Two Cypriot athletes are set to compete on the second day of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games in Paris, as the sporting event enters its seventh day overall.
Elena Kulichenko will be the first to take to the field, participating in the High Jump qualification round at 11:15 Cyprus time as part of Group A at the Stade de France.
The Olympic record for the event stands at 2.06m, set by Russia’s Yelena Slesarenko on 28 August 2004 in Athens. The qualification mark for the final is 1.97m, which matches Kulichenko’s personal best and season’s best.
World Athletics has recently announced the qualification standards for the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo. The High Jump standard has been set at 1.97m, with the qualifying period for most events running from 1 August 2024 to 24 August 2025.
Kulichenko, 22, currently ranks 15th globally with 1,231 points. The High Jump final is scheduled for 4 August.
Later in the day, Olivia Fotopoulou will also compete at the Stade de France.
Fotopoulou ranks 84th in the world with 1195 points. Her personal best in the 100m is 11.25, and her season’s best is 11.27.
The 100m qualifying round will take place at 11:35 Cyprus time and the first round, featuring Photopoulou, will be held at 12:50 Cyprus time. The semifinals and final are scheduled for August 3.
The world record in the 100m is held by American Florence Joyner Griffith, who clocked 10.49 in 1988, while the Olympic record of 10.61 is held by Elaine Herah Thompson of Jamaica, set in Tokyo.
Fotopoulou will also compete in the 200m event on August 4.
The Cypriot champion is in excellent shape, and her coach, Kostas Voyatzakis, expects her to replicate the speed she achieved last year.
Fotopoulou recorded better times in the 200m than the 100m and she is likely to focus on the former during this five-day Olympic challenge, where she has a higher chance of distinction.
