Duplantis and Crouser amongst other stars to come to the Gyulai István Memorial in 2022

Great track and field stars are coming to the Gyulai István Memorial – Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix to be held in Székesfehérvár on August 8 this year, the organizers of the one-day competition announced.

It really looks like that the highest level ever of Gyulai Memorial will take place between the two big athletic events in summer, the World Championships in Oregon and the European Championships in Munich. The Continental Tour Gold series covers the biggest one-day competitions after the Diamond League – including the Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix.

The last year’s competition was already the fifth best one-day meeting in the world based on the results achieved there. Székesfehérvár thus preceded huge historical competitions of big cities such as Paris, Brussels, Stockholm, Oslo or Berlin.

“About 13-14 years ago, the idea of organizing such a competition in Hungary first occured to Attila Spiriev, to which Péter Deutsch immediately gave positive feedback. I am grateful to have a day of the year when we can remember my father in a worthy way. In addition, this event has risen to be among the best in the world”- said Miklós Gyulai, President of the Hungarian Athletics Association, who was introduced in the sport as the son of the legendary sports reporter and sports leader.

“We can state that the best in the world visit our country regularly, either returning here or as a newcomer. As the president of the Hungarian Athletics Association, I would like to thank you for the fact that the Hungarian family of athletes is welcoming our ideas. We’ve managed to put together a team of professionals who take the sport really seriously.

They work every day to advance the sport both domestically and internationally. One of the most important elements of it is the Gyulai István Memorial, which gives us the best opportunity to compete in a strong field. ‘The legend continues’ – I’m not biased when I say that the namesake of the race also fell into that category” – the sports director said.

“In addition to Memorial, Hungary hosts the World Athletics Championships in 2023, and we also try to bring here other events that serve the development of Hungarian athletics and help us restore the former glory of our sport,” the president of MASZ summed up the goals of the association.

“We have never set the bar so high in Hungary. The Gyulai Memorial will come in 90 days, and the 2023 World Athletics Championships in less than 500 days. History is what connects these two events. Hungarian athletics is 125 years old of which Memorial has been present for the past 12 years. When we started the competition in 2011, we wanted to pay tribute not only to the memory of István Gyulai but also to the atmosphere and quality of the Budapest Grand Prix of the 80’s with the slogan ‘The legend continues’ – said Péter Deutsch, the Chairman of the competition’s Organizing Committee, recalling when Carl Lewis or Edwin Moses had filled Népstadion, the biggest stadium of Hungary those days.

“In 2021, we hosted the fifth strongest of the athletic world’s one-day meetings. There were 16 athletes who competed at the Gyulai Memorial and became Olympic champions in Tokyo a few weeks later. Previous Hungarian successes by Balázs Baji and Luca Kozák also strengthen our history. The year ahead of us is especially important, as in 2023 we will hold the third largest sporting event in the world, the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Concerning the size only the Olympics and the World Cup can surpass it” – the sports manager looked ahead to the competition between August 19-27, 2023.

The names of competitors coming to Hungary year after year largely depend on Attila Spiriev, the sports director of the István Gyulai Memorial.

“This year we did not set the score as a goal, but to be able to present as many world stars as possible to the audience a year before the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. Also, we want to give a chance to as many Hungarian athletes as possible which will be even more important in the competition this year.

The European Championships will clearly be the main event this year because the World Championships in Budapest will be held almost at the same time next year. It will be an interesting challenge because we will be hosting the Gyulai Memorial between the Oregon World Athletics Championships and the Munich European Championships this year but we are ready” – he said.

Attila Spiriev, the sports director of the competition, has announced the entries of the following world stars for the 2022 Gyulai István Memorial:

Bence Halász: world and European championships bronze medalist hammer thrower who has previously competed in the Gyulai István Memorial six times. The 24-year-old Hungarian athlete finished second in the competition in 2019 and 2020 as well.

Ryan Crouser: Olympic champion shot-putter who has been the world record holder since 2021. The American classic broke a 31-year record in Oregon at the venue of the 2022 World Championships.

Jasmine Camacho-Quinn: the hurdler from Puerto Rico could not find a better competitor at the Olympics in Tokyo a few days after the István Gyulai Memorial last year. In the Japanese capital, she became the fourth fastest athlete ever in the 100-meter hurdles, thanks to her 12.26 Olympic record in the semi-finals.

Gianmarco Tamberi: one of the most colorful personalities in the world of athletics, whose passion is worth to be seen on the spot. Very few athletes can create an atmosphere like the temperamental Italian high jumper. He is also an Olympic champion who shared the gold medal with Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar in Tokyo, causing one of the most memorable moments of the Games.

Anita Wlodarczyk: the world champion in women’s hammer throwing has previously participated in the István Gyulai Memorial six times, and each time she was able to leave the throwing circuit victorious. The Polish legend begins the season as three-time Olympic, four-time world and four-time European champion.

Daniel Stahl: The 29-year-old Swedish athlete arrives in Székesfehérvár as the best discus thrower today. After his 2019 World Championship title, he was undefeated at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. In the last three years he has won the István Gyulai Memorial.

Armand Duplantis: the young Swedish pole vaulter has rewritten Sergei Bubka’s entire legacy by the age of 21. He has the best results ever, both outdoors and indoors, he broke his own world record with 6,20m at the World Indoor Championships in March. This time after Belgrade it will be enough to travel to Székesfehérvár to see the Olympic champion to jump up to three-storey height.

Ticket sales for the Gyulai István Memorial – Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix on August 8 has also started on Wednesday.