The second-fastest woman ever at 200 metres, Shericka Jackson, will face Shaunae Miller-Uibo on 6 August in the Silesian Stadium. Both of them took World Championships golds, racing at different distances. - Altogether, in this historic Diamond League meeting, the Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, 49 World Championships medalists will take part, including 19 who took gold - said Jakub Chełstowski, the Silesian assembly chairman.
Before the women's 200 metres final, Jamaican reporters in the Eugene stadium loudly proclaimed: Shericka Jackson will take the gold and her preparations for the World Championships went so well she will take down Florence Griffith-Joyner's ancient world record. One half of the prediction came true, although Jackson's time of 21.45 is the second fastest of all time.
– With the Jamaicans winding us up, we believed the record was possible. If not there, then perhaps in one of her subsequent races. As it happens, her next one comes at the Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial! On 6 August Jackson will be running here, along with the great Shaunae Miller-Uibo. The Bahamian won the 400 metres in Eugene on Friday, but in Silesia she wants to test her speed. It will be a fantastic duel - predicted Piotr Małachowski, sports director of the Diamond League in the Silesian Stadium.
The question of whether it will be possible to chase records may be answered not just by Jackson. Others with the potential to make history include Alison Dos Santos, the new king of the 400 metre hurdles or the previously announced Armand Duplantis, who concluded the World Championships with a confirmation of his great shape, setting a new world record with 6.21.
– They are exceptional individuals and we are providing great rivals for them. Some of the names will only be revealed at the last minute, as the talks with their agents are ongoing. What we already know is that the 400 metres flat will be a Eugene re-match between Michael Norman and Kirani James, the newly crowned world champion and runner-up. A similar case is the men's 100 metres with the amazing Fred Kerley and Trayvon Bromell, while the champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will be taking part in the women's race. She will be chasing the meeting record and racing our own Ewa Swoboda, among others. For the men's shot put, we invited Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs, while in the hammer throw, Wojciech Nowicki will attempt to take his revenge on Paweł Fajdek. There will also be a showdown between the top three Polish 400 metre female runners. In the last five years they had made the podium of every major event, but they are coming back from Eugene empty-handed. They will surely want to erase those memories and fight for the all-important Diamond League points. They will face the new World Championships silver medalist Marileidy Paulino. The list of stars has grown so long it is hard to mention all of them - said the Silesian voivodeship assembly chairman Jakub Chełstowski with a smile. He also reminded the fans that the gates of the stadium will be open for them at noon on 6 August.
The first events kick off at 1:30 PM, while the main Diamond League programme starts at 4 PM.
– It will be an action-packed programme, as never seen before at any athletics event in Poland. In several events, we are talking of the entire World Championships top three competing, most of the entry lists are worthy of Olympic finals - revealed Małachowski. Although the lists have not been finalised, 49 Eugene medalists, including 19 champions, have already been confirmed for the Kamila Memorial.
