In Irkutsk, the tenth anniversary Memorial of Irkutsk track and field athletes will bring together about 250 athletes from 15 regions of Russia and four countries. The main intrigue will be in pole vault, with Russias top athletes and world champion Vicky Parnova from Australia. Fans can watch on August 3 and 4 at the NII IrGTU stadium, admission free.

About 250 athletes from Russia and abroad will take part in the anniversary, tenth, athletics tournament “Memorial of Irkutsk Track and Field Athletes.” The geography of the participants will include 15 Russian regions (Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Kaluga, Ufa, etc.) and 4 foreign countries (China, Australia, Ukraine, and Belarus). The number of athletes from the Irkutsk Region is 70.
This was announced yesterday at a press conference by Igor Ivanov, Minister of Physical Culture, Sports and Youth Policy of the Irkutsk Region. The press conference was also attended by Denis Petushinsky, President of the Irkutsk Region Athletics Federation, and Elena Bolsun, Master of Sport of International Class in athletics.
The tournament will open on August 3 at 3:30 p.m. at the NI IrGTU stadium. The competitions will end on August 4. Admission for spectators to the stadium is free. Denis Petushinsky, President of the Irkutsk Region Athletics Federation, noted that the main intrigue of the competition is expected in the pole vault.
This year, 4 Masters of Sport of International Class will take part in the competition — Russian champions from Irkutsk, Alena Lutkovskaya, Lyudmila Eremina, Angelina Zhuk, and world champion, Australian Vicky Parnova. Eremina, Zhuk, and Parnova have a personal best of 4.40 m.
For the first time, 7 athletes from China will take part in the tournament. Among them is Li Peng, who has a personal best of 2.24 m in the high jump. Zhang Liqiu’s result in the 800 m run is 2:03.25, which in the Russian classification is equivalent to the result of a Master of Sport of International Class. The remaining Chinese athletes show results at the level of Candidates for Master of Sport.
Elena Bolsun, Master of Sport of International Class in athletics, will take part in the tournament for the 10th time. According to the athlete, her main competition in the sprint events will come from an athlete from China, as well as Russian athletes from Novosibirsk, Omsk, and Krasnoyarsk. According to Elena Bolsun, exciting competition is also expected in other events.
Igor Ivanov noted that the choice of venue for the “Memorial of Irkutsk Track and Field Athletes” — the NI IrGTU stadium — is no coincidence. It was built specifically to prepare the Russian national team for the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. The stadium meets all modern requirements.
The “Memorial of Irkutsk Track and Field Athletes” has been held since 2003 in memory of the athletes who are the founders and successors of the Irkutsk athletics school, known not only in the country but also beyond its borders. These are Valery Averbukh, Yevgeny Averbukh, Vladimir Belomestnykh, Ivan Yermolaev, Georgy Ivakin, Alexander Zolotarev, and Vladimir Karachentsev.
The competitions are traditionally held in the following events: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, and 5000 m runs (flat distance); hurdle races at various distances; high jump and long jump; pole vault; shot put, discus, javelin, and hammer throw; and the pentathlon.