LODZ, Poland — Greek pole vaulter Emmanouil Karalis produced the headline performance with a world-leading 5.93 meters at the Orlen Cup on Saturday, but Jamaican sprinter delivered standout performance at the World Indoor Tour Silver meet.
Jamaica’s Odaine McPherson made an impressive indoor debut in the men’s 60 meters, clocking 6.61 seconds to finish second behind Poland’s Oliwer Wdowik, who set a personal best of 6.59. McPherson, transitioning from outdoor competition, showed his adaptability on the boards, pushing the Polish sprinter through the finish.
In the Orlen Cup men’s 60-meter hurdles, Cuba’s Kendry Menendez ran a personal best 7.56 to claim second place behind co-world leader Jakub Szymanski (7.51) and ahead of Poland’s Damian Czykier (7.57). Menendez’s improvement demonstrated the depth of Caribbean hurdling talent as he opened his indoor campaign.
Nigeria’s Chukwu Enekwechi dominated the shot put competition with a winning mark of 20.82m, defeating reigning European indoor champion Andrei Toader of Romania (20.55). Enekwechi’s victory continued his strong form in the early season.
Karalis, the Olympic bronze medalist and world silver medalist, cleared his winning height on his third attempt with significant margin before taking three unsuccessful tries at a Greek record 6.07. The mark bettered his previous best season opener following a training camp in Spala, Poland.
Serbia’s Angelina Topic opened her season with a national indoor record 1.98m in the women’s high jump, equaling her outdoor best. The world medalist cleared all previous heights on first attempts before scaling 1.98 on her third try. She opted not to continue jumping. Czech Republic’s Michaela Hruba finished second at 1.90, with Poland’s Maria Zodzik, also a world medalist, third at 1.87.
Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska won the women’s 60m in 7.18 seconds in her first flat sprint in four years, edging Czech Republic’s Karolina Manasova (7.20). In the women’s hurdles, Slovenia’s Nika Glojnaric prevailed in 8.03 (PB) over Poland’s Alicja Sielska (8.04) and Finland’s Saara Keskitalo (8.05). Keskitalo ran 7.96 in the heats, achieving both a personal best and the World Indoor Championships standard.
The Orlen Cup marked an unusually early date for the Lodz fixture on the international calendar.
Orlen Cup full results
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