The Kamila Skolimowska Memorial (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

: ''Memoriał Kamili Skolimowskiej''), also known as the Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, is an annual

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

meeting held at the

Silesian Stadium The Silesian Stadium (; Polish: ) is a sport stadium located on the premises of Silesian Park in Chorzów, Poland. The stadium has a fully covered capacity of 54,378, after refurbishment completed in October 2017. The stadium hosted many Poland ...

Chorzów Chorzów ( ; ; ) is a city in the Silesia region of southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central cities of the Metropolis GZM – a metropolis with a population of 2 million. It is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Rawa ...

, Poland in summer, organized by the

Kamila Skolimowska Kamila Skolimowska (4 November 1982 – 18 February 2009) was a Polish hammer thrower. She is best known for her gold medal in the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics, which made her the youngest Olympic hammer champion, as well as for her two medals ...

Foundation. In 2020 the meeting was part of the inaugural

World Athletics Continental Tour The World Athletics Continental Tour is an annual series of independent track and field athletic competitions, recognised by World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF). The Tour forms the second tier of international one-day meetings after the ...

. Since 2022, the event has been part of the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

series.

History

The event is held in memory of Polish hammer thrower and Olympic champion

, who died on 18 February 2009. The inaugural edition took place at the RKS Skra Stadium in Warsaw on 2 May 2009 and consisted of the men's and women's hammer throw events only. The meeting inaugurated the Kamila Skolimowska Hammer Throw Center in Warsaw and was initially supposed to be a one-off event. In 2011, a decision was taken by the Kamila Skolimowska Foundation to organize further editions of the meeting and add more competitions. The following editions were held at Warsaw's Orzeł Stadium until it moved to

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

in 2014. From 2018 onwards the meeting moved to Chorzów. At the 2014 edition of the meeting,

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...

set a world indoor record over 100 meters achieving 9.98 seconds and improving the previous record of

Frankie Fredericks Frank "Frankie" Fredericks (born 2 October 1967) is a former track and field athlete from Namibia. Running in the 100 metres and 200 metres, he won four silver medals at the Olympic Games (two in 1992 and two in 1996), making him Namibia's o ...

set in 1996. The Warsaw National Stadium's roof was closed for the event, making the indoor record possible. In 2016,

Anita Włodarczyk Anita Włodarczyk (; born 8 August 1985) is a Polish hammer thrower. She is the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympic champion, and the first woman in history to throw the hammer over 80 m; she currently holds the women's world record of 82.98 m. She is ...

set a world record in the hammer throw by achieving 82.98 meters. In 2020, the memorial was part of the inaugural

. Since 2022, the event has been part of the

series becoming the first Polish site of a Diamond League meeting. In 2024, an estimated 42,357 spectators gathered at the Silesian Stadium making it the largest attendance in the event's history. Two world records were set during the meeting, first by

Jakob Ingebrigtsen Jakob Asserson Ingebrigtsen (born 19 September 2000) is a Norwegian Middle-distance running, middle- and Long-distance running, long-distance runner who is the world record holder in the short track 1500 metres, short track Mile run, mile, 2000 ...

in the 3000 m steeplechase (7:17.55) followed by

Armand Duplantis Armand "Mondo" Gustav Duplantis (born 10 November 1999), is a Swedish and American pole vaulter who competes for Sweden. Regarded as the greatest pole vaulter of all time, Duplantis is the current List of world records in athletics, world recor ...

in the pole vault (6.26 m).

Editions

World records

Over the course of its history, three

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

s have been set at the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial.

Meeting records

Men

Women

References

External links

Official website

Diamond League – Silesia Official Web Site
{{European Athletics Classic Permit Meetings European Athletic Association meetings Recurring sporting events established in 2009 Athletics competitions in Poland 2009 establishments in Poland Sport in Chorzów Monuments and memorials in Poland