In the wake of the two hammer competitions, scheduled for the early afternoon, the organizers of the Memorial Istvan Guylai have concocted a plateau worthy of a Diamond League on Wednesday in Hungary. Many athletes present in Monaco last Friday joined the charming Szekesfehervar, 60 km west of Budapest, for a high-flying meeting.
Noah Lyles, stormed over the Rock (19”76 over 200m), will test himself on his first 100m in normal conditions. The American twice clocked 9”93, windy, in timed practice in Florida last month, and is aiming for his personal best of 9”86. South African Akani Simbine, American veteran Mike Rodgers and Briton Adam Gemili will also be in the game.
Expected sensations with the men’s triple jump
Over 110 m hurdles, the Frenchman Wilhem Belocian, in ascending form after his 13”38 from Turku and 13”18 from Monaco (personal best), will scuffle with the same opponents as on the Rock: Orlando Ortega (winner in 13 ” 11), Andy Pozzi (13”14) and world champion Grant Holloway (13”19). Hungarian Balazs Baji, bronze medalist at the 2017 Worlds, will make his comeback after an injury.
Sensations also expected on the side of the men’s triple jump, whose plateau will bring together the American star Christian Taylor, who rebounded to 17.13 m last Saturday in Austria, the Portuguese Pedro Pablo Pichardo (17.17 m this season) and the man strong winter, Hugues-Fabrice Zango. The 27-year-old Burkinabé, building on his world bronze medal in Doha, had a dense indoor season, marked by his 17.77 m in Paris on February 1.
The athlete coached by Teddy Tamgho rubs, for his first outdoor competition, with the world’s top, which he wants to quickly dominate. Tamgho will also have his eye on another nugget of his group, the hurdler Cyrena Samba-Mayela. Close to her personal best in Brussels, ten days ago (13”19), she should drop the clock against the American Sharika Nelvis (12”65 last year) and the Dutch Nadine Visser ( holder of the ERA in 12”68).
Already holder of the unofficial world record in the 600m indoor (1’13”77 in 2019), the American Donavan Brazier, five days after his excellent Monegasque 800m (1’43”15), will launch in pursuit of the best global brand owned since 1986 by Johnny Gray (1’12”81). In 2016, a certain David Rudisha had broken his teeth there (1’13”10).
Apart from Tavernier, Belocian and Samba-Mayela, two other French people made the trip. Yanis David, who missed his return to Turku at length (6.19 m), will be keen to find performances in line with his standards. Jean-Marc Pontvianne will take advantage of emulation in the triple jump to try to go further than his 17.03 m achieved three weeks ago in Montpellier.
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