The Janusz Kusociński Memorial ( Polish: ''Memoriał Janusza Kusocińskiego'') 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 at different venues in Poland, in recent times 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 Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. 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 Sport of athletics, 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 Kuso ...

, 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 ...

, who was killed on 21 June 1940 during the German

AB-Aktion The ''AB-Aktion'' ( , ) was the second stage of the Nazi German campaign of violence in Poland early in World War II, taking place between March and September 1940. As with the previous ''Intelligenzaktion'', during the 1939 invasion of Poland, i ...

Operation. The event was located at the

10th-Anniversary Stadium The 10th-Anniversary Stadium (), opened in 1955, was for decades the largest stadium in Warsaw, and one of the largest in Poland. Under the Polish People's Republic, it was one of the most advertised construction sites and a principal venue for P ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

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 Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

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

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

and most recently

. In 2022 the meeting was part of the

2022 World Athletics Continental Tour The 2022 World Athletics Continental Tour, also known as the 2022 Continental Tour, is the third season of the annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by World Athletics. The Tour forms the second tier of international one-da ...

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 organizatio ...

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

Vladimir Kuts Volodymyr Petrovych Kuts (, , 7 February 1927 – 16 August 1975) was a Soviet long-distance runner. He won the 5000 and 10000 m races at the 1956 Olympics, setting Olympic records in both events. Biography Kuts was born in Oleksyne, Ukrainia ...

at the first competition), Frenchman

Michel Jazy Michel Jazy (13 June 1936 – 1 February 2024) was a French middle-distance runner and long-distance runner. He won the 1500 metres silver medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics, as well as two golds (in 1962 and 1966) and one silver (in 1966) at t ...

, American Bill Nieder, and China's Ni Zhiqin were among the participants in its first decade. The 1970s saw runners

Ron Clarke Ronald William Clarke, Officer of the Order of Australia, AO, Member of the Order of the British Empire, 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 o ...

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 Com ...

compete, while the 1980s featured performers including Wolfgang Schmidt and

Sergey Bubka Sergey Nazarovych Bubka (; ''Serhiy Nazarovych Bubka''; born 4 December 1963) is a Ukrainian former pole vaulter. He represented the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. Bubka was twice named Athlete of the Year by '' Track & Field News ...

. Among the world record breakers to appear at the memorial in the 1990s were

Svetlana Masterkova Svetlana Aleksandrovna Masterkova (; born 17 January 1968) is a Russian former middle-distance runner and former women's world record holder for the mile and the current 1000 metres world record. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, she won the gold m ...

Wilson Kipketer Wilson Kosgei Kipketer (born 12 December 1972) is a Danish former middle distance runner. With a personal best of 1:41.11, Kipketer is tied with Emmanuel Wanyonyi as the second fastest of all time over the 800 meter distance, behind David ...

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 IAAF World Championships in Athletics, World and Olympic Games, Olympic champion and holds the Javelin throw#Men, world reco ...

. Numerous Olympic, World and European Championship level athletes continue to take part on an annual basis. Each edition features a long-distance 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 (EAA, more commonly known as European Athletics) is the governing body for Sport of athletics, athletics in Europe. It is one of the six Area Associations of the world's athletics governing body World Athletics. E ...

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 events.

Meet records

Men

Women

References

External links

Official website

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