Jamaican sprinter Elaine Thompson-Herah (© Getty Images)
Jamaica's five-time Olympic gold medallist Elaine Thompson-Herah is the latest star announced for the ORLEN Copernicus Cup – a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting – in Torun, Poland, on 22 February.
She will be joined at the Arena Torun by two athletes with world records in their sights: Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay, who set a world indoor 1500m record of 3:53.09 in Lievin last year, and her compatriot Selemon Barega, who moved to third on the world indoor 3000m all-time list with his 7:26.10 performance at the same French meeting.
Thompson-Herah claimed three gold medals in Tokyo – in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m – and will be testing her speed this indoor season as she races at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham on 19 February before travelling to Torun.
Second on the world all-time list for 100m (10.54) and 200m (21.53), Thompson-Herah has a 60m PB of 6.98, run in 2017. The world record stands at 6.92, set by Irina Privalova in 1993.
Lining up alongside her in Torun will be Poland's 2019 European indoor 60m champion Ewa Swoboda and Switzerland's Ajla Del Ponte, who won the European indoor title last year.
Before Torun, both Tsegay and Barega will return to Lievin on 17 February, with Tsegay contesting the mile and Barega the 3000m.
Also announced for the meeting in Torun are Olympic 400m hurdles bronze medallist Femke Bol and home star Anna Kielbasinska, who earlier this month set a Polish indoor 400m record of 51.10 in Ostrava.
Other athletes already named for Torun include Olympic 100m hurdles bronze medallist Megan Tapper, Olympic pole vault bronze medallist Thiago Braz and Olympic relay medallists Roniesha McGregor, Iga Baumgart-Witan and Natalia Kaczmarek.
The ORLEN Copernicus Cup is the sixth World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting of 2022. There are seven Gold level meetings across the series, starting with Karlsruhe on 28 January and culminating in Madrid on 2 March.
Organisers for World Athletics
