It should be noted that it was only in the mid-60s that fashion for indoor athletes began to appear on our continent.
As for the representatives of Poland, counting the achievements from the actual tournaments organized under the name of the European Indoor Games 1967 in Prague (in the first edition of this event in 1966 in Dortmund, our team did not start) – 69 zlotys have fallen into the treasury of the white-red team So far, 60 silver and 80 bronze medals, although in the official lists – due to a statistical error – a slightly different number – a mess.
Two editions of HME have been the most medal-winning for us: in 1973 in Rotterdam and in 2017 in Belgrade – both times PZLA won 12 championships, and in the last performance, two years ago in Toruń, they won ten.
Strong Dutch and Belgian women
In Istanbul, it is difficult to count on such a rich harvest, because Adrianna Sułek in the pentathlon, Ewa Swoboda in the 60m, Anna Kiełbasińska in the 400m and Jakub Szymański in the 60m hurdles are the most likely to reach the podium.
Sofia Elnaoui, who last Saturday in Birmingham became the Polish record holder in the indoor 1000m (2:35.69), is likely to compete in the 1500m. Despite the weaknesses, we must also count on a successful performance in the women’s 4 x 400m.
Perhaps Dominic Kupio in the 60m and Michał Haratek will also fight for some ore in the shot put, but that’s already written on the water. And since this year you should not expect a stunning performance from the Poles, the more representatives of other countries will impress you.
Normally, the main champions of the tournament in the 7,000-capacity Ataköy Arena would be two world record holders of the year: Femke Bol (49.26 in the 400m in Apeldoorn) and Armand Duplantis (6.22 in the pole vault in Clermont-Ferrand) but the Swede quit In advance of his arrival in Istanbul.
Therefore, only a Dutch woman can perform miracles – both in the individual race and in the 4x400m relay. Meanwhile, in Group D from the Netherlands, Lake Claver, alongside Fimke Poll, will run fourth in the 400m at the 2022 Summer World Championships in Eugene, with an impressive personal best of 50.34 this winter. Paul managed to break the 41-year-old record of Czech Jarmila Kratochvilua (49.59).
The confrontation of both Dutch women with Kiełbasińska in the individual race will be interesting, because all three have a common mentor in the person of Swiss coach Laurent Meuwly.
In the pentathlon, the European leader of the year, the Polish record holder (4860 points), Adrianna Sułek has the following set of indoor personal bests: 60m hurdles – 8.33; high jump – 1.89; bullet – 13.65; long jump – 6.56; 800 pm – 2:09.56).
However, her two biggest rivals, representing Belgium, also have something to be proud of. Olympic heptathlon champion Nafissatu Thiam (4904 points in fifth place) has an impressive combination (8.23 – 1.96 – 15.52 – 6.79 – 2: 18.80) and indoor world champion Nor Veidts (4929) is yet to come to the best: (8.15 – 1.84 – 14.22 – 6.60 – 2:08.50).
Norwegians for records? A strong British team
It can be assumed that two excellent Norwegians – the world record holder in the 400m hurdles Karsten Warholm and the Olympic champion in the 1500m race and the world champion in the 5000m race Jacob Ingebrigtsen – decided to perform in Istanbul not by chance.
The first of them is the European indoor record holder over 400m (45.05 in the race for gold at HME 2019 in Glasgow) and this year’s champion is likely to be able to hold his own in this role. The second, after the 1500m test in Levine (3:32.38), will definitely be in shape for the 3000m and who knows if he will try for the indoor world record (on the court he clocked 7:27.05).
Ingebrigtsen’s worthy competitor in the 1,500m may be Briton Neil Gurley, who set a national record of 3:32.48 in Saturday’s test in Birmingham. British men and women are very ready for indoor competitions. Kelly Hodgkinson continues to challenge the indoor world record (she set a national record of 1:57.18 in Birmingham). On the other hand, Laura Muir is crazy about several distances, and in Istanbul she intends to go for gold over 1500m (this year’s 4:03.07).
Among the British podium favorites is Daryl Netta (7.05 over 60m), who will not be accompanied by the fastest British woman, Dina Asher-Smith (7.03 – national record on Saturday in Birmingham). And in this case, next to Nita, the favorites are the world indoor champion, the Swiss record holder (6.96) Mujinga Kambunji (7.03 recently), Ewa Swoboda (last year’s 6.99, including – 7.09).
What a pity that without Bia!
After the withdrawal of this year’s official world leader in the 60m (7.78) Pia Skrzyszowska, the main favorite for victory appears to be Rita Horski from Finland (7.79). In the women’s high jump, the whole world is rooting for the excellent Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchy (2.02 this year), who is the undoubted favorite in this discipline, as well as her compatriot Andrey Protsenko (2.32 this winter) in the men’s flip.
Finally, in the men’s long jump, there is no other candidate for gold than Olympic champion and world indoor champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece), who has flown the 8.41m beam this year! And only the vice world indoor champion Swede Tobias Montler (8.38 a year ago, 8.19 this season) can seriously threaten him.
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3 QUESTIONS TO URSZULA WŁODARCZYK, 1993 Vice World Indoor Champion and 1998 European Indoor No. 5
Can Adrianna Sułek afford to win HME gold in Istanbul?
Anything is possible in sports. Ada has already shown that she achieves excellent results in the most important events. Another thing is that already at the Polish Championships in Toruń, she is almost at the limit when it comes to her abilities, and in the main event, in a competition, she will always fail a leg. However, Ada can afford to spin around 5,000 points.
But will she be able to defeat such a great teacher as the Belgian Nafissatou Thiam?
Well, it’s a top-notch competition. In order to win with her, Ada must first of all push the ball as far as possible, because she looks great in the high jump and long jump this year.
And is breaking the indoor pentathlon world record a realistic plan for Sułek?
I wouldn’t bet all my money on it, but if Ada can do it all in one start, then of course it is possible. Only in the ball should it exceed 15 meters. Oh, and no injuries.
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