Eleeanor Patterson wants to attack the meeting’s record

The main star of the women's competition this year will be Eleanor Patterson from Australia, the current World Champion from Eugene, USA and silver medallist at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade. She is second in the world rankings and last year she set a new personal best when she jumped 202 cm. She wants to reach a similar result in Hustopeče. "Eleanor was asking what is the record of our meeting and she expressed that she would like to attack it," revealed the meeting's director Zbyněk Háder. "She had a great season last year and the preparation for this year's season went smoothly according to information from her manager. I think that this year she can successfully attack the position of the world leader and her start in Hustopeče should help her to do so," added Háder. Hustopeče is the only indoor competition for Patterson in the Czech Republic, where she has not yet competed before.

The biggest rival of the Australian high jumper should be the world number three Iryna Geraschenko from Ukraine, who also has a personal best of 200 cm. Iryna won a 4th place at both the 2022 World Championships and the 2021 Olympic Games and she knows Hustopeče well from her previous starts here. At the 2022 World Indoor Championships she ended up fifth. Hustopeče spectators know very well another star of world high jump who will be on the start list of the local competition this year. Former junior world champion Marija Vukovic from Montenegro (PB 197 cm) won her first senior medal last year when she took silver at the European Championships in Munich. She also added a fourth place at the World Indoor Championships. "I love coming to Hustopeče, I have a lot of friends here and competing here is one of my priorities for the indoor season," Marija told the Hustopeče organizers. The fourth competitor from the elite world top ten is Safina Sadullayeva from Uzbekistan (PB 197 cm). She also had a great season last year, finishing 5th at the outdoor World Championships and only one place lower at the World Indoor Championships. The same place belonged to her at the last Olympics in Japan.

The position of one of the world's best high jump events is also evidenced by other names on the start list. Kateryna Tabashnyk from Ukraine has a great personal best of 199 cm. This PB was set in Hustopeče four years ago by this former European junior champion and finalist of the European Championships and Indoor European Championships. After a year break, the well-known British high jumper Morgan Lake returns to Hustopeče. This former junior world champion in the high jump and heptathlon also has her personal indoor record of 197 cm from Hustopeče. The British high jump representation is complemented by last year's unexpected winner of the Hustopečské Skákání Emily Borthwick (PB 195 cm). Kristina Ovchinnikova from Kazakhstan will represent the high jump youth in Hustopeče. This world high jump talent has already managed to cross the bar at 196 cm.