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By Monica Iheakam
World Record holder in 100m hurdles, Tobi Amusan says she is looking forward to join other world record holders at the Ostrava Golden Spikes when the 11th World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting in Czech Republic .
Amusan will join fellow world record-holder, Mondo Duplantis and Lamecha Girma at the Ostrava Golden Spike on 27 June, while Neeraj Chopra will feature in a strong javelin field.
The Commonwealth champion set her world 100m hurdles record of 12.12 in the semifinals of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 and went on to win gold in a wind-assisted time of 12.06.
The Golden Spike record of 12.55 set by Sharika Nelvis in 2015 could be under threat.
“I am excited to race in Ostrava,” said Amusan. “I’ve watched world-class athletes race on that track and I’m looking forward to experiencing an awesome atmosphere while executing a good race,” Amusan told World Athletics website.
Girma clocked 7:58.68 to break the Ethiopian 3000m steeplechase record when he raced in Ostrava last year and he will return to contest the Emil Zatopek Memorial 1500m in 2023.
At an event that stars Jan Zelezny as meeting director, the javelin will again be in the spotlight. India’s Olympic champion Chopra claimed world silver in Oregon and he will again face the two athletes who joined him on the podium there: Grenada’s two-time world gold medallist Anderson Peters and Czech Republic’s bronze medallist Jakub Vadlejch.
In the women’s competition, Japan’s world bronze medallist, Haruka Kitaguchi will go up against Czech Republic’s world finalist Nikola Ogrodnikova.
More than 180 meetings are included in this year’s tour, which is divided into four levels – Gold, Silver, Bronze and Challenger.
The status of each meeting is determined by the quality of competition and prize money on offer.
In 2022, 11,793 athletes from 159 countries competed in the Continental Tour, establishing two area records, 118 national records and 2396 personal bests across the 152 meetings.
