The Janusz Kusociński Memorial (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

: ''Memoriał Janusza Kusocińskiego'') is an annual

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

meeting at different venues in Poland, in recent times at the

Silesian Stadium Silesian as an adjective can mean anything from or related to Silesia. As a noun, it refers to an article, item, or person of or from Silesia. Silesian may also refer to: People and languages *Silesians, inhabitants of Silesia, either a West Sla ...

in Chorzów,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. The meeting was first held in 1954 in memory of the Polish runner

Janusz Kusociński Janusz Tadeusz Kusociński (15 January 1907 – 21 June 1940) was a Polish athlete, winner in the 10,000 meters event at the 1932 Summer Olympics. Biography Born in Warsaw into the family of a railroad worker, Janusz Kusociński, or ''Ku ...

, the 1932 Olympic champion over

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

, who was killed on 21 June 1940 during the German

AB-Aktion , location = Palmiry Forest and similar locations in occupied Poland , date = Spring–summer 1940 , incident_type = Mass murder with automatic weapons , perpetrators = Wehrmacht, ''Einsatzgruppen'' , participants = , o ...

Operation. The event was located at the

10th-Anniversary Stadium 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length&nb ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

for much of its early history. Later on, the meet venue changed to a rotational basis and the memorial was held in cities such as Lublin, Bydgoszcz,

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

, Szczecin and most recently Chorzów. In 2022 the meeting was part of the 2022 World Athletics Continental Tour on gold level. From its inception to the present day, the Janusz Kusociński Memorial has attracted

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 organization ...

holders and Olympic medallists. Initially attracting top Eastern European athletes (including Soviet Olympic champion

Vladimir Kuts Volodymyr Petrovych Kuts ( uk, Володимир Петрович Куц, russian: Владимир Петрович Куц, 7 February 1927 – 16 August 1975) was a Soviet long-distance runner. He won the 5000 and 10000 m races at the 1956 ...

at the first competition), Frenchman Michel Jazy, American

Bill Nieder William Henry Nieder (August 10, 1933 – October 7, 2022) was an American athlete who mainly competed in the shot put. Nieder was born in Hempstead, New York, and grew up in Lawrence, Kansas.Ni Zhiqin Ni Zhiqin (; born 14 April 1942) often referred to as Ni Chih-Chin, is a retired Chinese high jumper. He is known for breaking the world record with 2.29 m on 8 November 1970 in Changsha, but because PR China China, officially the Peo ...

were among the participants in its first decade. The 1970s saw runners

Ron Clarke Ronald William Clarke, AO, MBE (21 February 1937 – 17 June 2015) was an Australian athlete, writer, and the Mayor of the Gold Coast from 2004 to 2012. He was one of the best-known middle- and long-distance runners in the 1960s, notable fo ...

and

Filbert Bayi Filbert Bayi Sanka (born June 23, 1953) is a Tanzanian former middle-distance runner who competed throughout the 1970s. He set the world records for 1500 metres in 1974 and the mile in 1975. His world record in the 1500 m was also the Commo ...

compete, while the 1980s featured performers including Wolfgang Schmidt and Sergey Bubka. Among the world record breakers to appear at the memorial in the 1990s were

Svetlana Masterkova Svetlana Aleksandrovna Masterkova (russian: Светлана Александровна Мастеркова; born 17 January 1968) is a Russian former middle-distance runner and former women's world record holder for the mile and the current 1 ...

Wilson Kipketer Wilson Kosgei Kipketer (born 12 December 1972) is a Danish former middle distance runner. He is the second fastest of all time over 800 meters, setting the world record and breaking his own record two more times all in 1997. He dominated the ...

and

Jan Železný Jan Železný (; born 16 June 1966) is a Czech former track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. He is a World and Olympic champion and holds the world record with a throw of . Widely considered to be the greatest javelin throwe ...

. Numerous Olympic, World and European Championship level athletes continue to take part on an annual basis. Each edition features a

long-distance Long distance or Long-distance may refer to: *Long-distance calling * Long-distance operator * Long-distance relationship * Long-distance train *Long-distance anchor pylon, see dead-end tower Footpaths * Long-distance trail *European long-d ...

memorial race. This event has been dominated by East African athletes in the last decade. In addition to the memorial race, the meeting typically has high calibre performances in the throwing events. The meeting, which holds

European Athletics The European Athletic Association (more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. European Athletics has 51 ...

Outdoor Meetings status,Wlodarczyk returns to action at the Janusz Kusocinski Memorial in Szczecin

(2011-06-24). Retrieved on 2011-06-25. is among the foremost Polish track and field competitions, alongside the annual

Pedro's Cup The Pedro's Cup is a biannual Athletics (sport), athletics event of two legs, which features an indoor track and field competition in January or February and an outdoor competition during the European summer period. The first competition of each yea ...

events.

Meet records

Men

Women

References

External links

Official websiteMeet Records
''31 December 2017 updated'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Janusz Kusocinski Memorial European Athletic Association meetings Recurring sporting events established in 1954 Athletics competitions in Poland Summer events in Poland