World silver medalist Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk will headline the long jump field for the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold final meeting in Madrid on Wednesday 2 March, organisers announced.
At CDM Gallur, Ukraine’s Bekh-Romanchuk will face off against world indoor bronze medalist Lorraine Ugen of Great Britain, American Olympian Quanesha Burks, and the Spanish outstanding duo formed by young heptathlete Maria Vicente and Olympian Fátima Diame.
Bekh-Romanchuk, 26, is the reigning European indoor champion after winning last year in Torun with a huge leap of 6.92m. In 2019, the Ukrainian claimed silver at World Championship in Doha, and was runner-up at the European Championship in Berlin a year before too. At the Tokyo Olympics, Bekh-Romanchuk finished fifth despite jumping 6.88m in the final.
At 30, Ugen will try to come back to the podium at World Indoor Championship in Belgrade. In 2016, the Briton took global indoor bronze in Portland, setting a then national indoor record of 6.93m, which she bettered to 6.97m the following year at the Belgrade European Indoor Championship on her way to the bronze medal.
Spanish heptathlon record-holder María Vicente is giving a shot to the long jump this campaign. Earlier in January, the 20-year-old set a world-leading leap of 6.70m, which is now the seventh-best in the world. After that, Vicente became national U23 champion and finished third at the World Indoor Tour meeting in Liévin with 6.62m.
In the same meet, her fellow countrywoman Fátima Diame placed second with a 6.64m personal best, while five days ago she had won the triple jump contest at the Spanish Club Championship in Madrid with 14.17m. Diame was Olympian in Tokyo after jumping 6.82m outdoors in 2021.
On Wednesday 2 March they will face world indoor U20 record-holder Larissa Iapichino. The Italian, 19, produced a huge leap of 6.91m in 2021, and later reached the final at the European Indoor Championship in Torun, where she finished in fifth position.
