From gold to diamond: Athletes through to the Diamond League finals
Seven Poles have qualified for the Athletics Diamond League Finals, which will be held on August 30 – 31 in Zurich and Brussels.
In the Grand Prix finals held in Birmingham, UK, Paulina Guba came second in shot put, Sofia Ennaoui third in women’s 1500m and Adam Kszczot sixth in men’s 800m. With his previous performances it was enough for Kszczot to qualify for the finals, unlike Marcin Lewandowski, who was fifth in the same competition.
Kszczot wrote on Facebook after the competition: “Today I was 6th, but with a decent 1:44:97. I admit I still feel tired after the European Championship. During the race, unfortunately, I could feel my Achilles injury, but I hope to regenerate for the next starts.”
Paulina Guba finished the shot put competition with only 17,92m, her weakest result, yet it was enough to earn her second place. In general the athletes who shined during the European Championships in Berlin seemed to be conserving their strength in Birmingham.
That wasn’t the case with Sofia Ennaoui who had her best result of this season, running 1500m in 4:02:06.
Previously, four other athletes ensured their participation in the finals: pole vaulters Piotr Lisek and Paweł Wojciechowski, shot putter Michał Haratyk, and javelin thrower Marcelina Witek. Other Poles are on reserve lists, which means they could also compete in the finals.
The finals of the most prestigious series in athletics will be held on August 30th in Zurich and August 31st in Brussels.
The first day will see Poles competing in shot put and javelin, while on the second in the men’s 800m, women’s 1500m and men’s pole vault.
The recent successes of the Polish athletics team in the European Championship have set expectations high, especially for medal winners: Paulina Guba, Adam Kszczot, Sofia Ennaoui and Michał Haratyk.
