Polish news 2012

[Powell]

Przemysław Czerwiński, EC medalist from 2010, had his first competition since the injury he suffered a year ago. He cleared 5.20 - not very impressive, but it's a start.

Otherwise, the only major name who has competed so far this winter is Artur Noga. Again, not a very impressive result with 7.91 last weekend.

Tomasz Majewski is opening his season today in Nordhausen, competing against David Storl, Christian Cantwell, Adam Nelson and Ralf Bartels.

[Powell]

Majewski finished 4th in Nordhausen behind Storl 21.24, Hoffa 21.14 and Cantwell 21.01. That's a pretty good start to the season by his standards, since he usually takes a while to round into shape.

[Powell]

No world-class performances coming from Poland so far, but a few notable junior performances:
300m Rafał Smoleń (1994) 34.10 - the time would be a new national junior record, but it was timed with photocell, not FAT
2000m Szymon Kulka 5:17.26 NJR
SP (6k) Krzysztof Brzozowski 20.31 (10cm down on his indoor best from last year)

[Powell]

Paweł Wojciechowski had his first competition since that nasty training accident. He cleared 5.00 in Bydgoszcz on Sunday - obviously not great, but he hasn't done much proper training lately, so it's just good to see him back.

Łukasz Michalski won the competition in Bydgoszcz with 5.50. He will be competing tomorrow in Cottbus and on Saturday in Bordeaux.

[Powell]

Some assorted results from the last few days:

Łukasz Michalski won in Bordeaux on Saturday with 5.72 (that's a WIC qualifier, but AFAIR he'd said he was not planning on doing Istanbul). That followed his 5.60 three days earlier in Cottbus.

Also in Bordeaux, Artur Ostrowski won the 800 in 1:49.27.

Artur Noga ran 7.76 in Jablonec on Saturday.

During yesterday's PV meet in Spała, Joanna Piwowarska cleared 4.40, which I believe is her best result in 3 years or so. She then came close to clearing the WIC qualifying height of 4.52. Agnieszka Kolasa set a PB with 4.30 in second place.
In the men's competition, Paweł Wojciechowski and Przemysław Czerwiński both cleared 5.20.

At the national junior champs this weekend, Krzysztof Brzozowski improved his national record in SP to 20.62.
Possibly the most spectacular showing of the meet, though, was by Rafał Smoleń, who improved the 400 meter NJR twice, first to 47.53 in the heats, then 47.35 in the final. The track in Spała is known for tight curves, making it unconducive to fast runs at 400, so the time is much better than it would appear, especially since Smoleń started celebrating way before the line. WYC medalist Patryk Dobek was well beaten, taking second place in 48.30.

Smoleń's run can be seen HERE
And HERE is Brzozowski's 20.62

[Powell]

As noted on another thread, Adam Kszczot won the 600 in Moscow yesterday with 1:15.26, well ahead of Yuriy Borzakovskiy and a group of storng Kenyans. The time is the second fastest ever, behind Nico Motchebon's 1:15.12. Kszczot was not fully satisfied, though, as he'd hoped to go sub-1:15.

At the same meet, Łukasz Michalski took 3rd place in PV with 5.65.

There was not much of note at yesterday's meet in Spała. Possibly the best result was Artur Noga's 7.72 (SB, but still 0.04 off the WIC qualifying time). Paweł Wojciechowski only cleared 5.00 this time. One interesting result was the win and PB of 21.69 for Jan Ciepiela in the 200. He looked to be on the way to becoming a top-class 400 runner a couple of years ago, before being derailed by injuried and other problems. Maybe this could be his year.

[Powell]

The Pedro's Cup in Bydgoszcz tomorrow is looking very exciting this time. I haven't seen the start lists anywhere yet, but women's PV will feature Yelena Isinbayeva and Holly Bleasdale, as well as Anna Rogowska and Monika Pyrek (both making their season debut).

Men's PV will have all the top Poles and Lazaro Borges, and men's SP is supposed to include Christian Cantwell and Reese Hoffa, plus of course Tomasz Majewski.

[Marlow]

Men's PV will have all the top Poles

How appropriate . . .

[Powell]

The start lists are now available

The women's PV field also includes Svetlana Feofanova, Yarisley Silva and Kylie Hutson.

[Powell]

The women's PV competition was a bit disappointing in the end. Isi is clearly in great shape, judging by the height she was reaching, but she only cleared her first height, and followed with 3 failures at 4.80. The last one in particular was very close, as she brushed the bar off with her chest on the way down, but she was way over the bar on all attempts. But if she sorts out the technical problems in the next few weeks, I wouldn't be too surprised to see her threaten the WR.
Bleasdale was second with the same height as the winner, but she didn't look in the same class. Her clearance at 4.68 was OK, but she was never close to clearing 4.80.
Anna Rogowska likewise looked strong, but had technical issues. Only 4.60 for her this time, but her successful vaults looked impressive - if she gets technically more consistent, she should be in the 4.80 territory soon.
Monika Pyrek, on the other hand, looked awful. Very sluggish on the runway, and lacking confidence. She never looked like she was going to clear anything beyond 4.40

Results:
1 Yelena Isinbayeva 4.68
2 Holly Bleasdale 4.68
3 Anna Rogowska 4.60
4 Yarisley Silva 4.60
5 Svetlana Feofanova 4.52
6 Joanna Piwowarska 4.40
7 Monika Pyrek 4.40

In the men's PV, Michalski was the only one to go higher than 5.60. He cleared 5.72 on his third attempt, and attempted 5.80, but didn't get all that close.
Wojciechowski looked better than I expected after his recent results. He failed at 5.40, but that was just because of technical issues. Height-wise, he looks ready to go 5.60 at least, which is pretty good considering his recent problems.

Results:
1 Łukasz Michalski 5.72
2 Jan Kudlicka & Steven Lewis 5.60
4 Karsten Dilla 5.60
5 Giuseppe Gibilisco & Lazaro Borges 5.40
7 Przemysław Czerwiński & Paweł Wojciechowski 5.20

In the SP, Majewski won with a very consistent series (all 6 attempts were valid and over 20.50). 21+ at this stage of the season is very good by his standards; I would expect him to improve significantly by the time of the WIC.
The Americans struggled a bit. Cantwell finally sort of got it right on his final attempt, but not quite enough to catch Majewski. Hoffa fouled out most of his attempts, including a couple of sector fouls, but also one put which was a long way beyond 21. In the end he finished out of the top 3, as Marco Fortes threw brilliantly, setting two Portuguese records.

Results:
1 Tomasz Majewski 21.05
2 Christian Cantwell 20.96
3 Marco Fortes 20.77
4 Reese Hoffa 20.61

Detailed results HERE

[72]

Of course, Bleasedale is not in Isinbayeva class yet... at 20 years old. To jump 4.68 at this very early stage of her career is outstanding and we just have to overlook the hype about medals in 6 months time.

[nevetsllim]

I thought it was a good performance from Bleasdale because she's made some technical changes since she cleared 4.87m. It was her first competition with a 16-stride run-up and a longer pole.

[Powell]

I thought it was a good performance from Bleasdale because she's made some technical changes since she cleared 4.87m. It was her first competition with a 16-stride run-up and a longer pole.

I thought the longer run-up was supposed to make her vault higher, not lower

But you took my comments the wrong way. I didn't mean to put down Bleasdale's performance, the "not in the same class" was more in appreciation of how impressive Isinbayeva looked. Her end result doesn't show it, but physically she's looking the best I've seen her in a long time, I think.

For some reason, the indoor arena in Bydgoszcz doesn't seem very conducive to great vaulting, anyway. There have been notable exceptions over the years, but most vaulters seem to struggle technically while competing there.

[Riff80]

Video recap of the meet here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWkgRHG_OPM
Looks like it was a lot of fun.

[Jon]

I thought it was a good performance from Bleasdale because she's made some technical changes since she cleared 4.87m. It was her first competition with a 16-stride run-up and a longer pole.

Bleasdale has been experimenting with the longer pole in training, but for this competition she actually used her shorter pole. I'm guessing that while she's inbetween poles, she may have the odd blip in competition. Not that a 4.68m clearance is disappointing for a 20yo!

[Powell]

Mutaz Essa Barshim jumped 2.33 on Saturday in Spała (new Qatari NR).
At the same meet, Karolina Tymińska competed for the first time this year, running the 60H in 8.44. Frankly, I expected better from her after the progress she made in the hurdles last summer. She also HJed 1.70 - again, not great, but we shall see how she progresses over the next couple of weeks.

The biggest Polish performance of the last few days was of course Adam Kszczot's 1:45.44 in Dusseldorf. He beat a strong field (Lalang, Ismail, Kivuva) by over 1.5s, set a new PB and world-leading time. And he looked like he could have gone a second faster with better pacing (he actually got faster in the last 200 compared to the 2 laps in the middle, even though he was already well ahead after 3 laps). Too bad he's not planning on going to Istanbul; with Rudisha and Kaki absent, I reckon he would be the clear favorite there.

Also in Dusseldorf, Tomasz Majewski placed second in SP with SB 21.19, behind Cantwell, but ahead of Storl. Renata Pliś got a WIC qualifier with 4:09.71 at 1500.

In Karlsruhe on Sunday, Majewski beat both Storl and Cantwell with 21.27. The distance is his best ever in winter, but not the national indoor record, since he did 21.38 at the last Weltklasse (remember the SP competition in Zurich now takes place in a railway station). Angelika Cichocka finished 3rd at 1500 with PB 4:07.83, and Lidia Chojecka was 6th in 4:09.37. Both were under the WIC qualifying time, while Wioletta Frankiewicz just missed in the 3000 with 9:00.27.

Paweł Wojciechowski finally showed some progress by clearing 5.52 in Donetsk, which was good enough for 8th place, just behind Przemysław Czerwiński (5.62). In the women's competition, Anna Rogowska disappointed somewhat by doing only 4.50, Monika Pyrek was at 4.40, and Agnieszka Kolasa equalled her PB at 4.30.

[Powell]

Kszczot is doing another 800 tomorrow in Lievin, against a stronger field than in Dusseldorf. Ismail and Kivuva are in the race again, but there's also Borzakovskiy, Mutua and Aman. Artur Ostrowski is scheduled to run in the B race, which could be interesting, too. And Marcin Lewandowski will make his season debut, running the 1500 (a good chance of a NR, I would think).

[Powell]

Kszczot demolished the field again in Lievin, winning by 1.39. The time was 1:44.57 - that's not only a WL and NR (beating Paweł Czapiewski's 1:44.78 from 2002), but it puts him at no. 3 on the world all-time list behind Kipketer and Borzakovskiy. Fastest time in the world in 9 years, too! I really hope he reconsiders going to Istanbul...

Marcin Lewandowski did well, too. He finished 7th, but set a NR by over a second. His time was 3:37.76, beating Bartosz Nowicki's 3:38.90 from last year. It's Lewandowski's first sub-3:40, indoors or out. Obviously, he hasn't been in a lot of fast races at this distance up to now. Reportedly, though, he has an unusual endurance level for an 800 specialist, and may be very good at longer distances down the line.

Renata Pliś had a decent race in Lievin, taking 8th place in 4:09.11. Michalski cleared 5.62 this time, and Joanna Piwowarska, still looking for a WIC qualifier, did 4.40.

[Powell]

Lidia Chojecka ran a WIC qualifier at 3000 in Eaubonne yesterday, placing third in 8:55.05.

Piotr Śleboda was second in the HJ competition in Prague with 2.27, equalling his lifetime best (set outdoors last year).

[John G]

Kszczot demolished the field again in Lievin, winning by 1.39. The time was 1:44.57 - that's not only a WL and NR (beating Paweł Czapiewski's 1:44.78 from 2002), but it puts him at no. 3 on the world all-time list behind Kipketer and Borzakovskiy. Fastest time in the world in 9 years, too! I really hope he reconsiders going to Istanbul...

During BBCs coverage of the meeting in Glasgow the other week they went through the London 2012 gold medal predictions of their Statistician, Mark Butler. Some were a little left field to put if mildly. Steve Cram poured scorn on one in particular: Men's 800m, Kszczot .. .. .. .. ..

[Powell]

Men's 800m, Kszczot .. .. .. .. ..

Well, I still wouldn't bet a lot of money at this point on Kszczot beating Rudisha in London, but he's looking like a likely medalist.

[PZhelev]

Very glad to see Kszczot in such a magnificient shape! Congrats to him. I would like to see him medal in London, but let's not forget that it's a long way to london and sometimes excellent performance indoor does not guarantee the same outdoors. Well, good luck to Adam.

[Powell]

Marcin Lewandowski will do his first 800 of the season tomorrow in Birmingham. Angelika Cichocka will be in the women's race. Both of them have already set PBs at 1500 this year, so it will be interesting to see what they can do in their specialist event. Among other Poles competing there will also be Rogowska and Pyrek in PV.

[nevetsllim]

Is Lewandowski's agent Ellen Van Langen?

<namedropping> I just ask because she was sitting opposite me at breakfast today and she was chatting with him (and Jos Hermans)</namedropping>

[Powell]

Karolina Tymińska had two excellent results in Spała today - 15.09 in SP and 6.54 in LJ. She also competed in HJ, but NHed at her opening height of 1.70.
Artur Noga improved his SB to 7.69, missing the WIC qualifier by 0.01.

[Powell]

Is Lewandowski's agent Ellen Van Langen?

<namedropping> I just ask because she was sitting opposite me at breakfast today and she was chatting with him (and Jos Hermans)</namedropping>

No, it's Hermens who is Lewandowski's agent.

[Powell]

Marcin Lewandowski finished second in Birmingham, just behind Mohamed Aman, in 1:45.41, a big PB, putting him 22nd on the world's all-time list (no. 10 in Europe). He reportedly still hasn't made the final decision on going to Istanbul, and will do it after Stockholm on Thursday (where he will race against Adam Kszczot).

Angelika Cichocka won the 800 in Birmingham in 2:01.90, but it is likely she will opt for the 1500 at the WIC. Anna Rogowska placed 2nd with SB of 4.70, while Pyrek and Piwowarska cleared 4.41.

Artur Ostrowski won the 800 in Val de Reuil, also setting a PB with 1:47.97, close to the WIC qualifying standard of 1:47.80.

20-year old Paulina Guba set a big lifetime best in SP with 17.60 in Gdańsk, just 10 cm off the WIC standard. Jakub Giża also came close to the standard with 19.86 at the same meet.

[Gabriella]

Marcin Lewandowski finished second in Birmingham, just behind Mohamed Aman, in 1:45.41, a big PB, putting him 22nd on the world's all-time list (no. 10 in Europe). He reportedly still hasn't made the final decision on going to Istanbul, and will do it after Stockholm on Thursday (where he will race against Adam Kszczot).

Angelika Cichocka won the 800 in Birmingham in 2:01.90, but it is likely she will opt for the 1500 at the WIC.

Cichocka ran really well and had a good last 100m. I agree I think she'll go for the 1500m in Istanbul as well. Steve Cram seemed to have a little soft spot for her in his commentary BTW how do you pronounce her name?

Lewandowski ran his usual brawling race and looked very good but I do wonder how he feels now he is firmly number 2 in Poland.

Would either Lewandowski or Kszczot ever be considered in the Polish 4x4 team?

[Sasuke]

Would either Lewandowski or Kszczot ever be considered in the Polish 4x4 team?

Lewandowski is probabily not that fast (he is used to running the 1500 rather than 400s) but Adam last year clocked 46.5 with a terrible reaction time (0.6!!) so I do believe a few polish guys could run faster than him. He is fast, so he should be on team in the relay.

[Powell]

Would either Lewandowski or Kszczot ever be considered in the Polish 4x4 team?

Lewandowski is probabily not that fast (he is used to running the 1500 rather than 400s) but Adam last year clocked 46.5 with a terrible reaction time (0.6!!) so I do believe a few polish guys could run faster than him. He is fast, so he should be on team in the relay.

I totally agree with the assessment of both Lewandowski's and Kszczot's speed. But the way things work in Poland, it's very unlikely someone who doesn't train with the national 4x4 squad would be selected for the relay.

[Powell]

Cichocka ran really well and had a good last 100m. I agree I think she'll go for the 1500m in Istanbul as well. Steve Cram seemed to have a little soft spot for her in his commentary BTW how do you pronounce her name?

It's tsee-KHOTS-kah, roughly speaking.

Lewandowski ran his usual brawling race and looked very good but I do wonder how he feels now he is firmly number 2 in Poland.

People (and that included me, too) have always tended to underestimate Lewandowski. He doesn't give the impression of being as spectacularly talented as Kszczot, but he's an excellent championship performer. Don't forget he finished higher in Daegu, when he wasn't really expected to do so.

[Powell]

Apparently Kszczot is now considering the WIC a possibility. He had no intention of going to Istanbul originally, but his form has been better than he'd expected. For now, his plan is to run in Stockholm on Thursday and at the NC in Spała this weekend.

[IanS_Liv]

Cichocka ran really well and had a good last 100m. I agree I think she'll go for the 1500m in Istanbul as well. Steve Cram seemed to have a little soft spot for her in his commentary BTW how do you pronounce her name?

It's tsee-KHOTS-kah, roughly speaking.

Thanks for that. The BBC commentators were a bit unsure of how to pronounce that!

Anna Rogowska looked very good. 4.78 was a bridge too far, but I wouldn't be surprised to see her improve on that 4.70 before the winter is out.

[Powell]

Anna Rogowska looked very good. 4.78 was a bridge too far, but I wouldn't be surprised to see her improve on that 4.70 before the winter is out.

When I watched the competition in Bydgoszcz, I got the impression she was in great physical shape, but her technique wasn't all there. But from what I've read, she never planned to go to the WIC this year, so she probably isn't taking the indoor season too seriously.

[vencio2]

Marcin Lewandowski finished second in Birmingham, just behind Mohamed Aman, in 1:45.41, a big PB, putting him 22nd on the world's all-time list (no. 10 in Europe). He reportedly still hasn't made the final decision on going to Istanbul, and will do it after Stockholm on Thursday (where he will race against Adam Kszczot).

Would love to see both Lewandowski and Kszczot in Istanbul - they both seem to be in great form at the moment. I have developed a bit of a soft spot for them both, especially Lewandowski

Lewandoswski has a 10.6x 100m pb according to his iaaf bio - is that kind of speed pretty normal for an 800m specialist?