Poland steams into 2nd place triumph ahead of 6 other nations in Athletic World Cup
Successes in hammer throwing, 1500m run, triple jump and shot put ensured Poland’s brilliant achievement.
Poland stormed to second place victory behind the USA at the inaugural Athletic World Cup in London this weekend.
The powerhouse Polish team beat off China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Jamaica and South Africa to take second place and 400,000 dollars.
The successes in hammer throwing, 1500m run, triple jump and shot put ensured Poland’s brilliant achievement, which was only augmented by the team’s good performance in other events.
On the first day of the Cup, Poland had an early boost from the wins of Anita Włodarczyk (women’s hammer throw), Karol Hoffmann (men’s triple jump) and Sofia Ennaoui (women’s 1500m), supported by Justyna Święty-Ersetic’s 3rd place in women’s 400m and Adam Kszczot coming 2nd in men’s 800m.
Włodarczyk is world-wide phenomenon, with 47 of the 100 top hammer throws belonging to her.
She told TVP Sport: “London is a lucky place for me. I won the Olympic and World Championships gold medals here. The memories came back and I thought it would be nice to leave the stadium victorious. The result is great, my condition before the European Championships is getting better and I hope the apogee will come in less than a month.”
Poles dominated the 1500 m runs, with Marcin Lewandowski‘s time 3.52,88 and Sofia Ennaoui’s 4.07,06. “I just came back from a training camp in Zakopane and I can still feel the hard training in my legs. I’m not very fresh and I botched the tactics, but winning is the most important,” Ennaoui said after the race.
Poland beat off 6 other nations, placing then second after the United States.
(Athletics World Cup)
Apart from Marcin Lewandowski, Sunday, the second day of the competition, brought a solid performance and an assured win from Wojciech Nowicki in hammer throw and Michał Haratyk in shot put.
The second place slots for Paulina Guba in women’s shot put, Marcin Krukowski in men’s javelin throw and Patryk Dobek in men’s 400m hurdles put Poland firmly at the front of rivalry for second place with Great Britain.
In the end, the Polish men’s 4x400m relay coming second and the Brits being unable to take part in the event because of injury ensured the Polish success.
For many of the athletes the cup was scheduled right in the middle of a busy competition calendar. With the Diamond League meeting in Rabat, Morocco held on July 13th, right before the London competition and the European Championships coming in 3 weeks, not all of the countries sent their strongest sportsmen.
However, Marcin Lewandowski was one of those who flew to London straight from Rabat.
“I’m strong enough to wait until the last moment. (…) Here I only confirmed my good disposition. Great trail run and training before the main event. I did a massive job and it has now paid off,” he said, referring to his first position in the 4th lap in the London competition and the upcoming European Championship.
In three weeks’ time the team will compete in the European Championships in Berlin.
