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On 8 August, the Gyulai István Memorial – Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix will be a real star parade. The already announced world class athletes will arrive to Székesfehérvár with a total of six gold, five silver and three bronze medals from the 2022 World Championships.

Armand Duplantis, who is in outstanding form, broke the world record of pole vault with 6.21 metres on the last day of the World Championships. With eight centimetres between himself and the bar at his greatest jump of all time, it could well be that in two weeks’ time we will see a miracle in Hungary that would be a mistake to miss as a sports fan.

Returning 110m hurdler Grant Holloway defended his World Championships gold medal on home soil by running 13.03 seconds. Pawel Fajdek, the four-time Gyulai István Memorial winner Polish hammer thrower, tuned up for the most prestigious Hungarian one-day event with the fifth world champion title of his career. The legendary athlete threw a world leading 81.98 metres.

 

 

World record holder Ryan Crouser in the shot put (22.94 metres) and discus thrower Kristjan Ceh (71.13 metres), who is already considered a talent, took the throne, setting a new competition record. Both won the world championships for the first time. The success of Fajdek, Crouser and Ceh means that three of the four world champions in the throwing events will participate at the Gyulai István Memorial.

 

 

Fajdek won’t be the only one to come to the Memorial as a five-time world champion in their main event: 35-year-old Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce triumphed in the 100m with a world championship record of 10.67, winning the royal event again after 2009, 2013, 2015 and 2019. If that wasn’t enough, the Jamaican legend also celebrated a silver medal in the 200m and as a member of the 4x100m relay team in Eugene.

Another silver medallist is Wojciech Nowicki, an Olympic and European champion who still lacks a World Championships title in his collection and therefore is keen to get back at Fajdek for his defeat overseas. In the incredibly high-class final of the hammer throw, five athletes exceeded 80 metres. Among them was 5th placed Bence Halász, who crossed the dream mark for the first time in his life with 80.15 metres. We will of course be cheering for him in Székesfehérvár.

Although Christian Coleman did not win a medal in the individual sprints – he finished 6th in the 100m – he did manage a silver medal as a member of the 4x100m relay team. Kenneth Bednarek, second in the 200m with 19.77 and Erriyon Knighton, third in 19.80, should also arrive in good shape to Hungary.

In addition to this great talent in athletics, Lithuania’s Andrius Gudzius in the discus throw and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn in the 100m hurdles also made it to the bottom of the podium. In the latter event, Nia Ali, a mother of three, was eliminated in the heats.

Tom Walsh, who won the shot put with a Memorial record last year, was 4th this time, but as usual he threw over 22 meters again. For the two Swedish discus throwers, the move didn’t work out this time – of course, this statement has to be taken at their own level, as Daniel Stahl, winner of the last three Memorials, still finished 4th and Simon Pettersson 5th.

Like Stahl, Olympic champion Gianmarco Tamberi just missed the podium this time. The Italian favourite also finished 4th in the high jump. For Yohan Blake, the second fastest man of all time, the semi-final was the end of the line, but he didn’t need much to win bronze with the Jamaican 4x100m relay team, the Caribbean eventually finished in 4th position.

This year’s women’s 60m indoor world champion, Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji, after finishing 5th in the 100m in 10.95 seconds, reached the 200m final in eighth place. Kambundji took 7th place with the Swiss 4×100 relay team.

As these results show, on 8 August truly the best in the world will come to Hungary to dazzle us. Some of them were not only the stars of the Oregon World Championships, but could also be the biggest ones of the World Championships in Budapest from 19 to 27 August 2023, whose names we will get to know at the Gyulai István Memorial.

 

Photos: Christian Pedersen, Ezra Shaw, Hannah Peters / Getty Images