Ostrava’s 2019 Golden Spike has booked its first star names
Although Ostrava's sports fields and athletics tracks are currently blanketed in snow, preparations for the Golden Spike athletics meeting in June are already in full swing. The organizing team has confirmed the first big names for the meeting – including some of the world's leading stars in the sprint events, high jump and javelin.
Photo: René Stejskal
This year's Golden Spike will take place on 20 June at Ostrava's City Stadium in Vítkovice. Athletes who have already confirmed their participation include Bahamian sprinter Shaunae Miller-Uibo (400 m gold medallist in 2016) and American sprinter Ronnie Baker (last season's top-ranking sprinter, whose slowest time in all 100 m final events was just 10:00). Czech record-holder Zdeněk Stromšík (personal best 10:16) will be competing against Baker in the 100 m. The high jump will feature world champion Mariya Lasitskene, who will compete against Czech high jump star Michaela Hrubá. The javelin events will also showcase some of the top Czech talents in this discipline.
As part of the accompanying programme to the Golden Spike, children will be able to enjoy athletics as part of the Chocolate Spike tournament. The quarter-finals will be held in regional capital cities throughout the country, followed by the semi-finals on 19 June and the finals on 20 June (the same day as the Golden Spike itself) at Ostrava's City Stadium. If a school is not taking part in the Chocolate Spike, parents can contact the organizing team directly and enter their children for the tournament. The Chocolate Spike has become a very popular annual event – and this year it will feature schools not only from the Czech Republic, but also from Slovakia and Poland.