Hustopeče awaits an evenly matched battle of women

The women's category in Hustopeče is again announced as the Milena Rezkova-Hübnerova Memorial in memory of our Olympic high jump winner from Mexico 1968. This year's starting field lacks a clear favourite, so we can look forward to an equal fight for the championship, spiced up by the triple Czech participation.

The best PB in the starting field helds the Lithuanian Airiné Palšyté, who has already surpassed 201 cm in her career. The 2017 European indoor champion and bronze medalist from the same championships two years later only competed in Hustopeče at the start of her career nine years ago. Back then she finished third. Will she follow up on that placement this year? The best position in the world rankings is held by the best Slovenian high jumper Lina Apostolovski. The seventh woman of the 2022 European Championships definitely made her way into the world's top rankings last year. She was 9th in the World Championships final, a regular competitor in the Diamond League and pushed her personal best to 195 cm. Safina Sadulayeva from Uzbekistan is another candidate for a valuable victory in Hustopece with a respectable maximum of 197 cm. Two years ago she finished fifth in Hustopeče. In addition high expectations are high for the first start in South Moravia from the extraordinary American high jumper Inika McPherson. She is famous not only for her quality performances above the high bar, but also for her distinctive tattoos all over her body. Seventh from the 2018 World Indoor Championships, she has a personal best of 196 cm. The same height has already been conquered by the best Finnish high jumper Ella Junilla, who will also have her debut in Hustopeče. On the other hand, Ukrainian high jumper Yuliya Chumachenko will be seen in Hustopeče for the sixth time. The best performance of the 2019 Universiade winner is 194 cm.

The women's competition will also offer a unique duel between three of our best female high jumpers. The most experienced of them is undoubtedly Michaela Hrubá. The former junior world and European champion and finalist of the world and European Adult Championships will have almost a home environment in Hustopeče, because she comes from nearby Brno. She has been in very good form in the last few days, which could build up in Hustopeče. Her training partner Denisa Pešová, three years younger than her, improved her personal best to 188 cm last year and she wants to continue this trend this year. The youngest of the three Czech high jumpers, Klára Krejčiříková from Brno, can also count on the strong support of the audience in Hustopeče. Svatoslav Ton's student wants to get closer to her 2019 indoor best of 189 cm in Hustopeče.

The starting field will be completed by Solene Gicquel from France, the promising young Estonian Elisabeth Pihela and two rising stars Despoina Charalambous from Cyprus and Canadian Marguerite Lorenzo.

Thanks to the classification as a silver event on the World Indoor Tour, Hustopeče will also have the opportunity to gain more important points in the world rankings. And not only that. The athletes can also meet the limits for the top events of the year: the Indoor World Championships in Glasgow (234 cm for men and 198 cm for women); the Outdoor European Championships in Rome (226 cm / 192 cm) and, of course, for the Olympic Games in Paris (233 cm / 197 cm).