ORLEN Copernicus Cup 2023: Athletes to Watch for in the World Athletics Indoor Gold Tour

The Copernicus Cup 2023 is scheduled to be held at the multi-purpose sports and entertainment Arena Toruń in Poland.

Miltiadis Tentoglou at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 (Image Credits - World Athletics)
By Abhiruchi Rout | Feb 7, 2023 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

After the completion of two successful indoor tour meetings in Germany and the USA, the third gold meeting is all set to happen in Toruń, Poland on February 8, 2023. The Copernicus Cup 2023 is scheduled to be held at the multi-purpose sports and entertainment Arena Toruń. Since the year 2015, the competition has taken place at this venue. Orlen, the Petroleum refineries company in Poland, is the major sponsor of the event. The venue had previously hosted the European Athletics Indoor Championships between March 4 to 7, 2021. In addition, the arena is home to Twarde Pierniki Toruń, a Polish basketball team, which is a part of the Polish Basketball League (PLK).

Mujinga Kambundji

The reigning World Indoor Champion, Mujinga Kambundji, is one of the athletes to watch out for in the women’s 60 meter event. Mujinga is in rock-solid form having ended the 2022 season strongly, with two medals at the European Championships 2022 held in Munich. She claimed the gold in women’s 200 m and silver in the 100 m competitions respectively.

Ewa Swoboda

Ewa Swoboda is another strong contender in the women’s 60-meter who could just give Mujinga a tough challenge in Torun. Ewa will enter the competition as the local favorite. Last year on March 5, 2022, she smashed the national record once again at the Polish Indoor Championships in the Toruń. She did so by clocking a timing of 6.99 seconds, which was the tenth-best result in the history of the competition. Considering the event would be happening in Toruń once again, the Polish athlete must not be taken lightly.

Miltiadis Tentoglou

The reigning Olympic champion, Miltiadis Tentoglou, popularly known as Miltos will be the prime favorite to win the indoor meeting, considering his rise in the international circuit over a very short period. It would be extremely difficult for the other long jumpers to pull off an upset against Miltos. Some of his recent major accomplishments include a silver medal at the World Championships 2022, the gold medal at the World Indoor Championships 2022, and the gold at the European Championships 2022 in Munich.

Read more: What is Miltiadis Tentoglou’s net worth, salary and brand endorsements?

Britany Anderson

The silver medalist at the World Championships 2022, Britany Anderson, is the top contender in the women’s 60 m hurdles. Anderson won her heat in Oregon, qualifying for the semi-finals as the fourth quickest overall, before taking silver in the final. She qualified to represent Jamaica at the 2020 Summer Olympics and established a new personal best of 12.40 in the semis. She fell short in the final and finished eighth.

Gudaf Tsegay

Ethiopia’s Tsegay chased the world indoor mile record of 4:13.31 set by Genzebe Dibaba in 2016 when she returned to France for the Liévin World Athletics Indoor Tour in 2022. She had previously shattered the world indoor 1500m record with a timing of 3:53.09 at the World Indoor Tour Gold competition in 2021. However, she couldn’t threaten the world record despite winning in 4:21.72 due to a crash. The reigning world 5000m and world indoor 1500m champion will try her best in the meeting at Torun to breach the world record.

Keely Hodgkinson

The Tokyo Olympics and World Championships silver medalist, Keely Hodgkinson, will be keen to produce another impactful performance in Toruń in her signature event, i.e, 800 meters event. The 20-year-old shattered Kelly Holmes’ record set 26 years ago and the European U20 best of 1:57.45 set in 1978 by clocking 1:55.88 seconds in the finals of the delayed Olympics.

Mary Moraa

The athlete who can give a strong fight to Keely is none other than Mary Moraa. Having won the Diamond League and Commonwealth Games 2022, Kenya’s Moraa has already established herself as one of the best athletes in the 800 m event. In addition, she also won a bronze medal at the World Championships in 2022.

EJ Obiena

EJ Obiena, the Filipino athlete, is one of the strongest contenders in the men’s Pole Vault at the Copernicus Cup 2023. He is the current national record holder in this discipline with a leap of 5.94 m established at the World Championships 2022, where he also clinched the bronze medal. The 27-year-old is presently the third-best pole vaulter according to the World Athletics rankings.