Konrad Bukowiecki gave the European Athletics U23 Championships a sizzling start on the first morning of competition on Thursday.
The Polish shot putter is one of the biggest names in the sport in his country and he made his mark in his bid for another gold medal by breaking the championship record with his one and only effort.Bukowiecki was the seventh thrower in Group A and the reigning European indoor and European U20 champion turned and twisted his way in the circle to a distance of 21.26m, comfortably breaking the old mark of 20.45m set by Germany's David Storl in Ostrava in 2011.
What. A. Throw
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) July 13, 2017
Poland's Konrad Bukowiecki qualifies for the shot put final with a throw of 21.26 metres on home soil!#Bydgoszcz2017 pic.twitter.com/p8XcBr1lWh
Not only did it send out a message to his rivals ahead of Thursday’s final, it also showed that if he can reach distances such as this in qualifying, what can we expect when the medals are at stake?
Bukowiecki vowed to go even further by saying said: “In the qualifications I had a pretty good throw but I am able to throw further. The qualifications were easy for me but I cannot ignore my rivals because they are good.”
Germany’s Simon Bayer and Italian Leonardo Fabbri were the next best two in qualifying with 19.06m but they will have to go some to deny Bukowiecki of gold.
In the long jump this morning, Filippo Randazzo topped qualifying for the final with 8.04m from Ukrainians Vladyslav Mazur with 7.74m and Ihor Konchar with 7.72m.
After topping the medal table in Amsterdam and Belgrade, will the Polish team do the same in @bydgoszcz2017?@k_bukowiecki hopes so! pic.twitter.com/LxqCwef7VB
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) July 13, 2017