2020 Continental Tour Silesia Preview: Crouser Looks To Stay Hot
2020 Continental Tour Silesia Preview: Crouser Looks To Stay Hot
The Continental Tour series will make a stop in Chorzów in the Silesia region of Poland on Sunday and will feature Ryan Crouser, Laura Muir and more.
The 2020 Continental Tour Gold Level series will make a stop in Chorzów in the Silesia region of Poland on Sunday and will feature global stars Ryan Crouser, Laura Muir, Sam Kendricks and plenty more. U.S. viewers can watch all the action right here on FloTrack starting at 11am CT.
Watch the Continental Tour: Silesia Live on FloTrack this Sunday
Here are the four events to watch in Chorzów:
Women’s 1500m
Brit Laura Muir will run her first race since setting the 3:57.86 world lead on August 23 in Stockholm. The 27-year-old won that 1500m by nearly four seconds, and a similar margin of victory is possible in Silesia as Eilish McColgan has the next fastest PB at 4:00.97.
Men’s Shot Put
Ryan Crouser has been on fire in 2020, and he’ll compete in Silesia just over a week after tossing four throws over 22.60m in Des Moines, including his 22.72m winner. Of course, that’s not even his best this year as the 2016 Olympic champ matched his 22.91m PB (t-5th all time) on July 18 in Georgia. Overall this outdoor season, Crouser has thrown over 22.00m 14 times (!!) in 2020, a feat that no one else in the Silesia field has done once this year.
No one has thrown over 23.00m in over 30 years, but if anyone’s going to do it this year, it will be Ryan Crouser. (The world record is 23.12m by Randy Barnes from 1990.)
Men’s 800m
An accomplished men’s 800m field headlined by 2019 800m bronze medalist Ferguson Cheruiyot, Puerto Rico’s Wesley Vázquez and Polish stars Adam Kszczot and Marcin Lewandowski should produce an entertaining two laps in Silesia.
After a bumpy first race in Monaco on August 14 (eighth in 1:45.48), Cheruiyot has righted the ship with two straight victories, including a 1:44.34 season’s best on Thursday. He also beat each of Vázquez, Lewandowski and Kszczot on August 25 in Chorzów.
Although Vázquez has lost to Cheruiyot twice in the last two weeks, don't forget that he nearly beat Donavan Brazier in the 600m on August 19.
Men’s Pole Vault
Fresh off his 6.02m clearance in Lausanne on Wednesday, reigning world champion Sam Kendricks will bring momentum into Silesia. A Mondo-less field means that the American is the favorite, but Poland’s own Piotr Lisek— the bronze medalist last fall in Doha— will have the home field advantage. That supposed advantage didn’t prevent Kendricks from beating him on August 19 in Bydgoszcz, however.
2019 NCAA champion Chris Nilsen and former Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie will also jump in this one.