani should start as favourite in the women’s 3000m steeplechase.
Jamaica’s 2016 Olympic champion Omar McLeod is among the entries for the men’s 110m hurdles. The women’s sprint hurdles looks set to be a clash between Hungary’s Luca Kozak, Japan’s Hitomi Nakajima and Denisha Cartwright of The Bahamas.
