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The date of this year’s Banská Bystrica High Jump, the world’s best specialized high jump meeting with music, is fast approaching, and the start list is gradually filling up.

The date of this year’s Banská Bystrica High Jump, the world’s best specialized high jump meeting with music, is fast approaching, and the start list is gradually filling up. The group of confirmed participants is expanding with several more star names. In the men’s competition, last year’s champion, South Korean Woo Sang-hyeok, is making a return. The 2022 World Championships silver medalist and indoor world champion from the same year will have the opportunity to complete a golden hat-trick and move to second place in the number of victories at BBL. Woo triumphed in Banská Bystrica during his debut with a performance of 235 cm in 2022. He added a second victory at the last edition, clearing 232 cm, although he aimed for even better result. Will he achieve his ambitions this year? His personal best of 236 cm certainly suggests he can.

„I am thrilled to return to the Banská Bystrica Meeting this year. Just like last year, I will give my all to claim the high jump champion title once again. Thank you and see you soon“ said Woo.

Cuba will once again be represented at the 31st edition of the Banská Bystrica High Jump after a year-long break. Traveling from the Caribbean is Luis Zayas, a familiar face to the audience. He knows what it’s like to win during his debut at Štiavničky, having done so in 2020 with a jump of 233 cm, setting his still-standing personal best. Can this 2016 World Junior Champion match the South Korean’s number of victories, or will someone else ultimately celebrate? The organizers have long announced the participation of three Paris Olympic finalists. Italy’s Stefano Sottile, with a personal best of 234 cm, Bulgaria’s Tihomir Ivanov, the 2019 World University Games winner, and Czech Jan Štefela, the European U23 champion from Tallinn 2021, are arriving with the highest ambitions. The standings could also be strirred up by the oldest or youngest participant. Forty-year-old legendary Bahamian Donald Thomas, for whom this will be the ninth appearance at BBL, has announced that the upcoming season will be his farewell. At the other end stands 20-year-old Slovak representative Robert Ruffini Jr., who will aim to improve his personal best of 215 cm in the excellent conditions of the Banská Bystrica venue. 

A clash of the absolute elite will take place in the women’s competition. Ukrainian Olympic champion and world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh, along with last year’s winner, young Serbian Angelina Topić, who confirmed their participation earlier, will be challenged by the 2022 World Champion Eleanor Patterson of Australia. Patterson will seek to avenge her defeat to Mahuchikh in the Paris Olympic final, which was largely defined by the Australian-Ukrainian rivalry. Back then, Patterson had to "settle" for bronze.

The 28-year-old high jumper, like her two rivals, has already claimed victory at BBL clearing 199 cm in 2022. Will she become the sixth woman in the event’s history to successfully clear the magical two-meter mark under Urpín? She has already achieved this feat twice in her career. An attempt to break her personal best of 202 cm is also not out of the question.

I am so excited that I will be coming along with you to this year´s edition of Banskobystrická latka. I love it everytime. Who would want to leave the glorious sun here in Australia, but I do come every year and so I am so excited“ Patterson explained.

The battle for the top positions will also include 27-year-old Briton Morgan Lake, who will make her third appearance at the Banská Bystrica High Jump. A two-time World Junior Champion from 2014, where she triumphed in both the high jump and the heptathlon, Lake made her BBL debut back in 2016. Her personal best stands at 199 cm. 

In both competitions, there will be a great opportunity to meet the qualification standards for the European Indoor Championships 2025 in Apeldoorn (230 cm and 196 cm), the World Indoor Championships 2025 in Nanjing (234 cm and 197 cm), the World Championships 2025 in Tokyo (233 cm and 197 cm), and to earn important points for the qualification rankings.

Ticket sales will begin on January 27th. The live broadcast will be prepared by STVR Sport and European Athletics via their broadcasting platform. 

So far, men from 47 countries and women from 35 countries have participated in BBL, with a total of 54 countries represented.  

The BBL 2024 participants earned a bronze medal in both the men’s and women’s events at last year’s World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, as well as five top 5 placements overall. At the European Championships in Rome, they earned a silver in the women’s and a bronze in the men’s event, with a total of 11 final placements. At the Olympic Games in Paris, they earned a bronze medal in the women’s event and five final placements across both categories.