by Alfonz Juck
Ryan Crouser, photo by Drake University communications
Sifan Hassan, photo by Global Sports Communications
The Golden Spike, each and every year, has excellent events. Why it is not a Diamond League meeting beffudles me. The meet is well managed and the support by Ostrava is huge. It is on my meet dream list.
J. Ingebrigtsen the latest star added
OSTRAVA (CZE): Excellent fields both on the track and in the field events have been put together for the 59th Golden Spike in Ostrava on Tuesday (WACT Gold). Karsten Warholm races for the first time since running the second fastest 400m hurdles time in history of 46.87 in Stockholm on 23 August and Olympic champion Ryan Crouser competes in the shot put fresh from another incredible series in Chorzow capped by a winning throw of 22.70m. In the 5000m, Sifan Hassan is targeting her European record of 14:22.12 just four days after breaking the world one-hour record and Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega is also looking for a fast time in his season’s debut in the men’s 5000m. Also on the track, 2017 world champion Faith Kipyegon contests her first 1500m of the season against Brits Jemma Reekie and Laura Weightman and Uganda’s Winnie Nanyondo and European champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen is a late entry into the men’s 1500m in which he faces Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha and in-form Australians Matthew Ramdsen and Stewart McSweyn. In other middle distance action Laura Muir steps down to the 800m and Puerto Rico’s Wesley Vasquez faces the likes of Andreas Kramer, Amel Tuka and Alvaro de Arriba in the men’s 800m. World leader Femke Bol will be looking to preserve her win streak in the 300m hurdles against her training partner Lea Sprunger and home favourite Zuzana Hejnova while former world champions Dafne Schippers and Ramil Guliyev both headline the 150m races. Other field event highlights include the men’s triple jump with Christian Taylor facing world leader Fabrice Hugues Zango and the men’s pole vault where two-time world champion Sam Kendricks faces Renaud Lavillenie and Thiago Braz. Home favourites face strong opposition in the javelin: veteran Vitezslav Vesely faces Poland’s Marcin Krukowski in the men’s javelin and Barbora Spotakova and Nikola Ogrodnikova face Olympic champion Sara Kolak from Croatia and in-form Pole Maria Andrejczyk in the women’s javelin. Elsewhere, world champion Daniel Stahl is the favourite in the discus and Belarus’ European silver medallist Maksim Nedasekau faces 2016 European champion Gianmarco Tamberi in the high jump.
