Camryn Rogers in action in Turku (© Christel Saneh for World Athletics)
The throws should again secure the spotlight at the Paavo Nurmi Games as several global champions renew their rivalry at the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku, Finland, on Wednesday (3).
Camryn Rogers in the hammer, Jessica Schilder in the shot put and Kristjan Čeh in the discus are among some of the stars on show at the Paavo Nurmi Stadium, where Emmanouil Karalis and home favourite Wilma Heltelä headline the pole vault.
Rogers started her season in sensational style as she threw a North American record of 81.13m during the World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger meeting in Austin at the start of April – the fourth-farthest winning women’s hammer mark in history and a performance that consolidated her place at second on the world all-time list.
She followed that with 79.63m in Ramona and 80.03m to win the Continental Tour Gold competition in Nairobi. This will be the Olympic and two-time world champion’s first competition since then as she looks to clinch her third consecutive win in Turku.
Her rivals include home stars Krista Tervo and Silja Kosonen, USA’s two-time world medallist Janee' Kassanavoid and Italy’s European champion Sara Fantini.
Schilder has also impressed already this season, opening her outdoor campaign by throwing a Diamond League record of 21.09m in Shanghai. It was the best shot put mark in the world for 14 years and saw her become the first new member of the 21-metre club since 2009.
USA’s Chase Jackson, who in March added the world indoor title to her two world outdoor crowns, and Canada’s two-time world indoor champion Sarah Mitton both also surpassed 20 metres in Shanghai and they all clash again in Turku, where they will be joined by Jamaica’s 2019 world silver medallist Danniel Thomas-Dodd and Sweden’s Fanny Roos.
The discus stars a showdown between Slovenia’s 2022 world champion Čeh, Sweden’s three-time world champion Daniel Ståhl, Jamaica’s Olympic champion Roje Stona and Australia’s Olympic bronze medallist Matt Denny, who threw a world-leading 74.04m in Ramona in April. Čeh won from Denny and Ståhl when they clashed during the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai.
Karalis will want to build on the six-metre clearance he managed when winning in Limassol two days ago. The Greek Olympic and world medallist moved to second on the world all-time list by soaring 6.17m in February and will be looking for more after finishing seventh on his season debut in Shanghai. This time his competition includes USA’s Sam Kendricks and KC Lightfoot, as well as Poland’s Piotr Lisek.
Finland’s 2023 world pole vault bronze medallist Heltelä (née Murto) opens her outdoor season as part of a field featuring New Zealand’s world indoor medallist Imogen Ayris, who finished second at the Diamond League meeting in Rabat, plus USA’s Gabriela Leon.
Ukraine’s Yuliia Levchenko, fourth in Rabat, goes in the high jump against Jamaica’s Lamara Distin.
USA’s 2024 world indoor silver medallist Monae’ Nichols and Colombia’s world bronze medallist Natalia Linares compete again after taking the top two spots in Shanghai. They face Jamaica’s Ackelia Smith and Great Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers as well as 2025 world indoor champion Claire Bryant.
On the track, sub-10 second sprinters Eugene Amo-Dadzie of Great Britain, Brandon Hicklin of USA and Bayanda Walaza of South Africa clash in the men’s 100m, while the women’s event stars Bahamian Anthaya Charlton, Canada’s Sade McCreath and USA’s Maia McCoy.
Luca Kozák improved her own almost four-year-old Hungarian 100m hurdles record to 12.66 to win at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Bydgoszcz and she races again, up against USA’s Rayniah Jones and Finland’s Lotta Harala. Great Britain’s Alastair Chalmers will want to continue his unbeaten season in the 400m hurdles following wins in Bydgoszcz and Savona.
Dutch European indoor 800m champion Samuel Chapple and Canada’s Gabriela DeBues-Stafford go in the 1500m events, while the 5000m includes Ethiopia’s two-time world and Olympic steeplechase fourth-place finisher Getnet Wale. His compatriot Abrham Sime races the steeplechase, as does Alemnet Wale in the women’s event.
