Polish NC: Rogowska 4.80, Wlodarczyk 75.74, Markowski 84.85!

[Powell]

Artur Noga is reportedly now healthy and in excellent shape. Possibly another dark horse? We shall see what happens tomorrow in the heats.

Noga didn't look all that convincing today, but what do I know? Małachowski didn't look impressive in qualifying, either.

In any case, the Polish medal tally is up to six. We still have WÅ‚odarczyk plus a few possible surprises, one of which can hopefully pan out. If Noga doesn't do it, there's still Glanc and the 800 duo. Possibly Janik could hit a big one? Or one of the 50k walkers manages to step up from their customary position towards the end of the top 10?[/code]

[Powell]

Artur Noga is reportedly now healthy and in excellent shape. Possibly another dark horse? We shall see what happens tomorrow in the heats.

[cacique]

The stadion announcer would surely enjoy it to pronounce Kszczot ... I'm a bit disappointed that there's no real horror name in the team

ha! say who? with all those polish names with 10 consonants and 2 vowels and 3 weird accents?

good thing carol lewis, tom hammond and dwight stones are not stadium announcers. can you imagine?

[Powell]

I'm a little surprised, but we shouldn't discount that this probably also the closest to home championships the Polish athletes are going to experience, that surely helps and was a boost.

It would seem to give an advantage. But in the past, the Poles were usually doing better in major championships far from home. Sydney and Edmonton were the best showings of the team in my memory, and Tokyo and Osaka were pretty good as well.

[croflash]

I'm a little surprised, but we shouldn't discount that this probably also the closest to home championships the Polish athletes are going to experience, that surely helps and was a boost.

While 5 medals after just 3 days is outstanding, Chudzik is the only one of those five who hasn't been around at that level for quite the some time. You can never expect that all is coming together at a major championship and noone would have predicted Poland to own the most medals at this point, but it's not a shocker.

[Powell]

Clearly. Would you believe that after three days of the WCh, Poland has won more medals than any other country? :shock:

Too bad they can't maintain this run forever. But I now think the team is capable of winning another 2 or 3 medals.

I can now take credit for having predicted Chudzik would be a contender . But I have to say I didn't see ZióÅ‚kowski medal coming at all. It was only after qualifying that I started thinking a medal might be possible.

[croflash]

Let's say three medals???
Majewski is obvious, while either Rogowska/Pyrek or Wlodarczyk win the second. Then you have Glanc in a very low key discus and Jesien or maybe even Sposob in the High Jump. Malachowski however will find it difficult to compete against Kanter, Harting and Alekna if he isn't fit.
The women's sprint department seemed stronger in the last years.

I would say one medal is the worst case, with as many as six being the best case scenario for the Polish team.

You were clearly too pessimistic, Powell :wink:

[Powell]

Małachowski is going to Berlin after all. He's getting injections for his finger, and is sounding fairly optimistic about his chances.

Two minor changes in the team lineup: Kamil Masztak is injured and has been replaced by Kamil Kryński in the 4x100, and Marcin Marciniszyn is entered in the individual 400 in addition to the relay.

[Sinafan]

Rogowska and Pyrek could actually end up with two medals in the current state of the event - Stuczynski is out or at least seriously sub-par, Spiegelburg, Feofanova et al. don't seem to be able to go higher than 4.70, and even Isinbayeva isn't looking completely unbeatable at the moment. It would be a big disappointment to me if neither of them finished in the top 3.

Feofanova is out. Trust me Spiegelburg is very much able to go higher and a classical competition fighter. I'm quite confident that she can jump 4.80 in Berlin, however she might need too many attempts.

WÅ‚odarczyk would be expected to win a medal of some color, though she is no longer a dead cert with Lysenko coming back and Menkova back in form...

Well, she and Heidler surely will have the support of the public against Lysenko and Menkova. I think the stadion announcer should give them a hint about Lysenko and maybe suggest some booing here or there ...

Now this may be far-fetched, but maybe Lewandowski or Kszczot could challenge in the 800? With the way this event tends to play out in major championships, all sorts of weird things can happen. Kszczot may have a slow PB, but the way he's been running recently makes me think he could actually be more of a threat than Lewandowski, especially in slow races.

The stadion announcer would surely enjoy it to pronounce Kszczot ... I'm a bit disappointed that there's no real horror name in the team

[Powell]

Oh, and BTW, Marcin Starzak's injury means he had to end his season, that's why he's not included in the team.

[Powell]

Let's say three medals???
Majewski is obvious, while either Rogowska/Pyrek or Wlodarczyk win the second. Then you have Glanc in a very low key discus and Jesien or maybe even Sposob in the High Jump. Malachowski however will find it difficult to compete against Kanter, Harting and Alekna if he isn't fit.

Yes, I would say three medals sounds reasonable. Perhaps four if things go well...

Majewski is looking like the clear favourite right now. In any case, it would be a MAJOR upset if he doesn't at least finish in the top 3.

Małachowski probably won't even go to Berlin, and will choose to have surgery soon, since it doesn't look like he can challenge for a medal in the current condition.

Rogowska and Pyrek could actually end up with two medals in the current state of the event - Stuczynski is out or at least seriously sub-par, Spiegelburg, Feofanova et al. don't seem to be able to go higher than 4.70, and even Isinbayeva isn't looking completely unbeatable at the moment. It would be a big disappointment to me if neither of them finished in the top 3.

WÅ‚odarczyk would be expected to win a medal of some color, though she is no longer a dead cert with Lysenko coming back and Menkova back in form...

Jesień is a bit of a question mark, following two GL wins with two poor races. Apparently she had a cramp during yesterday's race, but was determined to finish, that's why she ended up with such a slow time.

Chudzik could be a dark horse in the heptathlon. Her result in the LJ and to some extent also the 100H suggests she's in much better form now than she was at the Euro Cup. She's a bit of an unknown quality, but I'd say the 6500+ potential is there.

Now this may be far-fetched, but maybe Lewandowski or Kszczot could challenge in the 800? With the way this event tends to play out in major championships, all sorts of weird things can happen. Kszczot may have a slow PB, but the way he's been running recently makes me think he could actually be more of a threat than Lewandowski, especially in slow races.

There's a good number of serious top 8 contenders as well: Ejdys, the female discus throwers, Piwnicka, TymiÅ„ska, ZióÅ‚kowski, Noga (again, a question mark with all his injuries), Janik, SudoÅ‚ and FedaczyÅ„ski all have pretty good chances of placing well. I think it's looking like a pretty good team at the moment, compared to the last few years.

The women's sprint department seemed stronger in the last years.

If you're talking about 100/200, I would disagree. Korczyńska's maternity leave clearly affected the team, but the young runners are progressing well. They may not make the relay final this time, but they could be pretty good in the years to come.

Women's 400 is VERY weak at the moment, no question about that.

[croflash]

Let's say three medals???
Majewski is obvious, while either Rogowska/Pyrek or Wlodarczyk win the second. Then you have Glanc in a very low key discus and Jesien or maybe even Sposob in the High Jump. Malachowski however will find it difficult to compete against Kanter, Harting and Alekna if he isn't fit.
The women's sprint department seemed stronger in the last years.

I would say one medal is the worst case, with as many as six being the best case scenario for the Polish team.

[Sinafan]

Let's say three medals???
Majewski is obvious, while either Rogowska/Pyrek or Wlodarczyk win the second. Then you have Glanc in a very low key discus and Jesien or maybe even Sposob in the High Jump. Malachowski however will find it difficult to compete against Kanter, Harting and Alekna if he isn't fit.
The women's sprint department seemed stronger in the last years.

[Powell]

Here's the WCh team lineup as decided after the NC (with SBs):
Men
100m: Dariusz Kuc (10.21)
800m: Marcin Lewandowski (1:43.84), Adam Kszczot (1:45.72)
Marathon: Henryk Szost
3000m steeplechase: Tomasz Szymkowiak (8:21.32)
110m hurdles: Artur Noga (13.46)
High jump: Grzegorz Sposob (2.31), Sylwester Bednarek (2.28)
Pole vault: Lukasz Michalski (5.71)
Shot put: Tomasz Majewski (21.95)
Discus throw: Piotr Malachowski (68.75)
Hammer throw: Szymon Ziolkowski (78.93)
Javelin throw: Adrian Markowski (84.95), Igor Janik (83.52)
20km walk: Jakub Jelonek (1:22:17), Artur Brzozowski (1:22:23)
50km walk: Rafal Augustyn (3:52:16), Grzegorz Sudol, Rafal Fedaczynski
4x100m: Dariusz Kuc, Robert Kubaczyk, Kamil Masztak, Michal Bielczyk, Mikolaj Lewanski
4x400m: Jan Ciepiela, Rafal Wieruszewski, Piotr Klimczak, Kacper Kozlowski, Marcin Marciniszyn
Women
100m: Marika Popowicz (11.38)
800m: Anna Rostkowska (1:59.77)
1500m: Sylwia Ejdys (4:02.30), Lidia Chojecka (4:04.83)
3000m steeplechase: Katarzyna Kowalska (9:34.07)
100m hurdles: Joanna Kocielnik (13.16)
400m hurdles: Anna Jesien (54.31)
High jump: Kamila Stepaniuk (1.93)
Pole vault: Anna Rogowska (4.80), Monika Pyrek (4.78), Joanna Piwowarska (4.46)
Long jump: Teresa Dobija (6.74)
Triple jump: Malgorzata Trybanska (14.17)
Discus throw: Zaneta Glanc (63.96), Wioletta Potepa (63.24), Joanna Wisniewska (61.78)
Hammer throw: Anita Wlodarczyk (76.59)
Javelin throw: Urszula Piwnicka (63.53), Barbara Madejczyk (58.83)
Heptathlon: Kamila Chudzik (6378), Karolina Tyminska (6191)
20km walk: Agnieszka Dygacz (1:32:39)
4x100m: Iwona Ziolkowska, Iwona Brzezinska, Marika Popowicz, Joanna Kocielnik, Dorota Jedrusinska, Marta Jeschke

Men's 4x100 and Madejczyk were included in the team on the condition that they meet the qualifying standard in the coming days. I'm not sure about Madejczyk's plans. I know the relay team will be running in Cottbus on 8 August - they need to get under 39.10 to earn the tickets to Berlin.

[Powell]

Another surprise WCh qualifier came at the end of the competition, as Grzegorz Sposób cleared 2.31 - his highest jump in 3 years.

Małachowski threw only 64.15 and there's a good chance he'll decide to give the WCh a miss.

Łukasz Michalski (5.71 this year) NH'ed in the PV.