“I could feel the adrenaline rush again and put myself to the test," said Justyna Święty-Ersetic, the 2018 European champion in the women’s 400 metres, after practice at the revamped and newly reopened Silesian Stadium in Chorzów, southern Poland, on Thursday.
The last time Polish track-and-fielders were in action before the outbreak of the pandemic was at the national indoor championships in late February and early March.
Soon after that the coronavirus interrupted the season.
On Thursday, Święty-Ersetic trained with teammates, including Anna Kiełbasińska, for the first time after weeks of working out at home and practicing alone, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.
Justyna Święty-Ersetic and Anna Kiełbasińska in training at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów, southern Poland, on Thursday. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel
In May next year, the Silesian Stadium in Poland’s Chorzów is scheduled to host unofficial world relay championships, an event called the World Athletics Relays.
Święty-Ersetic and other members of the Polish women’s 4x400 m relay team will be looking to defend their title—this after they beat powerhouses including Team USA at an event in Yokohama, Japan, in 2019.
“I hope the competition will take place and we will be able to enjoy it next year,” Święty-Ersetic told the PAP news agency in an interview, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
She added she was hoping her family would be able to support her from the stands during the international event.
The revamped Silesian Stadium in Poland’s Chorzów is scheduled to host the World Athletics Relays event on May 1-2, 2021. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel
“Everything appears to be heading in the right direction, and I believe that in just a little while fans will be allowed to return to stadiums,” Święty-Ersetic said.
She told PAP that, as part of her preparations for next year’s Olympics, she was also looking forward to competing in a track-and-field meet scheduled in Chorzów for September, “hopefully with a partially full stadium.”
That event, known as the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, is held annually to honour the Polish hammer thrower and Olympic champion who died suddenly of a pulmonary embolism at the age 26 in 2009.
As it eases its coronavirus restrictions, Poland this month reopened outdoor sports areas and allowed football matches to be played behind closed doors.
Meanwhile, facilities such as swimming pools and gyms are set to reopen from June 6.
(gs/pk)
Source: PAP