Freweyni Hailu and Samuel Tefera (© AFP / Getty Images)
Men’s 1500m
Timetable | 2024 world list | world all-time list | world rankings
He might have raced sparingly over the past year but come a World Indoor Championships, Samuel Tefera can never be discounted.
The Ethiopian 24-year-old heads to Glasgow with the opportunity to become the first athlete to win three consecutive world indoor 1500m titles. Ireland’s Marcus O'Sullivan also has three titles to his name, but Noureddine Morceli split them with his victory in 1991.
In Birmingham six years ago, contesting just the fourth indoor race of his career, an 18-year-old Tefera claimed his first world indoor crown, winning a tactical battle. Back in Birmingham the following year, he ran a world record of 3:31.04 – a mark that was improved to 3:30.60 by Jakob Ingebrigtsen a month before the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade.
But once there, Tefera proved unbeatable again, running a championship record of 3:32.77 to beat Ingebrigtsen and retain his title. It’s a win streak he’ll look to maintain this weekend.
Working his way towards his world title defence, Tefera opened his 2024 campaign with a 3000m win in Astana in a PB of 7:33.80. He then travelled to Torun, when he won the 1500m in 3:34.61, before an eighth-place finish when stepping back up to the 3000m in Lievin.
Among those looking to deny him will be USA’s Hobbs Kessler, who set a world record to win gold in the mile when making his major international debut at the World Road Running Championships in Riga in October and now sits top of the list of entries for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24.
Hobbs Kessler wins the mile in Riga (© Adam Nurkiewicz)
The 20-year-old leads the field when it comes to season’s bests, thanks to the PB of 3:33.66 he clocked to beat 2022 world champion Jake Wightman in Boston on 4 February.
He went on to finish second in the mile in New York in another PB of 3:48.66 – putting him fourth on the world all-time list – and was second at the US Championships behind Cole Hocker, who will also line up in Glasgow.
Four athletes sit between Kessler and Tefera on season’s bests, thanks to their recent indoor PB performances: Portugal’s Isaac Nader, who won in Ostrava in a national record of 3:34.23; Britain’s Adam Fogg, who clocked a PB of 3:34.37 in New York; Azeddine Habz, who ran a French record of 3:34.39 to win in Lievin; and Kenya’s Vincent Kibet Keter, who was second in Lievin in a PB of 3:34.44.
Another athlete to watch out for is Biniam Mehary, who finished just behind his compatriot Tefera in Torun. Running 3:34.83, the 17-year-old smashed the world U20 record of 3:36.02 that had been set by Ingebrigtsen in 2019. He also ran 7:33.04 to finish second in the 3000m in Lievin.
Others looking to make an impact include Norway’s world bronze medallist Narve Gilje Nordas, Spain’s two-time world indoor 3000m finalist Adel Mechaal and European bronze medallist Mario Garcia, and New Zealand’s multiple national record-holder Geordie Beamish.
Women’s 1500m
Timetable | 2024 world list | world all-time list | world rankings
With Freweyni Hailu, Diribe Welteji and Birke Haylom heading up the entry list, there’s a strong force looking to retain the women’s 1500m title for Ethiopia for the third consecutive edition, and a second consecutive medal sweep could even be on the cards.
The Ethiopian team for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 has been boosted by Hailu having a wild card entry due to her overall victory in this year’s World Athletics Indoor Tour. Therefore, she is joined by both Welteji and Haylom on the Ethiopian squad as they look to follow in the footsteps of 2018 champion Genzebe Dibaba and 2022 winner Gudaf Tsegay.
Hailu claimed 800m silver in Belgrade two years ago before finishing fourth in the 1500m at the World Championships in Oregon, matching the position she achieved at the Tokyo Olympics.
After securing silver in the mile at the World Road Running Championships in Riga, finishing runner-up to Welteji, Hailu opened 2024 with a mile victory at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Ostrava in 4:17.36 and maintained her win streak this season by taking 1500m triumph in Torun and Lievin.
In Torun, her winning time was 3:55.28 – a performance that places her third on a world all-time list topped by Tsegay’s 3:53.09 from 2021.
Welteji was second to Hailu in both of those 1500m races, running 3:55.47 in Torun to move to No.4 all time, and 3:57.48 in Lievin.
She will be on the hunt for another global gold to go with the world mile title she won in a world record of 4:20.98 in Riga in October. Before that, she secured silver behind Faith Kipyegon in the 1500m at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
Diribe Welteji on her way to winning the mile in Riga (© Marta Gorczynska)
For Haylom, preparations for Glasgow have included a runner-up finish to Tsegay in the 1500m in Boston, clocking a world U20 record of 3:58.43, and she was third behind Hailu and Welteji in Lievin in 4:00.00.
Emily Mackay was third behind Tsegay and Haylom in Boston and then finished second to Nikki Hiltz at the US Championships and they will both be in action in Glasgow.
Another athlete in form is Sarah Healy, who set an Irish indoor record of 4:03.83 when finishing fifth in the Lievin race led by Hailu, Welteji and Haylom. She also finished runner-up in the 3000m in Metz in a national indoor record of 8:36.06.
Seeking success on home soil will be national champion Georgia Bell, who ran a PB of 4:03.22 in Stockholm at the start of February, and Revee Walcott-Nolan, who is also in PB shape having run 4:03.93 in Dortmund in January.
Among those challenging them in Glasgow are French champion Agathe Guillemot, Spain’s Esther Guerrero and Marta Perez, Canada’s Lucia Stafford and Australia’s Linden Hall.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
