The women’s 800m will witness fierce competition as Keely Hodgkinson and Mary Moraa compete for the first time indoors in 2023.
Follow Us
One of the top gold meetings in the World Athletics Indoor Tour, the ORLEN Copernicus Cup 2023, is set to take place on February 8, 2023, in Toruń, a picturesque historical city in Poland. This will be the third gold tour meeting on the Indoor Tour, which features many World Championship and Olympic medalists like Miltiadis Tentoglou, Keely Hodgkinson, Britany Anderson, Mujinga Kambundji and so on. Since many elite athletes will be competing in this meeting, there are high chances of previous records being broken and exciting contests taking place among these athletes. We now take a look at the top battles to watch out for as the third gold meeting takes place in Toruń.
Ewa Swoboda, the European championship 2022 silver medalist, will be eyeing to retain her Copernicus Cup 60m title in the city where she raced below seven seconds with a personal best of 6.99 in March 2022 to earn the national title. Ewa has had a fantastic start to 2023 as she won two out of three finals and set a season’s best time of 7.09 in Karlsruhe, Germany. She came in second behind British athlete Dina Asher-Smith. Swoboda placed 0.02 seconds ahead of Mujinga Kambundji in the final that took place in the German city. As a result, Mujinga will be determined to get the better of the Polish local favorite.
Another home favorite, Pia Skrzyszowska, will compete against Britany Anderson in the 60m hurdles. On February 4, during the ORLEN Cup Lodz 2023, a World Athletics bronze-level competition, the 21-year-old Skrzyszowska set a personal best of 7.78. She challenged the nearly 43-year-old Polish record of 7.77 and moved into the top 20 of the world all-time list. As she competes against Britany, the 100-meter hurdles silver medallist from the 2022 world championships, she will need to put on a strong performance once more. The Jamaican athlete will make her season debut in Torun.
The women’s 800m will witness fierce competition as Keely Hodgkinson and Mary Moraa compete for the first time indoors in 2023. Hodgkinson, a world and Olympic silver medalist, got off to a fantastic start to her season at the end of last month when she ran a 1:23.41 in Manchester to set the global indoor 600m record. Now, she competes in her first 800m race of the season. The 20-year-old has only suffered one defeat over 800m indoors since winning the European indoor gold in Torun in 2021. Kenya’s Moraa, who is making her indoor debut in Torun, previously beat Hodgkinson in the Diamond League Final and in the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
After tying his national indoor record of 5.91m in Uppsala, Sweden, about a week ago, Philippines pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, the world championship 2022 bronze medalist, will aim to make an impression in the men’s event. The 27-year-old has previously participated in five competitions in 2023, placing in the best three in each of the competitions. This time, he will face a stiff challenge from Thiago Braz, the Rio Olympics 2016 gold medalist. Thiago also finished fourth in the world championship where Obiena claimed the bronze and will be aiming for revenge. However, the athlete who can surprise both Obiena and Braz is another home favorite, Piotr Lisek. Lisek has won multiple World Championship, World Indoor Championship, and European Indoor Championship titles in his career.
Read more: ORLEN Copernicus Cup 2023: Athletes to Watch for in the World Athletics Indoor Gold Tour
