Gianmarco Tamberi and Chase Jackson win Diamond League opener in Katowice

High jump competition on Katowice Market Square

The city-centre prelude to the Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial took place on Saturday, 22 August 2026, on Katowice's Market Square. Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi won the men's event with a clearance of 2.31 metres, finishing ahead of Jamaica's Romaine Beckford, who cleared 2.29 metres. Rain hindered Tamberi's attempts at 2.35 metres, but the European champion engaged the audience throughout the contest.

I love competing in Poland, I love the audience that lives with the competition and knows how and when to react. And I, of course, like playing with that, engaging. So when you have such a tool in the form of good stands, you give one hundred and ten percent. I had a great time here today. Thank you and I cannot wait until I return here for the European Championships in 2028.

American JuVaughn Harrison and Poland's Mateusz Kołodziejski tied for third place with jumps of 2.26 metres. Kołodziejski's result secured his place in the Diamond League final in Brussels on 4-5 September 2026. Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim finished after clearing 2.23 metres, while South Korea's Sanghyeok Woo recorded no height after three failed attempts at 2.16 metres. Kołodziejski noted after the competition that he saw the event as a turning point before the season finale.

I still have enough power in me to try to shine there. I treat this competition as a kind of breakthrough and I have several conclusions to implement before I fly to the final.

Long jump record and shot put results

In the women's long jump, American Alyssa Jones took first place with a mark of 6.98 metres. Portugal's Agate de Sousa matched Jones with a 6.98-metre leap on her second attempt to take second place. That jump exceeded the previous record for the longest mark achieved on Polish soil, which had stood at 6.97 metres since Agata Karczmarska set it in Lublin on 6 August 1988. Monae Nichols of the United States finished third with 6.95 metres, while Polish heptathlete Adrianna Sułek-Schubert placed tenth at 5.92 metres.

The women's shot put contest was won by two-time world champion Chase Jackson of the United States with a throw of 20.92 metres. Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands finished in second place with 20.20 metres, and Canada's Sarah Mitton took third place with 19.34 metres. Polish athletes did not enter the shot put competition. The Saturday street events were included in the official Diamond League scoring for the jumping disciplines.

Memorial history and the main meeting in Chorzow

Saturday's events served as the opening act for the 17th edition of the Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial. The main meeting takes place on Sunday, 23 August 2026, at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów. Top international competitors scheduled for the Sunday stadium session include Armand Duplantis, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Karsten Warholm, and Yaroslava Mahuchikh. The competition honors Sydney 2000 Olympic hammer throw gold medalist Kamila Skolimowska, who died in Portugal on 18 February 2009 at age 26 of a pulmonary embolism.

A commemorative statue of Skolimowska was unveiled outside the primary entrance of the Chorzów stadium in February 2024. Poland joined the Diamond League roster in 2022 as a substitute host following COVID-19 cancellations in China. The meeting earned a permanent five-year spot on the calendar in 2023 following a unanimous decision by organizers of the 14 other circuit events.