Adrianna Sulek-Schubert will defend her heptathlon title at the Czapiewski Memorial this weekend (26-27), but the 2022 world indoor silver medallist may not have it all her own way at the World Athletics Combined Events Tour Gold meeting in the Polish town of Naklo nad Notecia.
She’ll be up against compatriot Paulina Ligarska, who recently beat Sulek-Schubert to the Polish title, as well as 2019 world bronze medallist Verena Mayr and Germany’s Vanessa Grimm.
Sulek-Schubert – who was coached by the late Wieslaw Czapiewski, in whose honour the meeting is held – has twice won at this meeting. She set a meeting record of 6290 at the inaugural edition in 2022, then returned last year to win with 6007.
The 2022 European silver medallist, who has the best PB (6672) of the heptathlon field this weekend, didn’t finish the heptathlon in Götzis earlier this year, but she scored 6071 to finish second to Ligarska at the Polish Championships last month.
Ligarska scored 6189 on that occasion, just 52 points shy of her PB. More recently, she placed fifth in Arona with 5972, and she currently sits third in the Combined Events Tour standings.
Austria’s 2019 world bronze medallist Verena Mayr will also be in contention. A 6591 performer at her best, she recently finished seventh in Talence with 6083.
Vanessa Grimm finished two places ahead of Mayr on that occasion, scoring a season’s best of 6195. If the German is able to reproduce that this weekend, it could be enough to win.
Australia’s Tori West and Ukraine’s Daryna Sloboda are also ones to watch, as are Swedish duo Lovisa Karlsson and Bianca Salming.
Like Sulek-Schubert, Ondrej Kopecky will be looking for another victory this weekend. This meeting holds fond memories for the 27-year-old as it’s where he first broke 8000 points, scoring 8041 with his victory in 2022. Just three weeks later, he went on to improve his PB to 8310.
He didn’t finish any of his decathlons last year, but he recently won the Czech title with 8057.
Antoine Ferranti heads to Naklo nad Notecia with the highest season’s best of the decathlon field. The 22-year-old started the year with a PB of 7757, which he bettered in Brescia in April with 7885. He then won in Arona last month with a big PB of 8221 and last weekend took bronze at the European U23 Championships in Bergen with 8032.
Provided he has recovered sufficiently from his last two decathlons, Ferranti will start as one of the favourites this weekend.
Estonian duo Kristjan Rosenberg and Risto Lillemets are also ones to watch. Lillemets, the 2023 European indoor bronze medallist, recently placed sixth in Talence with 8020. Rosenberg hasn’t contested a decathlon so far this year, but boasts a PB of 8299.
Pawel Wiesiolek has the best PB of the field with 8333, but the last time the 33-year-old bettered 8000 points was at the 2012 Olympics, where he finished 12th. Nevertheless, the Pole will have the support of the home crowd.
Vilem Strasky and Malik Diakite, who finished second and third behind Ferranti in Arona last month, will also be in contention, as will Switzerland’s Finley Gaio.
Leading entries
Women’s heptathlon
Adrianna Sulek-Schubert (POL) 6672
Verena Mayr (AUT) 6591
Vanessa Grimm (GER) 6323
Tori West (AUS) 6245
Paulina Ligarska (POL) 6241
Daryna Sloboda (UKR) 6208
Bianca Salming (SWE) 6185
Lovisa Karlsson (SWE) 6146
Men’s decathlon
Pawel Wiesiolek (POL) 8333
Ondrej Kopecky (CZE) 8310
Kristjan Rosenberg (EST) 8299
Antoine Ferranti (FRA) 8221
Risto Lillemets (EST) 8156
Vilem Strasky (CZE) 8088
Malik Diakite (GER) 8051
Finley Gaio (SUI) 8022