Nine medallists from last summer’s European Athletics Championships in Munich are set to resume rivalries at the upcoming European Throwing Cup in Leiria, Portugal.
The annual event takes place on 11-12 March and promises to provide a fascinating insight into how winter training has fared for plenty of the continent’s finest athletes in the throws disciplines.
The women’s hammer throw has all the ingredients of being one of the events of the weekend with all three medallists from Munich ready to renew hostilities. Gold medallist Bianca Ghelber of Romania, silver medallist Ewa Rozanska of Poland and bronze medallist Sara Fantini of Italy will all be seeking to get their season’s off to a booming start.
In the men’s hammer, five-time world champion Pawel Fajdek of Poland will open his season, returning to a competition he last won in 2018. His chief opposition will likely come in the form of European silver medallist Bence Halasz of Hungary.
With the World Athletics Championship set to come to his home country in Budapest this summer, Halasz is sure to be highly motivated for a monumental season.
The men’s discus sees world champion Kristjan Ceh in action. The Slovenian, also European silver medallist last year, triumphed in the same meeting last year and will hoping for a similar launchpad in 2023. European bronze medallist Lawrence Okoye of Great Britain is another name worth watching.
The women’s javelin should provide an intriguing duel between rising stars of the sport Elina Tzengko of Greece and Adriana Vilagos of Serbia. Tzengko became the youngest ever European javelin champion last year aged 19, whilst Vilagos took silver aged 18. Now, they are still only 20 and 19, it could be the start of a long-term rivalry for the major medals.
European gold medallist Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands is the pick of the entries in the women’s shot put.