Silesia Set for Post-Paris Diamond League Showdown: Ingebrigtsen, Duplantis & Wanyonyi Headline
The Wanda Diamond League continues its post-Olympic roadshow this Sunday (25th August) with the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial meeting in Silesia, Poland. The event, the 12th leg of the season, promises a spectacular display of athletics with a star-studded lineup set to enthral an expected crowd of over 40,000.
Just three days after smashing his way into joint second on the world 800m all-time list with a 1:41.11 clocking, matching the former world record held by Denmark's Wilson Kipketer, Kenya's 20-year-old Emmanuel Wanyonyi will be back in action. He faces stiff competition in the shape of Canada's world champion Marco Arop and American world indoor champion Bryce Hoppel.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the Norwegian Olympic 5000m champion who recently outwitted Cole Hocker in Lausanne, will now test himself over 3000m. His opponents in this clash of titans include a formidable Ethiopian trio: Selemon Barega, the 2021 Olympic 10,000m champion; Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Berihu Aregawi; and Yomif Kejelcha. The challenge is further compounded by double Olympic bronze medallist Grant Fisher of the United States. "I'm excited about the race," said Ingebrigtsen. "3000m is a very good distance for me, and everything is lined up for something big."
Botswana's Letsile Tebogo, who stormed to a 200m victory in Lausanne with a time of 19.64 despite admitting to not training for eight days prior, will be aiming for another strong showing in Silesia. He'll face stiff competition from USA's Erriyon Knighton, who finished runner-up to Tebogo in Lausanne, and Olympic silver medallist Kenny Bednarek.
Mondo Duplantis, the double Olympic pole vault champion and world record holder, is set to continue his dominance after raising his own meeting record to 6.15m in Lausanne. He will be challenged by Olympic silver and bronze medallists Sam Kendricks of the USA and Emmanouil Karalis of Greece, as well as 37-year-old French veteran and former world record holder Renaud Lavillenie, who equalled his season's best of 5.72m in Lausanne. The Swede's 2022 meeting record of 6.10m appears vulnerable.
World and Olympic 110m hurdles champion Grant Holloway will have an early chance to reclaim his winning ways after losing to Rasheed Broadbell of Jamaica in Lausanne.
The men's 100m, while not a scoring event, promises to be a thrilling spectacle. Olympic silver medallist Kishane Thompson of Jamaica, Olympic bronze medallist and 2022 world champion Fred Kerley of the USA, and Italy's 2021 Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs are all set to compete.
In the women's 100m, Dina Asher-Smith will be a strong contender having secured a season's best of 10.88 in Lausanne. She will face her British teammate Darryl Neita, with home sprinter Ewa Swoboda adding to the mix.
Olympic 400m bronze medallist Natalia Kaczmarek will be the focus of home support as she takes on the gold and silver medallists from Paris: Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic and Bahrain's Salwa Eid Naser. Kaczmarek, the European champion, has encouraging memories of this meeting, having previously defeated Paulino.
Poland's other high-performing Olympic athletes, 100m hurdler Pia Skrzyszowska and javelin thrower Maria Andrejczyk, will also face familiar opponents. Skrzyszowska, who has claimed bronze at both the World Indoor and European Championships this year, will test herself against the Olympic gold, silver, and bronze medallists: Masai Russell of the USA, Cyrena Samba-Mayela of France, and defending champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico.
Andrejczyk, the 2021 Olympic silver medallist, will be challenged by Olympic silver and bronze medallists Jo-Ane Van Dyk of South Africa and Nikola Ogrodnikova of the Czech Republic. Austria's European champion Victoria Hudson and Colombia's world silver medallist Flor Ruiz Hurtado will also be competing.
Femke Bol of the Netherlands, who set a meeting record of 52.25 in the 400m hurdles in Lausanne, will face a strong US contingent: Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell, 2016 Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad, and double world silver medallist Shamier Little. Bol, who is targeting the 2021 meeting record of 54.18 set by Ukraine's Viktoriya Tkachuk, commented: "My shape is still there from Paris, although I am a bit tired. It will be the first time I have run 400m hurdles in this stadium, and I hope to get it."
The men's high jump will see a clash between Olympic champion Hamish Kerr of New Zealand and the Italian who shared the previous Olympic title, Gianmarco Tamberi.
Ryan Crouser of the USA, fresh off winning a record third Olympic shot put title in Paris, will make his Diamond League return. He'll face Olympic silver medallist and compatriot Joe Kovacs, and Italy's European champion Leonardo Fabbri, whose personal best of 22.95m this year put him fifth on the all-time list.
Olympic silver medallist and world record-holder Karsten Warholm of Norway will be back in action in the 400m hurdles.
The women's 1500m will see the convergence of Diribe Welteji, winner of the 3000m in Lausanne, and Britain's Olympic bronze medallist Georgia Bell.
Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali, the first man to successfully defend his Olympic 3000m steeplechase title in Paris, will face competition from Kenneth Rooks of the USA, who improved his personal best by nine seconds to secure silver in Paris, and Kenya's bronze medallist Abraham Kibiwott.
Shaniecka Ricketts of Jamaica, the Olympic silver medallist, will contest the women's triple jump against a field including USA's Jasmine Moore, who claimed bronze in both the triple jump and the long jump in Paris.
The Polish passion for hammer throwing will be satisfied in two non-Diamond League competitions. Five-time world champion Pawel Fajdek and 2021 Olympic champion Wojciech Nowicki will compete in the men's event, which also includes world and Olympic champion Ethan Katzberg of Canada. The women's event features Olympic silver medallist Annette Echikunwoke of the USA and her compatriot Brooke Andersen, the 2022 world champion.
Organisers report that 40,000 tickets have already been sold, equalling the stadium record set in 2018. They are confident that the record will be surpassed.
A new reward will be presented to the meeting's most valuable athlete, as judged by the World Athletics points system. They will receive a 14-carat gold, diamond Champion Ring worth $10,000 and a cheque for the same amount.
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics
