Poland&rsquo;s top shot putters will travel across the border to take on the best Czech big men at the 55th Ostrava Golden Spike meeting on 20 May, organisers of the IAAF World Challenge meeting announced on Friday (9).
The hosts at the top Czech athletics meeting of the year will be represented by two-time European indoor medallist Ladislav Prasil and Tomas Stanek, who improved this indoor season to 21.30m.
Poland will send two-time Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski, world U20 champion and world U20 record-holder Konrad Bukowiecki and indoor revelation Michal Haratyk, who improved by more than a metre this winter with a European-leading mark of 21.35m when winning on home soil in Lodz in February.
US indoor champion Kurt Roberts, who improved during the indoor season to 21.57m, will also be in the field.
Organisers for the IAAF

Poland’s top shot putters will travel across the border to take on the best Czech big men at the 55th Ostrava Golden Spike meeting on 20 May, organisers of the IAAF World Challenge meeting announced on Friday (9).

Czech Republic v Poland shot put tussle set for Ostrava

Poland&rsquo;s world champion Pawel Fajdek stole the spotlight from his compatriot and women&rsquo;s hammer world record-holder Anita Wlodarczyk when he fired his implement out to two successive national records at the 61st Janusz Kusocinski Memorial meeting, part of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, on home soil in Szczecin on Sunday (9).Going into the circle at one of the oldest one-day meetings in Europe, just 30 minutes after Wlodarczyk had provided a crowd-pleasing win with 76.70m, Fajdek immediately threw 83.83m and then, with the roars having barely died down, his second attempt reached 83.93m.It was the best throw in the world for more than seven years and it moves him up one position to 10th place on the world all-time list.&ldquo;With my first throw, I thought it only went out to 80 or 81 metres,&rdquo; Fajdek told local reporters. &ldquo;In fact, I wasn&rsquo;t happy with it despite the distance.&rdquo;After a third-round effort of 81.44m, and he remains the only thrower beyond 80 metres in the world this year, he had a foul in the fourth round and passed his final two attempts. &ldquo;With my fourth attempt I could feel that all my energy had gone after what I had done in the earlier rounds, so I decided to end my throwing,&rdquo; he added.Fajdek&rsquo;s previous record prior to Sunday was 83.48m, from last August in Warsaw. Great Britain&rsquo;s Nick Miller took second place on Sunday, finishing above some more illustrious rivals with 75.56m.The Pole now has an impressive lead in the challenge standings with 247.80 points and it is difficult to see anyone challenging him for the US$30,000 first prize as he bids to regain the title he won in 2013 before finishing second, behind Hungary&rsquo;s Krisztian Pars, last year.<h3>Record result</h3>In fact, Fajdek is assured of a record tally in the challenge. His current total is almost three metres better than the previous best three-meeting total since the challenge started in 2010, the &lsquo;record&rsquo; having been Pars&rsquo; 244.84 last year.There are now just two meetings still to go in this year&rsquo;s challenge: the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 later this month and then the Rieti meeting in Italy on 13 September.Despite not competing on Sunday, Tajikistan&rsquo;s Dilshod Nazarov remains in second place with 235.60 points, which emphasises the gulf this summer between Fajdek and the rest of the world&rsquo;s top hammer throwers.Anita Wlodarczyk wasn&rsquo;t quite in the same shape that saw her improve her own world record to 81.08m (subject to the usual ratification procedures) and become the first female hammer thrower beyond 80 metres barely a week ago but she was still in outstanding form and dominated her rivals in Szczecin.She steadily improved throughout the competition on home soil and finished with 76.70m.After a relatively modest 70.56 in the opening round she improved to 76.37m with her second effort to take the lead and then reached 76.66m in the fifth round before improving further by four centimetres with her last attempt.A distant runner up was former world record-holder Betty Heidler, the German moving up from fourth to second in the last round with 73.37m.The result, her second best in the challenge, means that Wlodarczyk extends her lead in the challenge and now has a total of 231.04 points. Wlodarczyk also won the challenge in both 2013 and 2014.Having finally thrown in three eligible meetings, Heidler now moves into second place in the current standings with 222.28 points.<h3>Malachowski and Majewski among the Polish winners</h3>Polish athletes produced a number of other good performances in Szczecin.There was an outstanding men&rsquo;s discus competition, no doubt inspired by the earlier hammer exploits of Fajdek.Piotr Malachowski, who threw a world-leading 68.29m in Cetniewo just over a week ago, took an immediate lead when he threw 66.82m in the first round. The two-time world silver medallist followed it up with two more throws beyond 66 metres with his next two efforts but he could never relax.Fellow Pole Robert Urbanek reached a season&rsquo;s best of 66.31m in round two while Estonia&rsquo;s 2008 Olympic champion Gerd Kanter threw 65.30m in the fourth round.However, Malachowski clinched the win with a fourth-round throw of 67.49m.Adam Kszczot prevailed in the expected battle down the home straight with his regular rival Marcin Lewandowski, with the European champion crossing the line in 1:44.67 and Lewandowski, his continental predecessor from four years before, once again having to settle for second 0.3 in arrears.In fact, even though the pair are closely matched in terms of current and historic times, Kszczot has finished in front in 10 of the past 11 head-to-head encounters. Joanna Jozwik, the European 800m bronze medallist, won the 600m in 1:25.04, a national record for the non-championship distance and the best in the world for more than three years.Piotr Lisek took the pole vault with 5.72m while Karolina Koleczek ran faster than she has ever done before when winning the 100m hurdles in a wind-assisted 12.87.The hugely popular Tomasz Majewski, who turns 34 later this month, may not be currently able to reach the distances that took him to two Olympic shot put gold medals but he is still a more-than-motivated competitor and won his specialist event with 20.69m, snatching the win in the last round.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Poland’s world champion Pawel Fajdek stole the spotlight from his compatriot and women’s hammer world record-holder Anita Wlodarczyk when he fired his implement out to two successive national records at the 61st Janusz Kusocinski Memorial meeting, part of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge, on home soil in Szczecin on Sunday (9)

Fajdek throws 83.93m in Szczecin

For a country that won medals only in throwing events at the last IAAF World Championships, it came as no surprise that the top performers at the recent Polish Championships were all throwers.The three-day event in Krakow concluded on Tuesday (21) with world record-holder Anita Wlodarczyk providing the climax of the competition with her performance in the hammer circle.Wlodarczyk was up against two compatriots who have thrown beyond 71 metres this year, Joanna Fiodorow and Malwina Kopron, but still won by nearly nine metres. After opening with 73.63m, she sent her hammer out to 78.24m, the 10th-best performance in history. She followed it with two throws beyond 76 metres before passing her two final attempts.&ldquo;Everything is on track in my preparations for the World Championships in Beijing,&rdquo; said Wlodarczyk after winning her sixth national title. &ldquo;Tomorrow I&rsquo;ll go back to hard work in training.&rdquo;Fellow European hammer champion Pawel Fajdek was almost as dominant in the men&rsquo;s event. Like Wlodarczyk, Fajdek&rsquo;s best mark came in the second round, throwing 79.74m, and any four of his measured attempts would have easily been enough to win.The world champion is quietly putting together an impressive winning streak which is now up to 13 competitions this year. Two-time Olympic shot put champion Tomasz Majewski once again seems to be coming into form at the right time. In a competition of impressive depth with seven men throwing beyond 19 metres, Majewski was the only one to exceed 20 metres, producing a season&rsquo;s best of 20.80m, having led from the outset.Michal Haratyk equalled his outdoor PB of 19.95 to take second, finishing 20 centimetres in front of world junior champion Konrad Bukowiecki.World silver medallist Piotr Malachowski won his 10th national title in the discus. Up against Robert Urbanek, the man who finished in front of him at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Oslo earlier this year, Malachowski threw 65.60m in round two, ultimately finishing 1.58m ahead of his domestic rival.Marcin Krukowski, who recently improved his javelin PB to 85.20m, was the other top performer in the throws, winning his event with a final-round effort of 80.76m.<h3>Kielbasinska breaks through</h3>The 23.23 Anna Kielbasinska ran to win the European under-23 200m title back in 2011 had remained her PB until this season. Having improved to 23.05 last month, the 25-year-old took another chunk off her best to win the national title in 22.94.Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz, fresh from taking bronze at the recent European Under-23 Championships, won the 400m in 51.95. Karolina Koleczek was the other stand-out sprint performer, winning the 100m hurdles in 12.92 (0.9m/s).The most eagerly anticipated event was the men&rsquo;s 800m as it brought together a trio of continental champions: European champion Adam Kszczot, European indoor champion Marcin Lewandowski and European under-23 champion Artur Kuciapski.Lewandowski led at the bell, passed in 53.95, but Kszczot was biding his time before kicking hard for home, eventually forging ahead to win comfortably in 1:46.70. Lewandowski was second in 1:47.32, just 0.32 ahead of Kuciapski.The women&rsquo;s two-lap event was similarly competitive and, like the men&rsquo;s final, was won off the back of negative splits. After an opening lap of 1:03.26, European bronze medallist Joanna Jozwik and world indoor silver medallist Angelika Cichocka began to hike up the pace.The long-striding Jozwik ultimately got the upper hand, winning in 2:02.99 with Cichocka taking second place in 2:03.28.<h3>Licwinko and Wojciechowski victorious in jumps</h3>World indoor champion Kamila Licwinko made easy work of her win in the high jump. She got over her first three heights at the first time of asking, up to and including 1.93m, by which point there was no one else left in the competition.She got over a season&rsquo;s best of 1.98m, just one centimetre shy of her own national outdoor record, on her third attempt and then ended her series with three unsuccessful tries at 2.00m.Pawel Wojciechowski, the 2011 world champion, overcame an opening-height miss at 5.30m to get over 5.40m, 5.60m and 5.70m on his first attempts. Robert Sobera was still in the competition at that point, but after two failures at 5.70m and one at 5.75m, Wojciechowski was declared the winner.Elsewhere, 2012 European bronze medallist Artur Noga clocked a season&rsquo;s best of 13.39 to win the 110m hurdles. Patryk Dobek, competing in his fourth and fifth races in the 400m hurdles &ndash; having recently won the European under-23 title in Tallinn and then set a PB of 48.62 to finish second in Monaco &ndash; was a comfortable winner in Krakow, clocking 50.80.Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

For a country that won medals only in throwing events at the last IAAF World Championships, it came as no surprise that the top performers at the recent Polish Championships were all throwers.

Throwers impress at Polish Championships

A gold medal appears to be the price of admission into the men&rsquo;s shot put at the 41st Prefontaine Classic, part of the 2015 IAAF Diamond League series, at Eugene&rsquo;s historic Hayward Field on 29-30 May.If history is any guide, the Pre shot will provide an advance look at the potential medallists at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing later this summer and the Eugene field will include all of the Olympic and World Championships gold medallists since 2006.USA&rsquo;s Reese Hoffa is the defending champion in Eugene and won gold medals at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships and 2007 IAAF World Championships. He also has something none of his competitors can boast: two Diamond Race trophies.Hoffa&rsquo;s compatriot and friend Ryan Whiting won his second IAAF World Indoor Championships gold medal last year and has already been in fine form in 2015 with a world-leading effort of 21.43m in Boston on Saturday. Germany&rsquo;s 2011 and 2013 world champion David Storl, a familiar face to Hoffa and Whiting, will make his first Prefontaine Classic appearance.&nbsp; Storl's gleaming collection of international gold medals also includes wins at the 2007 IAAF World Youth Championships, 2008 World Junior Championships and the last two European Championships.&nbsp; The list of global conquerors also includes Poland&rsquo;s two-time Olympic gold medallist Tomasz Majewski.Rounding out the roll call of gold medallists is USA&rsquo;s Christian Cantwell. He is the winner of four world titles: three indoors in 2004, 2008 and 2010, as well as at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin. The three remaining entrants are reigning US champion Joe Kovacs, Jamaican record-holder O&rsquo;Dayne Richards, who was the gold medallist in the Commonwealth Games last summer, and New Zealand record holder Tom Walsh, who was the bronze medallist at last year&rsquo;s IAAF World Indoor Championships.Organisers for the IAAF2015 IAAF Diamond League calendar Doha, QAT &ndash; 15 May Shanghai, CHN &ndash; 17 May Eugene, USA &ndash; 30 May Rome, ITA &ndash; 4 June Birmingham, GBR &ndash; 7 June Oslo, NOR &ndash; 11 June New York, USA &ndash; 13 June Paris, FRA &ndash; 4 July Lausanne, SUI &ndash; 9 July Monaco, MON &ndash; 17 July London, GBR &ndash; 24-25 July Stockholm, SWE &ndash; 30 July Zurich, SUI &ndash; 3 September Brussels, BEL &ndash; 11 September

A gold medal appears to be the price of admission into the men’s shot put at the 41st Prefontaine Classic, part of the 2015 IAAF Diamond League series, at Eugene’s historic Hayward Field on 29-30 May.

Shot stars set to do battle in Eugene – IAAF Diamond League

- Read on for English and French language versions of this story - La traduction française suit le texte anglaisThree of Poland’s top throwers met with children in Warsaw last week for an athletics camp at the Arena Ursynow where they emphasised&nbsp; that “anyone can be a champion – it doesn’t matter where you come from; it’s where you’re aiming.”Hammer world record-holder Anita Wlodarczyk, two-time Olympic shot put champion Tomasz Majewski and Diamond Race discus winner Piotr Malachowski were appearing at the champ which was organised by the Kamila Skolimowska foundation, a partner of Athletics for a Better World, the IAAF’s social responsibility programme.The purpose of the event was to encourage young children to take part in athletics. Indeed, the late Skolimowska was still a school student when she struck Olympic gold in 2000 at the age of 17.This was the second time the camp has been held and it attracted great interest as children took part in the hammer, discus, javelin, shot and hurdles. More than 500 children between the ages of 12 and 16 took part.“Many of them wanted to find out how to hold the equipment and how to throw it,” said Majewski. “It proves that athletics can be interesting for the youth.”Malachowski was also surprised by the enthusiasm of the children. “The kids eagerly do everything,” said the 2008 Olympic silver medallist. “They weren’t just happy to see us, but they were also really enjoying doing the tasks.”Wlodarczyk is just one of several top Polish athletes who are big supporters of events like this. “I like working with kids, as professionals it gives us great satisfaction,” said the European champion. “This camp isn’t about finding the next world champion. We simply want to instil in them an interest in sport.”IAAF*****Les stars polonaises des lancers se déclarent impressionnés par la jeunesse de Varsovie Trois des meilleurs spécialistes des lancers polonais sont allés à la rencontre des enfants de Varsovie la semaine dernière à l’occasion d’un stage d’athlétisme organisé à l’Arène Ursynow, dont le thème était «&nbsp;Tout le monde peut être un champion -&nbsp; ce qui compte n’est pas là d’où vous partez, mais là où vous vous projetez&nbsp;». La détentrice du record du monde du marteau, Anita Wlodarczyk, le double champion olympique du poids, Tomasz Majewski, et le vainqueur de la Course de diamant du disque, &nbsp;Piotr Malachowski, étaient tous trois présents pour ce stage organisé par la Fondation Kamila Skolimowska, partenaire de l’Athlétisme pour un monde meilleur (Athletics for a Better World – ABW), le programme de responsabilité sociale de l’IAAF. L’objectif de cette manifestation est d’encourager les jeunes à prendre part à l’athlétisme, et la Fondation est nommée en l’honneur de la regrettée Kamila Skolimowska, encore lycéenne lorsqu’elle a remporté son titre olympique en 2000 à l’âge de 17 ans. Cette seconde édition de ce stage a attiré beaucoup de monde, avec plus de 500 enfants âgés de 12 à 16 ans prenant part aux ateliers du marteau, du disque, du poids et des haies. “Beaucoup d’entre eux voulaient apprendre comment tenir et projeter les différents engins, a dit Majewski. Cela prouve que l’athlétisme peut intéresser les jeunes.”Malachowski a lui aussi été agréablement surpris par l’enthousiasme des enfants. “Les enfants se sont essayé volontiers à tout, a déclaré le vice-champion olympique de 2008. Ils n’étaient pas simplement heureux de nous rencontrer, mais prenaient en plus vraiment plaisir à accomplir les différentes tâches.”Wlodarczyk est parmi les nombreux athlètes polonais de haut niveau qui sont de grands supporters d’événements tels que celui-ci. “J’aime travailler avec des enfants. En tant que professionnels, cela nous procure beaucoup de satisfaction, a dit la championne d’Europe. Le but de ce stage n’est pas d’identifier le prochain champion du monde. On veut juste éveiller un intérêt pour le sport auprès des enfants”. IAAF

Three of Poland’s top throwers met with children in Warsaw last week for an athletics camp at the Arena Ursynow where they emphasised  that “anyone can be a champion – it doesn’t matter where you come from; it’s where you’re aiming.”

Polish throwing stars impressed by youth in Warsaw

Germany’s two-time world champion outdoors David Storl led the qualifiers with 21.24m but there was a couple of surprises as both the USA’s Kurt Roberts and Serbia's Asmir Kolasinac failed to progress.Storl needed to go into the circle three times to guarantee his place in the final but eventually secured it with ease.Best of the rest was the USA’s defending champion Ryan Whiting who sent his implement flying straight over the automatic qualifying distance of 20.70m to register 20.75m with his first throw.The only other automatic qualifier was Argentina’s South American record-holder German Lauro with 20.73m, getting things right with his second throw after fouling his first effort.Even though he continues to have problems with his technique, Poland’s two-time Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski went through fourth with 20.60m to make the supportive home crowd very happy.Roberts, who has thrown 21.50m for second on the 2014 world lists, was another man who had technical problems, fouling his first two attempts before reaching 20.17m but it was not enough to see him through to Friday night’s final. With only the top eight going through, Roberts ended the morning 10th.European indoor champion Kolasinac had similar problems and, after his opening put of 20.04m, had two fouls and will also watch tonight’s final from the team seats.Another man who might have had ambitions of making the final was 2014 Russian indoor champion Maksim Sidorov, who was fifth at the last edition of the World Indoor Championships two years ago and reached 20.78m to win his national title three weeks ago, but was almost two metres down on that figure in Sopot with 18.98m.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Germany’s two-time world champion outdoors David Storl led the qualifiers with 21.24m but there was a couple of surprises as both the USA’s Kurt Roberts and Serbia's Asmir Kolasinac failed to progress.

Report: men's shot put qualifying – Sopot 2014

A record number of 37 athletes will represent Poland on home soil in Sopot at the IAAF World Indoor Championships on 7-9 March.The team is led by two-time Olympic shot put champion Tomasz Majewski, Poland’s sole medallist at the 2012 World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, and 2009 world pole vault champion Anna Rogowska.Other medal chances include 2011 world pole vault champion Pawel Wojciechowski, pentathlete Karolina Tyminska, and middle-distance runners Adam Kszczot, Marcin Lewandowski and Angelika Cichocka.Poland’s representation in Sopot is their largest ever in the history of the IAAF World Indoor Championships. Across the history of the event, Poland has won 22 medals – two gold, six silver and 14 bronze.They will surely add to that tally next month in Sopot.Polish Athletics Federation (PZLA) for the IAAF<hr />Polish team for Sopot:MEN 60m: Dariusz Kuc, Remigiusz Olszewski 400m: Jakub Krzewina, Rafal Omelko 800m: Adam Kszczot, Marcin Lewandowski 3000m: Lukasz Parszczynski 60m hurdles: Dominik Bochenek Pole vault: Robert Sobera, Pawel Wojciechowski Long jump: Adrian Strzalkowski Triple jump: Karol Hoffmann Shot put: Tomasz Majewski 4x400m: Patryk Dobek, Kacper Kozlowski, Lukasz Krawczuk, Jakub Krzewina, Rafal Omelko, Michal PietrzakWOMEN 60m: Marta Jeschke, Anna Kielbasinska 400m: Malgorzata Holub, Justyna Swiety 800m: Angelika Cichocka 1500m: Katarzyna Broniatowska, Danuta Urbanik 3000m: Renata Plis 60m hurdles: Urszula Bhebhe High jump: Justyna Kasprzycka, Kamila Licwinko Pole vault: Anna Rogowska Long jump: Teresa Dobija Triple jump: Anna Jagaciak Shot put: Anna Wloka Pentathlon: Karolina Tyminska 4x400m: Malgorzata Holub, Jolanta Kajtoch, Joanna Linkiewicz, Ewelina Ptak, Justyna Swiety, Patrycja Wyciszkiewicz

A record number of 37 athletes will represent Poland on home soil in Sopot at the IAAF World Indoor Championships on 7-9 March.

Host nation Poland to send its biggest team to IAAF World Indoor Championships

The 40th edition of the Prefontaine Classic on 31 May, an IAAF Diamond League meeting, has put together a superb men's shot put field which will feature every global championship gold medallist since 2011, the meeting organisers announced on Wednesday (12).USA’s world indoor champion Ryan Whiting&nbsp;and Germany’s&nbsp;two-time world champion outdoors David Storl&nbsp;will rekindle a regular rivalry but will be meeting for the first time ever on US soil at the historic Hayward Field, which in July will also be the venue for the IAAF World Junior Championships.Last year, Storl won at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow while Whiting took the IAAF Diamond League crown.&nbsp; Overall, the two strongmen have clashed 10 times in their careers since they first met at the 2011 IAAF World Championships, which Storl won, with Whiting currently holding a 6-4 edge. Whiting, 27, produced the longest effort of 2013 at 22.28m and the 2010 Arizona State University graduate is now looking to repeat his indoor gold from 2012 at the upcoming World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland, next month. Storl is a magnet for gold medals.&nbsp;Still only 23, his international collection already includes titles from the 2011 and 2013 World Championships and the 2012 European Athletics Championships, plus one each from the 2008 IAAF World Junior Championships and 2007 IAAF World Youth Championships. He was second on the 2013 lists behind Whiting with a season’s best of 21.73m.Both Whiting and Storl have already been in great form this indoor season.The names in Eugene include the consensus top six male putters in the world last year, according to the 2013 end-of-season list. Poland’s two-time Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski will also be battling with Whiting and Storl, along with the USA’s Reese Hoffa.Hoffa was the 2007 World Championships and 2006 World Indoor Championships gold medallist and the winner on the past two occasions the shot put was contested at the Pre Classic, in 2011 and 2012.Canada’s Dylan Armstrong&nbsp;and the emerging Czech talent Ladislav Prasil&nbsp;will also be in Eugene.Organisers for the IAAF

The 40th edition of the Prefontaine Classic on 31 May, a 2014 IAAF Diamond League meeting, has put together a superb men's shot put field which will feature every global championship gold medallist since 2011, the meeting organisers announced on Wednesday (12).

Eugene rolls a six for men's shot – IAAF Diamond League

When there’s already a winning formula in place, you don’t want to tinker with it too much. So the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, an IAAF Indoor Permit meeting, on Saturday (8) will feature world and Olympic medallists in the 3000m, two miles, one mile, and 1000m, as well as an attack on the world indoor 4x800m record – a mark set at this meeting back in 2000.The meeting, which has traditionally centred on strong fields and occasional record attempts in the middle and long distances, is now in its 19th year at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston’s Roxbury neighbourhood.Three medallists, two milesThe closing race of the meeting is often the longest men’s race, but this year’s honour has gone to an unusually deep women’s two-mile, which will include three World Championships medallists: Jenny Simpson, who won 1500m gold in 2011 and silver in 2013; Shannon Rowbury, a 1500m bronze medallist in 2009; and Sally Kipyego, silver medallist at 10,000m in 2011 and at the London 2012 Olympic Games.Simpson was one of the first athletes announced for the meeting, back in December, and coming off her third-place finish at the Cinque Mulini cross-country race might be the most race sharp of this trio.However, Simpson also has a longstanding and very friendly rivalry with Kipyego dating back to their days in the NCAA, and if Kipyego thinks herself fit to race, she will see herself nowhere far behind Simpson.Loaded 3000mMuch of the pre-meeting buzz has surrounded the men’s 3000m, which has taken on an unusual depth. Two globally-known names familiar to the Boston crowd are Hagos Gebrhiwet, who ran the world junior indoor record here last year before his devastating win in the junior race at the World Cross-Country Championships, and Dejen Gebremeskel, the Olympic silver medallist who won a thrilling duel with Mo Farah here in 2011 after losing his right shoe early in the race.The two Ethiopians will be joined by Garrett Heath, who knocked off Asbel Kiprop and Kenenisa Bekele in the 4km cross-country race in Edinburgh in January, along with a selection of hungry young talents hoping to be the next Hagos Gebrhiwet.Record-setting Rupp and CainMary Cain and Galen Rupp, two more names already associated with both Boston and records this young indoor season, are scheduled to hit the track on Saturday.Cain, who lowered the world junior indoor 1000m record to 2:39.25 in January on the Boston University track, will be racing the same distance on Saturday. Her record mark was achieved in an effort to challenge the ten-year-old US indoor record of 2:34.19 by Jen Toomey.This time, she’ll have competition from the likes of Ajee Wilson (like Cain, a finalist in Moscow last summer), Treniere Moser, and Chanelle Price, as well as Kenyan Viola Lagat and Ethiopia’s Dureti Edao. Pacing the women’s 1000m is Canada’s world heptathlon silver medallist Brianne Theisen Eaton, who will also contest the long jump.Rupp was a late entry in the men’s mile, and his appearance at “the Reggie” marks a change of plans; Rupp had previously announced an attempt on the world indoor record in the mile at Boston University a week later.“After my American indoor records in the 5000m and two miles, my coach, Alberto Salazar, and I decided that a competitive mile race would be the best preparation for the USATF Indoor Championships in Albuquerque on 22 February and the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Poland on 7 March,” Rupp explained, although so far they have not indicated in which events Rupp hopes to compete there.In Boston he will face Olympic silver medallists Nick Willis (2008) and Leo Manzano (2012) along with a raft of top US milers Rupp can expect to see in Albuquerque later this month.A relay recordIt’s fair to say the men’s 4x800m relay is rarely run indoors; the NCAA runs a distance medley instead, and the World Indoor Championships is anchored on the 4x400m.The standing world best mark of 7:13.94 was set at this meeting in 2000 by a quartet including indoor and outdoor World Championships bronze medallist Rich Kenah (now a senior executive for the meeting organisers), Joey Woody, Karl Paranya, and David Krummenacker, the 2003 world indoor champion.Interest in challenging that mark doubtless springs from the event’s inclusion in the inaugural IAAF World Relays approaching in late May, and leading the charge is world silver medallist Nick Symmonds, who has publicly stated that lowering the outdoor mark of 7:02.43 from 2006 is one of his goals for 2014.Symmonds’ quartet will also include well-respected pacemaker Matt Scherer, Mark Wieczorek, and 2010 world junior silver medallist Cas Loxsom. Their combined PBs are well under the record, but there’s more to running records than having fast PBs.Other teams will include Loxsom’s World Juniors teammate (and bronze medallist in Moncton) Robby Andrews, leading a team from the New York/New Jersey Track Club, and an “all-star” team led by world and Olympic finalist Duane Solomon.In even less standard events, a women’s 2000m will be on the track, including middle-distance ace Morgan Uceny among the entrants as well as steeplechaser Emma Coburn.Suhr launchThe Boston program typically features a few field events, and this year that means the return of Jen Suhr, the world indoor record-holder in the pole vault.Suhr set American records here in 2009 and 2012, is undefeated in six appearances at this meeting, and had her breakthrough here when “the Reggie” hosted the US Indoor Championships in 2005. Suhr told a teleconference on Tuesday that she “hopes to have a little fun” in Boston.Also on the infield will be a men’s shot put, which will welcome two-time Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski to join world indoor champion Ryan Whiting, Christian Cantwell and Corey Martin. Fireworks in the shot are not unheard of at this meet, although Whiting’s two marks over 21m this season mark him as the clear favourite with Martin and Majewski still warming up.Also of interest on the infield, but not including any implements, is the men’s 60m. The biggest name entered isn’t a sprint specialist, but decathlon world record-holder Ashton Eaton; however, he’s unlikely to get a stride on the likes of Nickel Ashmeade and Michael Rogers.Parker Morse for the IAAF

The New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on Saturday (8) will feature world and Olympic medallists in the 3000m, two miles, one mile, and 1000m, as well as an attack on the world indoor 4x800m record – a mark set at this meeting back in 2000.

Loaded middle-distance fields and world record bid set for Boston

Two of Poland’s top stars should provide the home crowd with plenty to cheer at next year’s IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot as two-time Olympic Shot Put champion Tomasz Majewski and 2013 European indoor 800m champion Adam Kszczot confirmed their participation on Thursday (7).The 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships will be held in the Polish city of Sopot between 7-9 March.Majewski told local media that he is injury-free at the moment and training well. Sopot will be his sixth appearance at the World Indoor Championships but, in comparison to his outdoor successes, his best results indoors have been bronze medals at the 2008 and 2012 editions of the championships. He also has two fourth-place finishes and a sixth-place finish to his name.Kszczot, the 800m winner at the past two editions of the European Indoor Championships, finished third at the 2010 World Indoor Championships and then fourth last year in Istanbul.With Ethiopia’s reigning World champion, both indoors and outdoors, Mohammed Aman also set to run in Sopot, a terrific spectacle could be in store for the spectators. &nbsp;Both Polish athletes will be looking to impress in front of their home audience after below-par showings at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow three months ago.On that occasion, Majewski finished sixth, but Kszczot failed to progress beyond the semi-finals of his event.Phil Minshull for the IAAF &nbsp;

Poland’s two-time Olympic Shot Put champion Tomasz Majewski and 2013 European indoor 800m champion Adam Kszczot confirmed their participation 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot.

Poland’s Majewski and Kszczot to raise the rafters at World Indoors

Two of the three titles decided on the first day of the athletics programme at the 7th Francophone Games in the French city of Nice went to Polish throwers – Tomasz Majewski and Pawel Fajdek – on Tuesday (10).Majewski, the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Shot Put champion, sent his first-round effort out to a Games record of 20.18m and he was never seriously challenged after that.His third and fourth-round attempts both reached 19.99m and, although his other puts were fouls, any of his three valid efforts would have won the competition.France’s Gaeten Bucki finished second with his first attempt of 19.33m and then he had five successive fouls in an effort to close the gap between himself and Majewski.There was a similar story of Polish supremacy over France in the men’s Hammer, the first gold medal in athletics at the Games to be decided, with World champion Fajdek sending his implement out to 75.41m in the first round and then reaching 78.28m with his next throw, which proved to be the winner.The rest of his series was 72.85m, 75.66m, 77.99m, 75.38m. Despite the fact that Fajdek was almost four metres short of his best, set last month, five of his six throws would have won the contestFrance’s 2011 European junior champion Quentin Bigot was second with 74.60m while Qatar’s Ashraf Amjad E Seify, the current World junior champion and still only 18, was third with 72.88m.The third gold medal on the opening day went to Morocco’s Hicham Bellani, who took the 10,000m title in 28:49.09.The fastest sprinters in the 100m semi-finals were France’s Emmanuel Biron with 10.36 and Romania’s Andreea Ograzeanu with 11.69, the relatively modest times being partly due to having to run into a breeze.Canada’s Noelle Montcalm was the quickest woman in the two 400m Hurdles heats in 58.24 while Qatar’s Abdelrahman Musaeb Bala, who set a national record of 1:43.93 at the IAAF World Challenge meeting in Rieti on Sunday, is shaping up as the favourite for the men’s 800m and clocked 1:47.84 to comfortably be the fastest man in the 800m heats.Phil Minshull for the IAAF

Majewski and Fajdek get Poland off to a great start at the Francophone Games

Ryan Whiting leads the 2013 world lists as the only man over 22 metres this year, and he quickly showed just why he is the favourite to add a gold medal at these championships to the one he won at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships.<o:p></o:p>He stepped straight into the circle for Thursday’s Shot Put qualifying competition and launched his 16lb implement out to 21.51m, the second best distance achieved in a World Championships qualifying competition and well over the automatic qualifying distance of 20.65m, as well as being the longest mark of the morning.<o:p></o:p>Only three other men qualified automatically, and only Czech Republic’s Ladislav Prasil also did it with his first attempt, leading the other group from the one in which Whiting was competing in simultaneously, with an effort of 20.90m.<o:p></o:p>Germany’s David Storl and Poland’s Tomasz Majewski, winners of the past two outdoor global titles having taken the honours at the 2011 IAAF World Championships and London 2012 Olympic Games respectively, both lacked a little energy at the outset but soon woke up; Majewski hitting 20.76m with his second put and Storl reaching 20.71m on this third attempt, although their earlier efforts would also have seen them through to the final safely.<o:p></o:p>In the end, 11 men went over 20 metres, including USA’s 2007 World champion Reese Hoffa and his compatriot Cory Martin, Bulgaria’s former World junior champion Georgi Ivanov, Canada’s Dylan Armstrong, Serbia’s 2013 European Indoor champion Asmir Kolasinac and Argentina’s South American record-holder German Lauro.<o:p></o:p>Antonin Zalsky brought up the rear of the 12 qualifiers, the 33-year-old Czech putter finally making a World Championships final on his fourth attempt with 19.78m.<o:p></o:p>The qualifying went very much to form as nine of the top 10 men entered went through, the only exception being USA’s Zack Lloyd.<o:p></o:p>Lloyd, who achieved a personal best of 21.07m to finish third at the US Championships and qualify for his first major international competition, could do no better than a modest 18.63m.<o:p></o:p>Local hope Maksim Sidorov will also be disappointed that he was below par and failed to qualify for the final after only putting 19.63m. <o:p></o:p>In fact, it was a poor morning for the Russians as neither of Sidorov’s team-mates, Aleksandr Lesnoy and Soslan Tsirkhov, were in good form either and, slightly surprisingly, there will not be a representative from the host nation in the final.<o:p></o:p>Phil Minshull for the IAAF<o:p></o:p>

Report: Men's Shot Put qualifying – Moscow 2013