Anita Wlodarczyk spins to a meeting record in Ostrava (© Bob Ramsak)
Organisers of the Golden Spike meeting have announced that Polish hammer thrower Anita Wlodarczyk and Lithuanian discus thrower Andrius Gudzius are the latest world champions confirmed to compete at the IAAF World Challenge meeting on 12-13 June.
Wlodarczyk, winner of two Olympic titles and three world titles, improved on her own meeting record in Ostrava last year, throwing 79.72m. She went on to throw a world-leading mark of 82.87m before retaining her world title in London. By the end of the season, she had extended her winning streak to 42 competitions.
“I feel at home in Ostrava,” she said. “I try to produce my best performance here every year. My preparation has been great, so I would like to give a nice gift to the spectators in the form of an exceptional result.”
In the men’s discus, Gudzius will have one eye on the 68.06m meeting record from 1983. The 27-year-old set a lifetime best of 69.21m when winning the world title in London last year and has already started his season with 68.98m.
Recently crowned Commonwealth champion Fedrick Dacres will be his main challenger. The Jamaican has a best of 68.88m and is level with Gudzius in career head-to-heads, 4-4.
Other global champions previously announced for the Golden Spike include world shot put champion Tom Walsh, Olympic shot put champion Ryan Crouser, world long jump champion Luvo Manyonga, world indoor long jump champion Juan Miguel Echevarria, world indoor 400m champion Pavel Maslak, world 200m champion Dafne Schippers, world high jump champion Mutaz Essa Barshim, world indoor high jump champion Danil Lysenko, world javelin champion Johannes Vetter and Olympic javelin champion Thomas Rohler.
Organisers for the IAAF
