Lolo Jones of USA celebrates winning gold in the 60m Hurdles (© Getty Images)
World indoor 60m Hurdles champion Lolo Jones and World Hammer Throw champion Anita Wlodarczyk of Poland have been confirmed for the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava on 27 May, organizers have announced.
Jones, who defended her World indoor title with U.S. record run of 7.72, will be returning to Ostrava's IAAF World Challenge stop for the third time, after victories in 2006 and 2008 in the 100m Hurdles, clocking 12.72 and 12.68 respectively.
“Ostrava was the first big international Meeting I won in 2006," Jones said. "I will always remember that because the stadium has this remarkable unique atmosphere which always wants me to come back."
Organisers hope she'll challenge one of the oldest meet records, Pole Grazyna Rabsztyn's 12.65 set in 1980, and equalled in 2003 by Jamaican Brigitte Foster. Jones has competed twice already this spring, clocking 12.71 and 12.68. She'll also be competing at the IAAF Diamond League kick-off in Doha on 14 May at the IAAF World Challenge meet in Daegu, Korea, on 19 May.
Wlodarczyk will be returning to Ostrava as the defending champion and meet record holder after her 76.59m effort last year, at the time a personal best. She later went on to throw 77.20m in Cottbus, Germany, before her 77.96m World record launch at the World Championships. Fully on the mend from injury, Wlodarczyk returned with a bang last weekend in Dakar where she threw 75.13m, an African All-comers record, at the kick-off of the women's IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge.
The Ostrava Hammer Throw, for both men and women, takes place on 26 May, the day prior to the main programme, and is a part of the Hammer Throw Challenge.
Click here for the full schedule of the 2010 IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge.
Organisers for the IAAF
