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THEY ARE COMING | PART 3
In this series, we will introduce the athletes who have already confirmed their intent to participate in the 11th Gyulai István Memorial – Hungarian Grand Prix.
Olympic champion, three-time World Champion and world record holder of the women’s hammer throw, Anita Wlodarczyk (PB 82.98) will return once again. She won on her Hungarian Grand Prix debut in 2014 (75.53), then defended her title in 2015 (75.48), 2016 (78.10) and 2017 (77.77.) The world leading athlete is one of the favourites of the Tokyo Olympics.
World Champion (2015, Beijing), two-time European Champion (2010, Barcelona, 2016, Amsterdam), two-time Olympic silver medallist (Beijing, 2008, Rio de Janeiro, 2016) and 18-time Diamond League winner, Piotr Malachowski (PB 71.84) will compete in the discus throw.
The Polish athlete is a veteran of the Gyulai Memorial: he finished fourth (64.80) last year, was third in 2019 and 2018 (67.23, 64.97), was second – behind Zoltán Kővágó – in 2017 (65.08) and won in 2015 (65.17), so this will be his sixth appearance at the Grand Prix.
Malachowski will go up against Simon Petterson (PB 67.72). He finished fourth at the European Championship and looks to be a certain qualifier for the Olympics (WR, 12). The versatile athlete has produced decent results in many events, including the 100 metres, 110 metre hurdles, high jump, long jump, triple jump, pole vault, shot put, hammer throw and javelin throw. His season best is 66.32.
János Huszák (PB 65.38), who set her personal best in Szombathely this April, then won the European Throwing Cup in May (65.35), will also participate. János is in the form of his life and is currently 31st on the world rankings, so he has a chance to qualify for the Olympics.
Andriy Protsenko is a member of an elite group of high jumpers in the world, who have cleared 2.40 metres or higher. The Ukrainian (PB 2.40) is a European Championship silver medallist outdoors (2014) and indoors (2014) as well. He won three Diamond League competitions (2017, Rabat; 2019, Zurich; 2020, Rome). He is a four-time outdoor (2012, 2018, 2019, 2020) and three-time indoor (2018, 2019, 2021) National Champion. He is currently sixth on the World Rankings and it will be his sixth Hungarian Grand Prix. He finished sixth in 2012 (2.20), fourth in 2015 (2.32), second in 2017 (2.30), eighth in 2018 (2.22) and second again in 2019 (2.28).
He will go up against former World Championship seventh place finisher Brandon Starc (PB 2.36) who occupies the third place on the world rankings and cleared 2.29 meters in Brisbane in March. He is a three-time Diamond League winner and four-time National Champion. According to his social media page, he is preparing hard for the upcoming season.
The 400 metres will feature 23-year-old Wadeline Jonathas (PB 49.60). The World Champion, last year’s Gyulai Memorial winner (52.09) is currently sixth on the world rankings. Jonathas, born in Haiti and the oldest of seven siblings, has come a long way to win a World Championsip in the 4X400 relay with team USA.
She will compete against two-time European Champion, Polish Justyna Swiety-Ersetic (PB 50.41), who broke the Polish indoor national record in Torun (51.34) and is fifth on the world rankings at the moment. Based on her Instagram page, she is always up for a funny challenge.
Ukrainian Anna Ryzhykova will compete in the 400 metres hurdles. She is an Olympic bronze medallist and European Championship silver medallist. A few days ago, she won a gold medal in Luck (55.25), then 48 hours later she came in second at the Ostrava Golden Spike behind Jesse Knight (55.74). She uploaded the video of the race to her Instagram account.
Belarusian long jumper Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova (PB 7.08) is the reigning Gyulai Memorial champion. She is an eleven-time National Champion: she won the indoor one for the sixth time in March and prevailed for the fifth time outdoors last year.
We will see Canadian Aaron Brown (PB 19.95) in the 200 metres. The Olympic bronze medallist (2016, Rio de Janeiro) clocked 20.26 in Walnut and is fifth on the World Rankings. He shared his insane training schedule on Instagram.
American Taliyah Brooks (PB 12.70) competed in the long jump and 100 metres hurdles last year, but fell after the second hurdle, so she will try to make amends this year. The versatile athlete has achieved great results in the heptathlon as well and is very active on social media.
Bob Bertemes from Luxembourg is also attending the event. The 28-year-old shot putter was sixth at the European Championships in Berlin and won the National Championships eight times since 2014 – five indoors and three outdoors. This year, he finished ninth at the indoor European Championships in Torun (20.16).
The triple jump will feature Nazim Babayev. The 24-year-old indoor European Champion from Azerbaijan is 13th on the world rankings. The former U20 and U23 European Champion won the National Championship in his country four times. His commitment is evident from his Instagram account.
Eric Sowinski (PB 1:44.58) will compete in the 800 metres. The 31-year-old won the bronze medal at the indoor World Championships in Portland in 2016.
Rasmus Mägi (PB 48.40), who came in second (50.18) in the 400 metres hurdles last year behind David Kendziera (50.00) will also return. The European Championship silver medallist is a 14-time National Champion and is 14th on the World Rankings, so he is currently among the qualifiers for the Olympics.
The previous parts of the series can be found here: