KRATOCHVILOVA'S RECORD IN DANGER
After Gianmarco Tamberi and Femke Bol, the third name comes to the 61st Golden Spike Ostrava on Tuesday, May 31, with the specific goal of changing the historical records of the event. It is only 18-year-old Christine Mbom from Namibia, who last year won silver at the Tokyo Olympics and gold at the 200m World Junior Championships. She pushed the African record and at the same time the junior world record to 21.78, when she won the DL final in Zurich. The goal is to attack the second oldest record of Golden Spike, 22.07 Jarmila Kratochvílová from 1981. She will be assisted only by a little older, but also 19-years-old junior Beatrice Masilingi from Namibia with a maximum of 22.18. She was sixth at the Olympics and won silver behind her compatriot at the World Junior Championships.
Christine Mboma: “I am so looking forward to competing at the Ostrava Golden Spike meeting. 2021 was an amazing year for me, with so much to be grateful for, and I want to remain focused on building on that foundation this season. Ostrava is a perfect meeting to race against the best in the world again, and help me in my preparations for the World Championships. Thank you to the meet organisers for always putting on a great event for us.”
The women's pole vault competition is also back. The Czech number one Amálie Švábiková, the world champion among juniors and the European champion under 23, can look forward to quality rivals. For example, the bronze medalist at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Tina Šutej, a Slovenian record holder with an output of 480 cm. Švábiková conquered 455 cm in the indoor season, which is her indoor and outdoor maximum. Meeting record is held by legendary Stacy Dragil from 2004 with 483 cm and at that time it was the best performance of all time outdoors.
Advance ticket sales continue and the organizers and the best athletes in the world are looking forward to the full stands on May 31 from 5 pm. We can be curious how many world champions will stand at the start of the Golden Spike Ostrava. When in 2021, 13 later Olympic medalists competed in Ostrava. As in 2021, all performances can be watched by spectators in 140 countries around the world.
In addition to working on the details of the Golden Spike Ostrava and finalizing its preparations, the basic rounds of the Chocolate Spike are already running in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Zdeněk Stromšík took part in the role of ambassador in Vyškov, Jiří Mužík in Blansko and Matúš Bubeník, an Olympian in Olomouc. You can find the full program of individual rounds at www.cokoladovatretra.cz. The next one will be on May 3 in Břeclav with the legendary Šárka Kašpárková as ambassador.
[ ...back ]
