The first wave of domestic and international stars has been announced for the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial which takes place in Silesia, a World Athletics Continental Tour Silver meeting, on 4 June.
On the comeback trail from a hamstring injury, European 100m hurdles champion Pia Skrzyszowska faces Puerto Rico’s Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn who won the 100m hurdles at last year’s meeting in 12.43 into a strong headwind.
Natalia Kaczmarek and Justyna Swiety-Ersetic, both of whom helped Poland to the Olympic title in the mixed 4x400m in Tokyo, will also face strong opposition from Olympic and world silver medallist Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic in the 400m.
Former European indoor 60m champion Ewa Swoboda is confirmed for the 100m and home favourite Piotr Lisek faces two-time world champion Sam Kendricks and Olympic fourth-placer Emmanouil Karalis from Greece in the pole vault.
“Of course, these are only selected stars, we are in talks with more athletes who will grace the competition. We will continue to surprise our fans,” said Sebastian Chmara, director of the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial.
This meeting will also be important in the context of the European Athletics Team Championships which takes place in the same stadium between 20-25 June as part of the third edition of the European Games where the hosts will challenge for their third successive title.
The 1st Division takes place from 23-25 June and tickets for the competition are on sale now.
“Performances at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial will be one of the criteria we will take into account when selecting the team for the European Athletics Team Championships. We want to select the strongest team that will fight for the podium,” said sports director of the Polish Athletics Association, Krzysztof Kęcki.
The full calendar of World Athletics Continental Tour Silver, Bronze and Challenger events in Europe can be found here.