byAlfonz Juck
Renaud Lavillenie, photo by PhotoRun.net
Thomas Rohler, photo by PhotoRun.net
Caterine Ibarguen, photo by PhotoRun.netIbarguen added into Nurmi Games
TURKU (FIN): 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie of France and 2016 Rio Olympic champions Thomas Röhler of Germany and Caterine Ibarguen of Colombia head the entry lists of the 55th Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku on 13 June, part of the IAAF World Challenge series for the first time. The meeting is held on Paavo Nurmi’s 120th birthday, he was born in Turku in 1897. In the men’s hammer Pawel Fajdek of Poland returns, he won here last year with a 81.12 stadium record and is again accompanied by the 2016 Olympic champion, Dilshod Nazarov of Tadjikistan. Fellow Germans, Johannes Vetter and Andreas Hofmann will be also in javelin with the reigning World champion Julius Yego of Kenya and top Finn Tero Pitkämäki. Lavillenie has to fight fierce competition in the pole vault with fellow Frenchman Kévin Menaldo (5.83 pb 2017) and 2011 World champion Pawel Wojciechowski entered to compete. Other events include 2015 World 400m hurdles champion Nicholas Bett of Kenya, 2013 World 110m hurdles champion David Oliver of United States and 2014 World indoor 3000m champion Caleb Ndiku of Kenya. In the women’s events Mariya Lasitskiene, competing as an individual athlete, tops the high jump entries. Women’s javelin is top class too, with 2016 European champion Tatsiana Khaladovich of Belarus, winner with in Eugene and the 2015 World champion from Beijing, Katharina Molitor of Germany competing against Sunette Viljoen of South Africa, the silver medallist from the 2016 Olympics. A total of six Olympic and 14 World (indoor counted) champions in individual events are competing.
