Ostrava Gears Up for Star-Studded Golden Spike Meeting
(Ostrava, May 19) The Golden Spike, a prestigious World Athletics Continental Tour Gold event, is set to take place in Ostrava on May 19th, with a star-studded lineup of athletes set to compete in front of a 1500-strong crowd.
Headlining the event will be Burkina Faso’s Hugues Fabrice Zango, who made history earlier this year by becoming the first athlete to surpass 18 meters in the triple jump indoors, setting a new world indoor record of 18.07m in Aubiere. Zango has carried that momentum into the outdoor season, opening with a world-leading leap of 17.40m in Montpellier on May 8th.
Zango will once again face off against the USA’s Christian Taylor, the two-time Olympic and four-time world champion in the triple jump. Taylor, who sits second on the all-time triple jump list with his 18.21m effort in 2015, holds the Golden Spike meeting record of 17.57m, set in 2017. The American won last year’s event with a jump of 17.46m, edging out Zango by just 4 centimeters.
“Triple jump will be the event to watch this summer. I feel it!” wrote Taylor in anticipation of the Ostrava meeting.
Also taking to the track for the first time in 2021 will be Uganda’s world half marathon champion, Jacob Kiplimo. The young star will be aiming to secure the Olympic 10,000m qualification mark of 27:28.00, having last raced the distance on the track in 2018, when he claimed the world U20 bronze medal with a personal best of 27:26.68.
Kiplimo enjoyed success at last year’s Golden Spike, winning the 5000m in a personal-best time of 12:48.63.
Joining the international stars will be local favorite Tomas Stanek, the European indoor shot put champion, who will take on silver and bronze medalists Michal Haratyk of Poland and Filip Mihaljevic of Croatia.
The 60th edition of the Golden Spike is set to feature a wealth of global talent, including world record-holders Mondo Duplantis in the pole vault and Anita Wlodarczyk in the hammer throw, as well as world champion Johannes Vetter in the javelin and Joshua Cheptegei, who will race over 3000m after setting world records at 5000m and 10,000m last year.
While pandemic restrictions will limit the crowd to a maximum of 10% of the stadium’s capacity, approximately 1500 fans will be able to witness the action in person as the world’s best athletes converge on Ostrava for this eagerly anticipated Continental Tour Gold meeting.
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