Silesia 2026: Ajayi to battle a world-class field for cash and honour
The world’s best athletes continue their Wanda Diamond League campaigns in Silesia this Sunday. The action in Poland actually begins on Saturday afternoon, with a Diamond League double-bill at the city event at Katowice’s market square.
Team Nigeria sprint sensation Koyinsola Ajayi will battle a world-class field in the men’s 100m.
While some of Sunday’s stars have already booked their ticket to Brussels, others know that Silesia will be the decisive moment in their bid to qualify for this year’s Wanda Diamond League Final.
In the men’s 100m, Ajayi and seven others will battle for the eight final spots are still up for grabs, with Silesia the last chance to win points. The two-heat field adds even more spice, with 14 of the current top 20 in the qualification standings on Sunday's start list. While Trayvon Bromell, Jordan Anthony and Gift Leotlela will all expect to qualify, others like Oblique Seville and Akani Simbine are under pressure, with the likes of Kenny Bednarek and Ajayi breathing down their necks.
In the women’s 100m, two athletes have dominated the women’s sprints in recent years: Julien Alfred and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, so direct clashes between the two are always something to look forward to.
The reigning Olympic and world champions meet in the 100m on Sunday, their first head-to-head over that distance since the World Championships in Tokyo last September. The American was the clear winner then, but little separates them ahead of Silesia. While Alfred beat her rival over 200m in Rome earlier this season, Jefferson-Wooden remains the world number one and is unbeaten over 100m since the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Two-time world champion Malaika Mihambo leads a world-class women’s long jump field, and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi returns to action in the men’s high jump against Mutaz Barshim, Oleh Doroshchuk, Woo Sanghyeok and others. The three-time series champion is chasing his first Diamond League win since victory in the final in Brussels back in 2024, but he arrives in Poland on a high, having secured his fourth European Championships gold medal in Birmingham last week with a sensational 2.32m, a full nine centimetres higher than his previous season’s best.
One of the surprise results of last year’s Wanda Diamond League Final came in the women’s 400m, where Marileidy Paulino was beaten by Salwa Eid Naser, suffering only her second defeat in 15 Diamond League races and ending her three-year grip on the Diamond Trophy. The Dominican Republic star has bounced back emphatically this year, winning all four of her Diamond League 400m races and setting a new series record with 48.48 in Paris. On Sunday, she has the chance for revenge as she and Naser meet for the first time in the Diamond League since that clash in Zurich last September.
