<h2>Women&rsquo;s long jump</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/women/long-jump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/jumps/long-jump/all/women/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/jumps/long-jump/all/women/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/long-jump/women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
It is approaching nine years now since Tara Davis, as she was at the time, stood proudly on top of the global pile as winner of the women&rsquo;s long jump title at the World U18 Championships in Cali.
At the outdoor World Championships in Budapest last August, the married Tara Davis-Woodhall fleetingly had the glint of a senior global gold in her eye as she led the final with a leap of 6.91m at the end of round one.
With the very next jump, she was shunted into second by Ivana Vuleta and ultimately had to settle for the silver medal.
Seven months on, the 24-year-old US jumper heads to the UK as the woman to beat at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24.
Davis-Woodhall tops the 2024 world list with the 7.18m that won her the US indoor title in Albuquerque on 16 February &ndash; an improvement of 4cm on the lifetime best she set outdoors at her home track, the Mike Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, in March 2021.
No other woman has ventured beyond seven metres this year. With Vuleta choosing not to defend the title she won on home ground in Belgrade two years ago, and Jasmine Moore, runner up to Davis with 6.93m in Albuquerque, concentrating on the triple jump, number two on the entry list on season&rsquo;s best is young German Mikaelle Assani.
Bronze medallist at the European U20 Championships in Tallinn in 2021, the 21-year-old finished just 2cm down on Malaika Mihambo at the German Indoor Championships in Leipzig on 18 February, equalling her lifetime best with 6.91m. Having failed to make it beyond the qualifying rounds at the 2022 European and 2023 World Championships, she will be keen to make a mark in her first international indoor championship.
It was in Glasgow where Ese Brume won her first senior medal: long jump gold as an 18-year-old at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Ten years on, the Nigerian has Olympic bronze, world outdoor and indoor silver, and world outdoor bronze to her name. She would have had a second world outdoor bronze in Budapest last year had Romania&rsquo;s Alina Rotaru-Kottmann not bumped her down to fourth in the final round.
Brume has a season&rsquo;s best of 6.84m but a lifetime best of 7.17m &ndash; the only entrant other than Davis-Woodhall with a PB beyond seven metres.
Her Nigerian team-mate Ruth Usoro, eighth in the final in Belgrade in 2022, boasts a marginally superior season&rsquo;s best of 6.87m.
The field also includes Rotaru-Kottmann, who has a lifetime best of 6.96m, and Monae&rsquo; Nichols, third behind Davis-Woodhall and Moore at the US Championships, who jumped 6.97m outdoors in 2022.
Larissa Iapichino, who jumped a PB 6.97m to take European indoor silver in Istanbul last year, heads to Glasgow with a season&rsquo;s best of 6.80m. The 21-year-old Italian is, of course, the daughter of Fiona May, the two-time world outdoor long jump champion who landed world indoor gold in Paris in 1997.
The European challenge will be bolstered by Switzerland&rsquo;s European heptathlon bronze medallist Annik Kalin, who has a best this year of 6.76m.
&nbsp;
<h2>Men&rsquo;s long jump</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/men/long-jump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/jumps/long-jump/all/men/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/jumps/long-jump/all/men/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/long-jump/men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
Unlike the mythical King Midas, Miltiadis Tentoglou is a real-life Greek blessed with a tangible golden touch.
The Olympic champion in 2021, the world indoor and European outdoor champion in 2022, the world outdoor and European indoor champion in 2023, he has taken ownership of every major long jump prize.
At the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24, in the arena where he won the first of his three European indoor crowns five years ago, King Miltiadis will be defending the global indoor title he claimed in Belgrade on his 24th birthday two weeks shy of two years ago.
Tentoglou, who turns 26 on 18 March, has won three out of three indoor competitions in 2024, jumping 8.09m in Ostrava, 8.06m in Paris and then 8.26m to claim his sixth successive Greek indoor title in Piraeus on 18 February.
The consummate competitive performer, he will doubtless be enthused by the challenge laid down by Mattia Furlani, the 19-year-old Italian sensation known to his friends as Spiderman, given his likeness to Miles Morales, the fictional character in the Marvel franchise.
As an 18-year-old, Furlani jumped a mildly (2.2m/s) wind-assisted 8.44m in Savona in May last year. At the Italian Indoor Championships in Ancona on 17 February, he leapt 8.34m &ndash; the best ever mark indoors by an U20 and joint second on the absolute all-time age group list, matching Randy Williams&rsquo; performance from the qualifying round of the 1972 Olympics in Munich, where the US teenager proceeded to win the gold medal.
Russia&rsquo;s Sergei Morgunov holds the record at 8.35m and Furlani, the European U18 champion at long jump and high jump in 2022, is clearly capable of eclipsing it, having also jumped 8.31m and 8.24m in Ancona.
Furlani stands joint top of the 2024 world list with Wayne Pinnock and, though the Jamaican who was pipped to world outdoor gold by Tentoglou in Budapest last August will not be in Glasgow, there will be two potential medal contenders from his homeland.
Tajay Gayle, the 2019 world outdoor champion, and Carey McLeod fought a dramatic battle for bronze behind Tentoglou and Pinnock in Budapest. McLeod was in third until Gayle matched his 8.27m with his final jump, taking the medal on countback.
McLeod is third on the entry list on season&rsquo;s bests, with 8.20m. Gayle stands fifth with 8.15m, 1cm behind Colombian Arnovis Dalmero, the Pan American outdoor and South American indoor champion.
The field also features Sweden&rsquo;s Thobias Montler, the silver medallist in Belgrade two years ago, and Jarrion Lawson, the US jumper who finished fourth in the Serbian capital and in Birmingham in 2018.
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics

World Athletics Indoor Championships

Expected highlights in the women's and men's long jump

WIC Glasgow 24 preview: long jump

<h2>Men&rsquo;s pole vault</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/men/pole-vault" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/jumps/pole-vault/all/men/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/jumps/pole-vault/all/men/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/pole-vault/men?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2024-02-18&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
In typical Mondo Duplantis style, the Olympic and world pole vault champion warmed up for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 by attempting to improve his own world record.
At the All Star Perche in Clermont-Ferrand on 22 February &ndash; the same event at which he set a world record of 6.22m last year &ndash; the Swedish star achieved his first six-metre-plus clearance of the season, soaring a world-leading 6.02m.
He went on to try 6.24m &ndash; a height that would have added a centimetre to the most recent world record he set in Eugene in September &ndash; getting close on his second attempt.
Prior to that, the 24-year-old hadn&rsquo;t hit the heights he&rsquo;d hoped for &ndash; clearing 5.80m in Astana and 5.92m in Uppsala &ndash; but he heads to Glasgow as big favourite to retain the world indoor title he won for the first time in Belgrade two years ago.
That achievement sits on a CV that also includes two world gold medals and an Olympic title he&rsquo;ll aim to retain in Paris. But first comes Glasgow &ndash; an event that sees Duplantis return to the scene of his second world record of 6.18m that he set in February 2020, just six days after he achieved the feat for the first time with a 6.17m clearance in Torun.
He has so far improved the world record on seven occasions and has soared six metres or higher a total of 75 times.
Glasgow gives him another opportunity to add to both of those tallies.
&ldquo;I have really good memories of it (Glasgow),&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I know that it&rsquo;s a really good place to jump and I know that it&rsquo;s a place that I can jump high. So, I&rsquo;m excited about it.&rdquo;
There are a number of athletes also keen to add to their major medal count in Glasgow.&nbsp;
USA&rsquo;s Chris Nilsen is the other entrant to have cleared six metres so far in 2024, having gone over 6.01m in Vermillion in January and followed that with another six-metre clearance to win the US title. He&rsquo;ll look to carry that form with him to the World Indoor Championships, an event at which he claimed bronze in 2022. He got silver behind Duplantis at both the Tokyo Olympics and World Championships in Oregon before bagging bronze in Budapest.
Two-time world champion and two-time world indoor silver medallist Sam Kendricks cleared a season&rsquo;s best of 5.95m at the US Indoor Championships and followed that with a 5.93m Perche Elite Tour win in Rouen. He was third behind Duplantis and Thibaut Collet of France in Clermont-Ferrand.
While Ernest John Obiena, Philippines&rsquo; two-time world medallist and Asian record-holder with 6.00m, has won both his competitions in 2024, clearing 5.83m in Osijek and 5.93m in Berlin.
Poland&rsquo;s Piotr Lisek is the fifth six-metre-plus vaulter in the field, having cleared 6.02m in 2019. The five-time world medallist has already competed at eight competitions this season, topped by his 5.82m clearance in Roubaix.
World fifth-place finisher Collet will want to build on the PB of 5.92m that he set in front of a home crowd to finish second to Duplantis in Clermont-Ferrand.
&nbsp;
<h2>Women&rsquo;s pole vault</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/women/pole-vault" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/jumps/pole-vault/all/women/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/jumps/pole-vault/all/women/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/pole-vault/women?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2024-02-18&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
Competition is set to be fierce for the women&rsquo;s title as the Olympic and world champion goes up against the two-time defending champion, the world leader and three other athletes who have also surpassed 4.80m already this season.
Britain&rsquo;s Molly Caudery and New Zealand&rsquo;s Eliza McCartney have traded the world lead so far in 2024 &ndash; Caudery cleared 4.83m in Val-de-Reuil on 28 January and McCartney then managed 4.84m in Lievin on 10 February, before Caudery improved to 4.85m to win the British title one week later and again to 4.86m in Rouen a week after that.
Caudery, the 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medallist, finished fifth at last year&rsquo;s World Athletics Championships in Budapest where she cleared 4.75m.
She has improved her lifetime best by 25cm in the past year and will look to replicate that top form in front of a home crowd at the World Indoor Championships Glasgow 24.
&ldquo;I need to re-evaluate my plans for the season as 4.80m was my target. I have already gone above and beyond, so of course the British record will be amazing and probably my new target,&rdquo; said Caudery, with her sights on Holly Bradshaw&rsquo;s national mark of 4.90m.
&ldquo;At the Worlds, a medal will be my focus.&rdquo;
McCartney, the 2016 Olympic bronze medallist, finished fifth at the World Indoor Championships in 2016 and fourth at the 2018 edition and now has the chance to continue that pattern to make it on to the podium in Glasgow.
But US duo Katie Moon and Sandi Morris pose formidable opposition. Moon won the Olympic title in Tokyo and followed that with two world titles in Oregon and Budapest, plus a world indoor silver medal in Belgrade. Morris got the gold on that occasion, clearing 4.80m to retain her world indoor title from Birmingham, and now she targets a hat-trick.
Moon won the US title earlier this month with a 4.80m clearance despite having experienced tightness in her achilles tendon in the lead up, while Morris also overcame an achilles injury a month prior to finish second there with 4.75m after opening her season with 4.82m in Reno.&nbsp;
The pair have clashed more than 70 times, with Olympic and three-time World Championships silver medallist Morris leading their head-to-head record, but they each have one win apiece from 2024 so far &ndash; Moon getting that US Indoor Championships win and Morris finishing top in Reno.
Canada&rsquo;s Alysha Newman &ndash; the 2018 Commonwealth Games champion who claimed bronze at the 2014 edition in Glasgow &ndash; returns to Scotland fresh from a national record of 4.83m to win in Clermont-Ferrand.
Finland&rsquo;s world bronze medallist Wilma Murto cleared 4.81m when opening her season in Kuortane on 6 January and most recently soared 4.80m to finish runner-up to Caudery in Rouen.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Expected highlights in the men's and women's pole vault

WIC Glasgow 24 preview: pole vault

<h2>Women&rsquo;s high jump</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/women/high-jump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/jumps/high-jump/all/women/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/jumps/high-jump/all/women/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/high-jump/women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
If the early-season action is anything to go by, the women&rsquo;s high jump at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 &ndash; and, indeed, for the duration of the year &ndash; is going to be extraordinary.&nbsp;
Australia&rsquo;s Olympic silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers began her season ideally in Canberra on 27 January by equalling the area record of 2.03m she set in Eugene last year.
Gauntlet thrown down.
Four days later, 22-year-old Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh, the Olympic bronze medallist, opened her year in Cottbus with a clearance of 2.04m, a centimetre shy of her outdoor best, before ending her competition with a smile, and folded arms.
Gauntlet taken up.
When these two athletes converge in Glasgow, the result is likely to be spectacular.
Mahuchikh will be defending the title she won two years ago in Belgrade, a first global victory which was followed by a world outdoor title in Budapest last summer, when Olyslagers took bronze.
But the circumstances for the Ukrainian phenomenon are, thankfully, very different from those she experienced before the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships.
Back then she had reached the Serbian capital after making a three-day journey of 2000km by car after fleeing Russian bombardment of her home city, Dnipropetrovsk.
As the war in Ukraine continued, she established a training base in Germany which has enabled her to prepare in a less traumatic fashion.
It would be extraordinary enough for Mahuchikh simply to continue competing in such circumstances; but she has taken her achievements to another level in the space of the past year.
Neither athlete, however, can afford to be complacent given the overall strength of the field in Glasgow. Olyslagers&rsquo; compatriot Eleanor Patterson, who set what was then an Oceanian record of 2.02m to win the 2022 world outdoor title and who took silver in Budapest last year on countback, is also in the mix.
Patterson has yet to hit the heights &ndash; her season&rsquo;s best of 1.93m in mid February was followed by 1.85m in the last of this year&rsquo;s World Indoor Tour Gold meetings in Madrid on 23 February. But as they say, form is temporary, class is permanent&hellip;
Other medal contenders include Vashti Cunningham of the United States, joint fourth on this year&rsquo;s world list on 1.97m and with an outdoor personal best of 2.02m.
Cunningham won the world indoor title in the home setting of Portland in 2016 as an 18-year-old, and added world indoor silver in Birmingham two years later before taking world outdoor bronze in 2019.
Level with her in the list is another outstanding talent in the form of 18-year-old Serbian Angelina Topic, who equalled her personal best of 1.97m in Slovakia on 13 February.
Topic, whose father Dragutin won the European high jump title in 1990 and whose mother missed a world triple jump medal by one place in 2009, announced her presence in senior international competition aged 17 when she became the youngest medallist at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, claiming bronze behind gold medallist Mahuchikh and silver medallist Marija Vukovic of Montenegro.
Others to watch include Mahuchikh&rsquo;s compatriot Yulia Levchenko, who won world silver and European indoor bronze in 2017 and added a European indoor bronze two years later in the Glasgow Arena, and Britain&rsquo;s Morgan Lake, who has a best of 1.92m so far this season but who set a national record of 1.99m last year and could challenge for a home podium appearance.
&nbsp;
<h2>Men&rsquo;s high jump</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/men/high-jump" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/jumps/high-jump/all/men/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/jumps/high-jump/all/men/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/high-jump/men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
South Korea&rsquo;s Woo Sangyheok looks in good shape to defend his title when he competes at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 as joint leader of this year&rsquo;s world list.
Woo cleared 2.33m on 10 February at the dedicated high jump meeting in the Czech venue of Hustopece, where in 2022 he recorded his personal best of 2.36m.
But it was not quite enough to earn the ebullient Korean victory. That went, on countback, to his fellow 27-year-old Shelby McEwen of the United States, who equalled his personal best and who looks like being Woo&rsquo;s main rival in the Glasgow Arena.
Since missing an Olympic medal by one place in Tokyo, Woo has been a regular visitor to the medal podium, winning gold at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade and then earning silver at that year&rsquo;s World Championships in Oregon as he equalled his outdoor personal best of 2.35m.
Last year, although he finished sixth at the World Championships, he earned Asian Games silver and finished the season by becoming Diamond League champion.
McEwen&rsquo;s CV does not glitter in the same way, but it attests to his high level consistency in recent years. He made the Tokyo Olympic final, finishing 12th, then finished fifth at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon and seventh at the following year&rsquo;s edition in Budapest.
His most recent exploits in Hustopece offer clear evidence that he is ready to step for the first time on to a major international podium. The question is: which step?
But others in the field have already had the experience of big-time podium appearances.
Germany&rsquo;s Tobias Potye, European silver medallist in 2022, is one of three jumpers currently on the next step down in the world lists on 2.30m who will be present in Glasgow, the others being Jan Stefela of the Czech Republic and Ukraine&rsquo;s Oleh Doroshchuk.
Also in the line-up will be Doroschuk&rsquo;s fellow Ukrainian Andrii Protsenko, 35, who earned world outdoor bronze in 2022, eight years after taking world indoor silver in Sopot.
Look out also for Poland&rsquo;s Norbert Kobielski, who has jumped 2.33m, and New Zealand&rsquo;s Hamish Kerr, the Commonwealth champion and world indoor bronze medallist two years ago in Belgrade.
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics

Expected highlights in the women's and men's high jump

WIC Glasgow 24 preview: high jump

<h2>Men&rsquo;s heptathlon</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/men/heptathlon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/combined-events/heptathlon-short-track/all/men/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/combined-events/heptathlon-short-track/all/men/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/decathlon/men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
Ken Mullings finds himself as the surprising world leader heading into the men&rsquo;s heptathlon at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24.
The Bahamian enjoyed a significant breakthrough into 8000-point territory in the decathlon last year, scoring a PB of 8060. But the 26-year-old&rsquo;s improvements this indoor season has been even more notable.
In a heptathlon in Illinois at the end of January, Mullings set PBs in six of the seven disciplines, winning with a national record of 6340. Not only did it catapult the 26-year-old to 21st on the world indoor all-time list, it has also set him up to become the first athlete from The Bahamas to win a global combined events medal.
But there&rsquo;ll be one man in Glasgow with an even higher PB than Mullings and plenty of motivation.
Simon Ehammer took silver in Belgrade two years ago with a Swiss record of 6363. Later that year, he went on to earn world long jump bronze and European decathlon silver. But despite being a talented long jumper, that discipline has also been his downfall in combined events competitions, as he recorded three no-jumps at the European Indoors and the Hypo Meeting last year.
This is a new year, though, and an opportunity for Ehammer to banish those demons before turning his attention to the outdoor season.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/62c871ecfa1b960c3fd75374.jpg" alt="Simon Ehammer in the decathlon long jump at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22" />
Simon Ehammer in the decathlon long jump at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22 (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
The domestic rivalry between Norwegian duo Sander Skotheim and Markus Rooth has inspired both youngsters to better one another&rsquo;s national decathlon records outdoors in recent years. Rooth scored 8307 in 2022, which Skotheim broke at the start of last year with 8590, but Rooth reclaimed the record to win the European U23 title with 8608.
Both men will be in Glasgow and Skotheim perhaps has the slight upper hand, given that Rooth has never contested a heptathlon at a major indoor championships. Skotheim took European indoor silver last year with 6318, and so far this season he has scored 6281.
Makenson Gletty, winner at Decastar at the end of last year, has started the year in strong form, no doubt inspired by the prospect of a home Olympics later this year. The French all-rounder added 140 points to his PB with 6230 in Aubiere at the end of January, which could put him among the medals.
Three years after becoming the first U20 athlete ever to break 6000 in a junior heptathlon, Jente Hauttekeete bettered that mark with the senior implements to win the Belgian indoor title with 6131. The 2021 European U20 champion will be making his senior international championships debut.
Estonia&rsquo;s 2019 NCAA decathlon champion Johannes Erm will also be contesting his first heptathlon at a major indoor championships. Erm, who set a decathlon PB of 8484 at last year&rsquo;s World Championships, has a heptathlon PB of 6114, dating back to 2020.
US decathlon champion Harrison Williams hasn&rsquo;t contested a heptathlon since 2019 when he won the NCAA indoor title with 6042. He has added almost 500 points to his decathlon PB since then, though, so his indoor best is probably due some serious revision.
Other athletes entered are Sven Jansons of the Netherlands and Czech duo Ondrej Kopecky and Vilem Strasky.
&nbsp;
<h2>Women&rsquo;s pentathlon</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/women/pentathlon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/combined-events/pentathlon-short-track/all/women/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/combined-events/pentathlon-short-track/all/women/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/heptathlon/women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
Noor Vidts could become the first woman in history to win two global pentathlon gold medals when she defends her title at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24.
In the absence of fellow Belgian Nafissatou Thiam, the Olympic champion and world indoor record-holder, as well as world champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson and 2023 world leader Anna Hall, Vidts will start as a strong favourite to win gold in Glasgow.
That&rsquo;s not to say she&rsquo;ll have it all her way, though, as world leader Maria Vicente will be vying to win her first senior global title.
Vidts hasn&rsquo;t contested a pentathlon so far this year, but has shown decent form in the 60m hurdles (8.26), long jump (6.37m) and shot put (13.75m), all of which aren&rsquo;t too far away from the level she was at leading into the 2022 World Indoor Championships, where she won gold with 4929.
The Belgian, who placed fourth at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, will likely need to produce a few season&rsquo;s bests in Glasgow if she&rsquo;s to hold off the challenge from Vicente, who earlier this year broke her own Spanish record with 4728.
Vicente&rsquo;s series included PBs of 13.84m in the show and 2:15.50 in the 800m. Since then, she has improved her 60m hurdles PB to 8.06 and equalled her indoor high jump PB of 1.80m.
Both Vicente and Vidts are proven championship performers, often producing PBs or season&rsquo;s bests in the heptathlon and pentathlon at major championships, setting the scene for an exciting duel between the pair in Glasgow.
Behind Vidts and Vicente, there&rsquo;s a host of competitors with PBs and season&rsquo;s bests in the 4500-4600 range, any of whom could potentially challenge for a medal.
Austria&rsquo;s 2019 world bronze medallist Verena Mayr will be making her World Indoor Championships debut. The 29-year-old as fond memories of Glasgow, as it&rsquo;s where she set her pentathlon PB of 4637 at the 2019 European Indoors. She recently won her national title with 4525.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/65de34bb321217832148ce73.jpg" alt="Verena Preiner in the heptathlon shot put at the 2019 World Championships" />
Verena Mayr (nee Preiner) in the heptathlon shot put at the 2019 World Championships (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
Hungary&rsquo;s 2021 world U20 bronze medallist Szabina Sucz has improved her PB to 4588 this year, which puts her just ahead of Sofie Dokter (4553) on the entry lists. Dutch all-rounder Doktor, however, has the better PB 4603 and is also a superior heptathlete outdoors.
Sveva Gerevini has added almost 100 points to her own Italian pentathlon record this year with 4538, while Ukraine&rsquo;s Yuliya Loban (4537) and Sweden&rsquo;s Bianca Salming (4533) have also set PBs this year.
Two-time world U20 heptathlon champion Saga Vanninen of Finland could also be one to watch &ndash; especially in the shot put, in which she has a PB of 16.12m.
Others in the line-up include USA&rsquo;s Chari Hawkins, Croatia&rsquo;s Jana Koscak and Britain&rsquo;s Abigail Pawlett.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Expected highlights in the men's and women's combined events

WIC Glasgow 24 preview: combined events

<h2>Women&rsquo;s 3000m</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/women/3000-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/middlelong/3000-metres-short-track/all/women/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/middlelong/3000-metres-short-track/all/women/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/5000m/women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
Nine of the past 10 gold medals in the women&rsquo;s 3000m at the World Indoor Championships have gone to Ethiopia, and that trend looks set to continue in Glasgow.
Gudaf Tsegay, the world indoor 1500m champion and outdoor 10,000m champion, was considering ending her indoor season at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Boston. But the world 5000m record-holder &ndash; who came within a whisker of the world indoor 3000m record with 8:17.11 in Lievin on 10 February &ndash; made a late decision to compete in Glasgow.
If the 26-year-old triumphs in Glasgow, it would mean she has won four global titles across four different distances across the space of two years.
Defending champion Lemlem Hailu is also entered, but her only race this season was over 3000m in Lievin, where she dropped out at 2200m, some 110m adrift of Tsegay. She earned her entry by winning the World Indoor Tour last year.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6234f0d96513dd100e91ed0c.jpg" alt="Lemlem Hailu wins the 3000m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22" />
Lemlem Hailu wins the 3000m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22 (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
Hirut Meshesha, the 1500m bronze medallist behind the victorious Tsegay in Belgrade two years ago, won the battle for second place in Lievin, finishing a distant runner-up in 8:29.71.
The 23-year-old won in Metz a week earlier in 8:28.46 and heads to Glasgow as the fourth-fastest entrant on season&rsquo;s bests. Having made the world indoor all-time top-ten lists with 4:19.53 for the mile in Ostrava and 3:56.47 for 1500m in Torun, Meshesha will be tough to beat.
Still, two other entrants have gone significantly quicker than her over 3000m in 2024.
At the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Boston on 4 February, Australia&rsquo;s Jess Hull blasted past Elle St Pierre off the final bend to win in 8:24.93, an Oceania record.
St Pierre &ndash; the silver medallist in this event two years ago &ndash; clocked a PB of 8:25.25 as runner-up, then gained revenge a week later, improving her own US indoor mile record to 4:16.41 at the Millrose Games in New York, Hull taking consolation in a national record of 4:19.03 as runner-up.
Kenya&rsquo;s Beatrice Chepkoech is next fastest on the 2024 list at 3000m, the world steeplechase record-holder having clocked a PB of 8:30.87 behind Tsegay and Meshesha in Lievin.
Now 30, Britain&rsquo;s Laura Muir will be seeking to add to her international medal collection at the venue where she completed a 1500m-3000m double at the 2019 European Indoor Championships.
The Scot, who did her veterinarian training in Glasgow, set a British two mile best of 9:04.84 in New York, passing 3000m in 8:31.45.
The field also includes Japan&rsquo;s multiple national record-holder Nozomi Tanaka, who set a Japanese 3000m record of 8:40.05 en route to an Asian two miles record of 9:16.76 at the Millrose Games.
&nbsp;
<h2>Men&rsquo;s 3000m</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/men/3000-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/middlelong/3000-metres-short-track/all/men/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/middlelong/3000-metres-short-track/all/men/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/5000m/men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
After his home-straight heroics in Hungary last August, Josh Kerr will be aiming to find another global Midas touch back on home ground in Scotland.
This time the distance is twice as far and the opposition every bit as formidable as it was in that thriller of a world outdoor 1500m final in Budapest.
Kerr had to dig to the very depths of his competitive reserves to get the better of Jakob Ingebrigtsen and keep the world outdoor 1500m title in British hands &ndash; indeed in those of Edinburgh AC, the Scottish club that also produced the 2022 champion Jake Wightman.
At the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24, he will have to find a way to break the stranglehold Ethiopia has taken on the men&rsquo;s 3000m.
The past three finals have all been won by Ethiopians: Selemon Barega in Belgrade in 2022 and, before that, Yomif Kejelcha in Birmingham in 2018 and in Portland in 2016.
Barega will be seeking to emulate his compatriot&rsquo;s back-to-back feat by retaining the title in Glasgow.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6237103ca8627eaa82745107.jpg" alt="Selemon Barega beats teammate Lamecha Girma in the world indoor 3000m final in Belgrade" />
Selemon Barega beats teammate Lamecha Girma in the world indoor 3000m final in Belgrade (&copy; Getty Images)
</div>
The Olympic 10,000m champion heads the 2024 list, having emerged from a dominant victory over steeplechaser and compatriot Getnet Wale with a 7:25.82 PB at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Torun on 6 February. The 24-year-old also won comfortably in Lievin four days later.
Barega led an Ethiopian one-two in Belgrade two years ago, outsprinting Lamecha Girma, and was part of a one-two in Birmingham in 2018, behind Kejelcha.
In Glasgow he will be backed up by Wale, who will be chasing his first individual global medal at senior level.
A member of the Ethiopian team that took silver in the mixed relay at last year&rsquo;s World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Wale finished fourth in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2019 and 2022 World Championships and at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Also entered for Ethiopia is Telahun Haile Bekele, fourth in the world 5000m final back in 2019, who made a modest seasonal debut at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Madrid on Friday, finishing fourth in 7:43.76.
Kerr, aiming to become the first European winner since the successful title defence by Italy&rsquo;s Gennaro Di Napoli in Toronto in 1993, passed 3000m in an outright British record of 7:30.14 en route to his two mile world best time of 8:00.67 at the Millrose Games in New York on 6 February.
The NCAA indoor 1500m champion in 2017 and 2018, Kerr will be tackling his first international championship on the boards. &ldquo;The 200m indoor track isn&rsquo;t always the best suited to some of us,&rdquo; he confessed. &ldquo;I need to be sure I&rsquo;m careful with that, because my body is not always great on tight bends.&rdquo;
Third fastest on indoor PBs, behind Wale (7:24.98) and Barega (7:25.82) is Yared Nuguse of the USA, with 7:28.24.
The North American indoor record-holder at 1500m, one mile and 3000m, he followed a 3:47.83 victory in the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games &ndash; the third fastest time in history &ndash; by taking the US indoor 3000m title in Albuquerque in 7:55.76.
Norway's Narve Gilje Nordas took world 1500m bronze last year, finishing just 0.30 behind Kerr. He has raced just once over 3000m this year, winning at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Madrid with an outright PB of 7:41.28. He also showed in Budapest that he is a smart championship racer.
The European challenge will be bolstered by the seasoned Spanish campaigner Adel Mechaal. The 33-year-old has won European indoor gold, silver and bronze medals at the event. He finished fifth in the 2018 world indoor final in Birmingham and seventh in Belgrade two years ago.
Also in the field are Italy&rsquo;s Pietro Arese and Belgium&rsquo;s John Heymens, who have improved to 7:38.42 and 7:41.59 this season.
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics

Expected highlights in the women's and men's 3000m

WIC Glasgow 24 preview: 3000m

<h2>Men&rsquo;s 1500m</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/men/1500-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/middlelong/1500-metres-short-track/all/men/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/middlelong/1500-metres-short-track/all/men/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/1500m/men?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2024-02-18&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
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&rsquo;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 &ndash; 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&rsquo;s a win streak he&rsquo;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&rsquo;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.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/65194bc59e140ecf06be9a2d.JPG" alt="Hobbs Kessler wins the mile in Riga" />
Hobbs Kessler wins the mile in Riga (&copy; Adam Nurkiewicz)
</div>
The 20-year-old leads the field when it comes to season&rsquo;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 &ndash; putting him fourth on the world all-time list &ndash; 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&rsquo;s bests, thanks to their recent indoor PB performances: Portugal&rsquo;s Isaac Nader, who won in Ostrava in a national record of 3:34.23; Britain&rsquo;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&rsquo;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&rsquo;s world bronze medallist Narve Gilje Nordas, Spain&rsquo;s two-time world indoor 3000m finalist Adel Mechaal and European bronze medallist Mario Garcia, and New Zealand&rsquo;s multiple national record-holder Geordie Beamish.
&nbsp;
<h2>Women&rsquo;s 1500m</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/women/1500-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/middlelong/1500-metres-short-track/all/women/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/middlelong/1500-metres-short-track/all/women/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/1500m/women?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2024-02-18&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
With Freweyni Hailu, Diribe Welteji and Birke Haylom heading up the entry list, there&rsquo;s a strong force looking to retain the women&rsquo;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&rsquo;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 &ndash; a performance that places her third on a world all-time list topped by Tsegay&rsquo;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.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/651946756723dd7f6c5c55ea.jpg" alt="Diribe Welteji on her way to winning the mile in Riga" />
Diribe Welteji on her way to winning the mile in Riga (&copy; Marta Gorczynska)
</div>
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&rsquo;s Esther Guerrero and Marta Perez, Canada&rsquo;s Lucia Stafford and Australia&rsquo;s Linden Hall.&nbsp;
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Expected highlights in the men's and women's 1500m

WIC Glasgow 24 preview: 1500m

<h2>Women&rsquo;s 800m</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/women/800-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/middlelong/800-metres-short-track/all/women/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/middlelong/800-metres-short-track/all/women/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/800m/women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
Habitam Alemu of Ethiopia has come close to a world indoor 800m medal on three occasions. Barring upset, that ambition will surely be achieved at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24. But Scotland&rsquo;s Jemma Reekie will be determined to beat her to gold.
Still only 26, Alemu has reached the past three World Indoor Championship finals, finishing sixth in 2016, fourth in 2018 and seventh two years ago in Belgrade.
This year she has taken her performance to another level in recording a personal best of 1:57.86 to win at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Torun. She will thus take to the new track at the Glasgow Arena as the world&rsquo;s fastest this year.
But there will be no certainty of gold following the winning flourish given the presence of home contender Reekie, who clocked a season&rsquo;s best of 1:58.24, the second-fastest time in the world this year, to win the British indoor title in Birmingham on 18 February.
The 25-year-old has a 2020 indoor personal best of 1:57.91, set on the Glasgow Arena track, and fourth place at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 attests to her management of the big occasion.
Reekie is the only European runner in a leading cohort of African runners. The third fastest contending athlete this season is the 2019 world champion Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda, who won bronze at the last World Indoor Championships in Belgrade.
Two of Alemu&rsquo;s compatriots, Tsige Dugama and Worknesh Mesele, are next in terms of time with 2024 personal bests of 1:59.66 and 1:59.93 respectively, followed by Benin&rsquo;s Noelie Yarigo, who ran 2:00.23 in Torun.
Natoya Goule-Toppin hasn&rsquo;t raced so far this year, but it was only five months ago that she set her lifetime best of 1:55.96 &ndash; the fastest of all the Glasgow entrants. The Jamaican finished fourth in Belgrade two years ago, so will be keen to make the podium this time around.
Others to look out for are Australia&rsquo;s Catronia Bisset, Reekie&rsquo;s British team-mate Isabelle Boffey, whose time of 2:00.27 to take second place at the British Championships was just 0.02 off her personal best, and the US pair of Allie Wilson, who won the national indoor title this year, and second-placed Addison Wiley, who qualified for the first international championship of her professional career.
&nbsp;
<h2>Men&rsquo;s 800m</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/men/800-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/middlelong/800-metres-short-track/all/men/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/middlelong/800-metres-short-track/all/men/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/800m/men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
Mariano Garcia, he of the pre-race motorbike mime, is revving up in convincing fashion ahead of the defence of his 800m title at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24.
The 26-year-old Spaniard, who went on to add the European outdoor title after winning gold at the 2022 Championships in Belgrade, showed evidence of form in finishing second at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin in February.
His 1:45.50 was beaten on the night by Belgium&rsquo;s 25-year-old Eliott Crestan, The European indoor bronze medallist, who established his own claims for Glasgow with victory in 1:45.10.
But last Friday, a hot new pair of wheels took over the running as Italy&rsquo;s 24-year-old Catalin Tecuceanu recorded the fastest time of the year, 1:45.00, in winning at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Madrid.
Chased to the line by four home runners, the Romanian-born athlete, who finished seventh at last year&rsquo;s European Indoors in Istanbul, took almost half a second off the Italian indoor record that had stood since 1993.
The Spaniard who followed him home in Madrid, Mohamed Attaoui, will also be in Glasgow, having set a PB of 1:45.49 this year.
The two men who followed Garcia home at the 2022 World Indoors &ndash; silver medallist Noah Kibet of Kenya and bronze medallist Bryce Hoppel of the United States &ndash; both have podium prospects this time around.
Hoppel clocked a season&rsquo;s best of 1:45.54 when winning at the Millrose Games in New York. Kibet, who has a best of 1:44.98, was one place behind him in 1:46.09.
Botswana&rsquo;s Tshepiso Masalela is undefeated this year, having notched up wins in Ostrava, Metz and Torun. His winning time in Metz, 1:45.56, is a national record.
Other contenders to look out for include Morocco&rsquo;s Abdelati El Guesse, third on the world list with the 1:45.28 he recorded when winning in Lyon in February, and Algeria&rsquo;s Mohamed Ali Gouaned, who clocked a personal best of 1:45.35 in winning the B race in Lievin.
Another runner likely to be in the mix &ndash; rumbustiously so if necessary &ndash; is Benjamin Robert of France, who was third in the main Lievin final behind Crestan and Garcia in 1:45.70 and who won a fourth national title on 18 February.
Two others to watch out for are Mateusz Borkowski of Poland, the 2021 European indoor silver medallist, and Sweden&rsquo;s hugely consistent 2018 European outdoor silver medallist Andreas Kramer.
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics

Expected highlights in the women's and men's 800m

WIC Glasgow 24 preview: 800m

<h2>Men&rsquo;s 4x400m</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/men/4x400-metres-relay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/relays/4x400-metres-relay-short-track/all/men/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/relays/4x400-metres-relay-short-track/all/men/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>
A talented pool of 400m specialists will be aiming to end USA&rsquo;s eight-year gold medal drought in the men&rsquo;s 4x400m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24.
Between 1993 and 2016, USA won 10 of the 13 gold medals on offer in the men&rsquo;s 4x400m at the World Indoors. But they were beaten by a record-breaking Polish squad in 2018, and then an injury in the heats at the 2022 edition cost them a place in the final.
It&rsquo;s no wonder, then, that the sprint powerhouse has assembled a full-strength team of relay runners for Glasgow &ndash; including four men who have broken 46 seconds this year &ndash; determined to restore some order to proceedings.
Brian Faust and Jacory Patterson, who are entered for the individual 400m, will be at the USA&rsquo;s disposal, as will Matthew Boling, Christopher Bailey, Paul Dedeweo, Trevor Bassitt and Wil London. If all goes well, they could even get close to the world indoor record of 3:01.51.
That said, relays are hard to predict at the best of times &ndash; not least indoors, where there&rsquo;s more bumping and barging compared to outdoors.
Belgium heads to Glasgow as the defending champions and reigning European indoor champions. While they may not be able to match the USA in pure speed, they have heaps of experience as a squad, which can count for a lot.
Ever since their breakout year in 2021 &ndash; when they won European indoor gold and took Olympic silver &ndash; the Netherlands has been a force in the 4x400m. They took world indoor bronze in 2022 and followed it with European indoor bronze in 2023. With a strong squad entered for Glasgow, it will be no surprise to see them on the podium again.
The Czech Republic also heads into the championships with a great chance of winning a medal. They set a national outdoor record in Budapest last year, and all four members of that team will be running in Glasgow &ndash; including three-time world indoor 400m champion Pavel Maslak. They were fifth at the 2022 World Indoors, but have a much stronger team this time around.
Poland, who won with a world record in 2018, perhaps aren&rsquo;t as strong as they have been in the past, but then again few would have predicted what they achieved in this event six years ago, so never count them out.
The Nigerian squad has potential to threaten for a medal. Portugal, Slovakia and Kenya are the other teams entered.
&nbsp;
<h2>Women&rsquo;s 4x400m</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/women/4x400-metres-relay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/relays/4x400-metres-relay-short-track/all/women/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/relays/4x400-metres-relay-short-track/all/women/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>
In one of the most eagerly anticipated races of the championships, world champions Netherlands will clash with Olympic champions USA in the women&rsquo;s 4x400m.
What makes the race all the more fascinating is that USA&rsquo;s Alexis Holmes and Femke Bol of the Netherlands &ndash; who ran shoulder-to-shoulder in the mixed 4x400m at last year&rsquo;s World Championships in Budapest until Bol crashed to the ground with just metres to go &ndash; are both entered for their respective countries, meaning there could be a rematch in store on the final leg.
Add into the equation defending champions Jamaica and host nation Great Britain &amp; Northern Ireland, and this could be one of the races of the championships.
In Bol and training partner Lieke Klaver, the Dutch team boasts the two fastest women in the world this year. Not only does that formidable duo have plenty of experience running together in relays, they are also in the form of their lives individually. Bol recently reduced her own world indoor record to 49.24, while Klaver clocked a PB of 50.10.
But USA's Holmes has also been in PB form, and she&rsquo;ll be supported on the US team by the likes of Talitha Diggs and Quanera Hayes, both sub-5o-second performers outdoors.
Jamaica, who beat the Netherlands to gold in Belgrade two years ago by just 0.17, heads to Glasgow with solid depth and should once again feature in the hunt for medals.
A home crowd can do wonders for a relay team, so don&rsquo;t be surprised if Great Britain challenge for a place on the podium. Twins Laviai and Lina Nielsen have been in PB form this indoor season, while world bronze medallists Ama Pipi and Jessie Knight are also on the squad.
With four quality teams going head to head, the world indoor record of 3:23.37 &ndash; also set in Glasgow in 18 years ago &ndash; could come under threat.
Poland, who has reached the podium in this event at the past three editions, should also feature at the front end of the race.
The Czech Republic and Belgium could be underdogs, while Portugal and Ireland will have their sights set on reaching the final.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Expected highlights in the men's and women's 4x400m

WIC Glasgow 24 preview: 4x400m

<h2>Women&rsquo;s 400m</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/women/400-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/sprints/400-metres/all/women/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/sprints/400-metres/all/women/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/400m/women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
Femke Bol will need no reminding of the last occasion on which she failed to cross the line first in a flat 400m race. In the two-lap final at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, she was no match for Shaunae Miller-Uibo, the two-time Olympic champion from The Bahamas prevailing by the considerable margin of 0.26 in 50.31.
Two years on, it is Bol who is a class apart in the event on the boards. At her national championships in Apeldoorn on 18 February, the Flying Dutchwoman sped to victory in 49.24, registering an improvement of 0.02 on the world indoor record she set on the same track 12 months previously.
The 23-year-old world 400m hurdles champion is on a roll of 14 successive flat 400m victories indoors and out. She is the only woman to have broken 50 seconds this year, having also clocked 49.69 in Metz and 49.63 in Lievin.&nbsp;
Next fastest on the 2024 list is Bol&rsquo;s compatriot and training partner Lieke Klaver, with the big lifetime best of 50.10 that she recorded as runner up in Apeldoorn.
A maiden world indoor title for Bol would therefore appear to be the closest thing to a formality in the cut and thrust of indoor competition.
Not that the two-time European indoor 400m champion considers the clock to be her principal rival at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24.
Asked if she could go quicker in the global arena than on home ground in Apeldoorn, she replied: &ldquo;It will be difficult there, because you have to run twice one day (the heats and semifinals on Friday) and again the next day (the final on Saturday). That&rsquo;s a heavier schedule.
&ldquo;Moreover, the field of participants is stronger, so there is a greater chance of getting in each other&rsquo;s way. That&rsquo;s what makes indoor athletics beautiful, but it also means that the best times are not always achieved.&rdquo;
Even in the great outdoors, things do not always run smoothly over 400m.
Bol might have ended the outdoor World Championships in Budapest last August with the high of a sublime flying finish, pulling a stunning victory out of the bag for her country in the women&rsquo;s 4x400m, but she started with the low of that dramatic fall she suffered within sight of glory in the mixed 4x400m.
Alexis Holmes took advantage to snatch victory for the USA and the 24-year-old from Hamden, Connecticut, arrives in Scotland placed third on the 2024 list. She won the US indoor title in a championship record 50.34 in Albuquerque on 17 February.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/64e12649252e2b00c47114e0.jpg" alt="Alexis Holmes celebrates USA's mixed 4x400m world record at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23" />
Alexis Holmes celebrates USA's mixed 4x400m world record at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 (&copy; Getty Images)
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Klaver, however, boasts the consistency of three of the four fastest times behind Bol: 50.10, 50.50 and 50.54.
Having placed sixth and fourth in the last two world indoor finals, she will be out to repeat the Dutch gold and silver medal double from last year&rsquo;s European Indoor Championships in Istanbul.
The prospect of a first one-two for the Netherlands in any discipline at the World Indoor Championships could be threatened not just by Holmes but also by Talitha Diggs, who finished second in the US Indoor Championships in 51.23 and who possesses a lifetime indoor best of 50.15.&nbsp;
The 21-year-old from New Jersey ran the opening leg for the US women&rsquo;s 4x400m team anchored to victory by Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon. Her mother, Joetta Clark Diggs, took world indoor 800m bronze behind Maria Mutola and Svetlana Masterkova in the Toronto Skydome in 1993.
Fourth quickest on season&rsquo;s bests &ndash; behind Bol, Klaver and Holmes &ndash; is Henriette Jaeger, the multi-talented Norwegian who set a world U18 heptathlon record in 2020. The 20-year-old clocked a national indoor 400m record of 51.05 as runner-up to Klaver (50.57) at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Torun on 6 February.
Also at the sharp end of the entry list is British champion Laviai Nielsen, who finished third in Torun in 51.31, improving to 51.11 as runner-up to Klaver (50.50) in Lievin on 10 February.
&nbsp;
<h2>Men&rsquo;s 400m</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/men/400-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/sprints/400-metres/all/men/senior/2024?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;maxResultsByCountry=all&amp;eventId=10229683&amp;ageCategory=senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/sprints/400-metres/all/men/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/400m/men?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2024-02-18&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
The last time the Glasgow Arena staged a major international track and field event, the latter day Viking Karsten Warholm was in rampaging form.
The Norwegian phenomenon stormed to an emphatic 400m victory at the 2019 European Indoor Championships, shredding his national record by 0.51 and tying Thomas Schonlebe&rsquo;s 1988 European record with 45.05.
Five years on, the Olympic and three-time world 400m hurdles champion is the standout name on the entry list for the flat 400m at the World Indoor Athletics Championships Glasgow 24.
Warholm, who celebrates his 28th birthday two days before the opening session, has no indoor form to his name in 2024, having not competed since the shock defeat he suffered in his specialist event against the inspired Rai Benjamin at the Diamond League final in Eugene in September last year.
Last year Warholm had two warm up races before the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul, where he blasted off inside European record pace and ended up hanging on for victory in 45.35, just 0.09 ahead of the fast-finishing Belgian Julien Watrin.
Another notable entrant who has yet to race in 2024 is Jereem Richards, the defending champion from Trinidad and Tobago.
Richards, who turned 30 in January, won in Belgrade in 45.00 two years ago but failed to make it beyond the semifinals stage at the outdoor World Championships in Budapest last August.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6236368fc87904e107e96a0c.jpg" alt="Jereem Richards wins the battle for the line in the world indoor 400m final in Belgrade" />
Jereem Richards wins the battle for the line in the world indoor 400m final in Belgrade (&copy; Getty Images)
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A product of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide sporting set-up celebrated in the Steely Dan song Deacon Blues, Richards has a world indoor relay bronze from Istanbul 12 years ago and, of course, a world outdoor 200m bronze from London in 2017.&nbsp;
Top of the entry list on 2024 indoor times is Brian Faust, who unleashed an unstoppable tide to come from 0.58 down at halfway to pip Jacory Patterson to the US title in Albuquerque, surging from third to first in the home straight.
The 25-year-old, a graduate of the Purdue University Boilermakers in West Lafayette, Indiana, is unbeaten in five indoor 400m outings in 2024. He has an outdoor best of 45.51.
Patterson, who finished just 0.01 down in Albuquerque, ran 45.05 indoors last year and has an outdoor best of 44.81.
There have been five US winners in the event but none since Tyree Washington pipped Britain&rsquo;s Daniel Caines in Birmingham in 2003.
Until 2022, there had only been one Swedish medal winner in the event - Johan Wissman, runner up to Canada&rsquo;s Tyler Christopher in Valencia in 2008 &ndash; but in Belgrade Carl Bengtstrom claimed bronze behind Richards and Trevor Bassitt of the US.
The former European U20 400m hurdles champion also gained European indoor bronze behind Warholm and Watrin in Istanbul last year. He has a best this year of 46.38 but an indoor PB of 45.33.
There are two other sub-46.00 indoor performers in the field.
Matej Krsek, a bronze medallist with the Czech mixed 4x400m team at the World Championships in Budapest, has run 45.86 this season.
Alexander Doom, who clocked 45.89 in Metz on 3 February, ran second leg for the gold medal-winning Belgian 4x400m quartet at the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade.&nbsp;
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics

Expected highlights in the women's and men's 400m

WIC Glasgow 24 preview: 400m

<h2>Men&rsquo;s 60m hurdles</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/men/60-metres-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/60-metres-hurdles/all/men/senior/2024?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;maxResultsByCountry=all&amp;eventId=10230176&amp;ageCategory=senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/hurdles/60-metres-hurdles/all/men/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/110mh/men?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2024-02-18&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
The last time Grant Holloway was beaten in a 60m hurdles race was in 2014, when he finished second as a 16-year-old at the US High School Indoor Nationals in New York.
A decade on, having been racing as the world record-holder since 2021, the three-time world 110m hurdles champion will be determined to maintain his dominance in the event at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24.
It was en route to winning his first world indoor 60m hurdles title in Belgrade two years ago that Holloway matched the world record of 7.29 he set in Madrid in 2021. That record-equalling time came in the semifinals in Belgrade and Holloway went on to get gold later that day in 7.39.
His 7.29 remained the world record until 16 February, when the 26-year-old improved to 7.27 in the heats at the US Indoor Championships in Albuquerque. With his place for Glasgow secured thanks to a wild card entry as the World Athletics Indoor Tour winner for 2023, he decided not to contest the final.
That was Holloway&rsquo;s last race before his world indoor title defence and it followed performances of 7.35 in Boston on 4 February and 7.32 in Lievin six days later.&nbsp;
Holloway has now dipped under 7.40 in 23 60m hurdles races. Five of those performances have been achieved this year alone, and no other man in history has reached double figures.
&ldquo;I knew it was going to be a good one after I got out of the blocks,&rdquo; Holloway said in Albuquerque, adding that retaining his title in Glasgow is the &ldquo;main goal&rdquo; of the season.
Because of his wild card entry, Holloway is set to be joined by two other US athletes in this event: Trey Cunningham and Cameron Murray. Cunningham, the 2022 world 110m hurdles silver medallist, continued his comeback after injury by winning the US title in a season&rsquo;s best of 7.39, just 0.01 off the PB he recorded in 2022. He was also second behind Holloway in Boston and third in New York seven days later.
Murray, meanwhile, is in PB form this season and he clocked 7.45 to secure national silver behind Cunningham in Albuquerque.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/65dcba30d66bc69ec049cd39.jpg" alt="Just Kwaou-Mathey and Tade Ojora compete in Budapest" />
Just Kwaou-Mathey and Tade Ojora compete in Budapest (&copy; AFP / Getty Images)
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Joint third behind Holloway and Cunningham on this season&rsquo;s top list are Jason Joseph and Just Kwaou-Mathey. World 110m hurdles finalist Joseph retained his Swiss 60m hurdles title in 7.43 &ndash; the second-fastest time of his career behind the national record of 7.41 he set when winning the European indoor title last year. Kwaou-Mathey improved his PB to 7.43 when finishing second behind Holloway in Lievin. He went on to finish second at the French Championships behind Wilhem Belocian, who won in 7.44 &ndash; 0.02 off the PB he set in 2021.
Among those joining them in Glasgow will be David King and Tade Ojora, representing the host nation, plus Italian record-holder Lorenzo Ndele Simonelli, who won at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Madrid in 7.46, Spain&rsquo;s Asier Martinez and Enrique Llopis, and Polish champion Jakub Szymanski.
&nbsp;
<h2>Women&rsquo;s 60m hurdles</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/women/60-metres-hurdles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/hurdles/60-metres-hurdles/all/women/senior/2024?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;maxResultsByCountry=all&amp;eventId=10230177&amp;ageCategory=senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/hurdles/60-metres-hurdles/all/women/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/100mh/women?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2024-02-18&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
Two world 60m hurdles record-holders will be on show at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 as Bahamian star Devynne Charlton headlines the women&rsquo;s event.
Charlton, who secured world indoor silver in Belgrade two years ago, is now favourite for gold following her world record-breaking 7.67 in New York on 11 February, which she followed with 7.68 in Madrid less than two weeks later.
Incredibly, her world record was matched by Tia Jones in the heats at the US Indoor Championships in Albuquerque on 16 February. Jones went on to win the national title in 7.68 but will not be competing in Glasgow.
Charlton has achieved four of the eight fastest performances of the year as she also clocked 7.75 in Texas and 7.76 in Boston.
&ldquo;I set myself all of these goals,&rdquo; she said in Madrid. &ldquo;I said I wanted to win the World Indoor Tour and break the world indoor record and I want to be a world indoor champion, so I&rsquo;m just ticking all of the boxes. There&rsquo;s just one more to go.
&ldquo;If this is any preview to the World Indoors, then I&rsquo;d say I&rsquo;m on the right track.&rdquo;
Charlton&rsquo;s world record puts her more than a tenth of a second ahead of her rivals when it comes to season&rsquo;s bests, but there are a number of athletes who will be looking to close the gap in Glasgow.
Dutch two-time European indoor champion Nadine Visser got closest to Charlton in Madrid and she&rsquo;s also No.2 behind the Bahamian on the entry list for Glasgow. Visser, who claimed world indoor bronze in 2018, ran 7.78 to miss her PB by just 0.01 in Madrid, while Poland&rsquo;s Pia Skrzyszowska was third in 7.83. Skrzyszowska, the European 100m hurdles champion, had gone quicker in Torun as she clocked 7.81 to finish second, 0.01 behind Visser.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/65dcbb6ad32339bf616dcb62.jpg" alt="Nadine Visser at the 2018 World Indoor Championships" />
Nadine Visser at the 2018 World Indoor Championships (&copy; Getty Images)
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They will clash again in Glasgow and are separated by just 0.01 when it comes to PBs &ndash; Visser&rsquo;s best being 7.77 and Skrzyszowska&rsquo;s 7.78.
Sitting between them on this season&rsquo;s top list is Masai Russell, who recorded 7.79 in the heats of the US Indoor Championships, going on to finish third in the final. She&rsquo;s joined on the US team by Christina Clemons, the 2018 world indoor silver medallist.
Cyrena Samba-Mayela defends the title she won in Belgrade two years ago, fresh from a win in 7.87 at the French Indoor Championships.
Others to watch out for include Sarah Lavin, who is in the form of her life and will be looking to build on the PB of 7.91 she set when finishing third in Astana on 27 January. Since then, she has stayed consistent with a PB-equalling performance at the Irish Indoor Championships, 7.92 to finish third behind Visser and Skrzyszowska in Torun, 7.93 in Ostrava and 7.95 in Madrid.
Cindy Sember ran 7.91 in New York and won the British title in 7.99. Others on the entry list to have dipped under eight seconds this year include Jamaica&rsquo;s Olympic 100m hurdles bronze medallist Megan Tapper and Finland&rsquo;s European indoor champion Reetta Hurske.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Expected highlights in the men's and women's 60m hurdles

WIC Glasgow 24 preview: 60m hurdles

<h2>Women&rsquo;s 60m</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/women/60-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/sprints/60-metres/all/women/senior/2024" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/sprints/60-metres/all/women/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/100m/women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
History beckons St Lucia&rsquo;s Julien Alfred this year as she seeks to become the first athlete from her country to win an Olympic medal &ndash; and, before that, a world indoor medal.
The 22-year-old, in her first year as a professional after sweeping the board indoors and out in the US college scene last season, is the only woman in the world this year to have bettered 7.00 for the 60m.
Her time of 6.99 on 11 February at the Millrose Games in New York &ndash; a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting &ndash; came despite a relatively slow start. Her potential looks heady given that she set a national record of 6.94 in March last year.
Alfred&rsquo;s performance in Albuquerque saw her move to joint second on the all-time list along with Aleia Hobbs of the United States, who had earned that distinction the previous month in the same arena.
Both are just 0.02 off the world record of 6.92 set in 1993 by Irina Privalova of Russia. And both are entered for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24, with Hobbs having a season&rsquo;s best of 7.02 to her credit after another fine showing in Albuquerque on 17 February.
Not that they will have things remotely their own way given the presence of Poland&rsquo;s 26-year-old Ewa Swoboda, second on this year&rsquo;s top list after clocking 7.01 &ndash; 0.02 off her personal best &ndash; to win the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting on her home track of Torun.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/65d5ea0ec2444cebc4fc7b35.jpg" alt="Ewa Swoboda at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22" />
Ewa Swoboda at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22 (&copy; Getty Images)
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Swoboda finished sixth in the women&rsquo;s 100m at last year&rsquo;s World Athletics Championships in Budapest, clocking 10.97. But it is indoors that she has made her main impression on the sport so far.
She was fourth over 60m at the last World Indoor Championships two years ago in Belgrade, missing a bronze by just 0.002.
Her chances of bettering that performance two years on look strong, especially as she has fond memories of the Glasgow Arena, where she won European indoor gold in 2019 &ndash; adding to a silver in 2017 which she replicated in Istanbul last year.
Swoboda can also count on some guaranteed home support as her brother lives in Edinburgh.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a big event for me,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I want to win a medal and a PB.&rdquo;
Other strong medal contenders include Italy&rsquo;s 24-year-old Zaynab Dosso, who currently stands joint third on the world list with Hobbs after finishing 0.1 behind Swoboda in Torun, and Mikiah Brisco of the United States, who has run 7.06 this season and who clocked a personal best of 6.99 to win silver at the last World Indoor Championships as an unsponsored runner.
Others to watch out for include Jamaica&rsquo;s Shashalee Forbes, who has run a personal best of 7.03 this season, and 21-year-old Briana Williams, the 2018 world U20 100m and 200m champion who earned an Olympic 4x100m gold in Tokyo three years ago.
&nbsp;
<h2>Men&rsquo;s 60m</h2>
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/glasgow24/timetable/bydiscipline/men/60-metres" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Timetable</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/toplists/sprints/60-metres/all/men/senior/2024?regionType=world&amp;timing=electronic&amp;windReading=regular&amp;page=1&amp;bestResultsOnly=true&amp;maxResultsByCountry=all&amp;eventId=10229683&amp;ageCategory=senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2024 world list</a> | <a href="https://worldathletics.org/records/all-time-toplists/sprints/60-metres/all/men/senior" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world all-time list</a> |&nbsp;<a href="https://worldathletics.org/world-rankings/100m/men?regionType=world&amp;page=1&amp;rankDate=2024-02-18&amp;limitByCountry=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world rankings</a>
This is the year when Noah Lyles, world 100m and 200m champion, plans to complete his title collection. And while his overarching ambition is an Olympic upgrade from bronze to gold later this year, his immediate challenge lies in Glasgow, where he will seek his first world indoor medal.
Guess which one he has in mind.
The 26-year-old from Gainesville, Florida &ndash; 2023 World Athlete of the Year in men&rsquo;s track &ndash; is in the ideal position to further adorn&nbsp; his CV with a 60m victory at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 as he tops this year&rsquo;s world list with a personal best of 6.43.
Also in the lists, thrillingly, is the fellow US sprinter who he beat by 0.01 in setting that time at the US Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, Christian Coleman, who had run the world record of 6.34&nbsp; in the same arena six years earlier.
The re-match between the current world 100m champion and the 2019 world champion will be one of the highlights of these championships, with hopes of further fast times soaring given the recent completion of a new track at the Glasgow Arena, which was built for the city&rsquo;s hosting of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Lyles had already made clear the winter work he had done on his start &ndash; supposedly the weakest part of his racing &ndash; by reducing his personal best to 6.44 in winning at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston on 4 February, where those in his wake included the 2022 world 100m champion Fred Kerley.
&ldquo;My confidence has now skyrocketed," Lyles said after that race. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s go get a world indoor medal.&rdquo;
His confidence is now in orbit following his Albuquerque exploits. &ldquo;This is my weakest event,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;So come outdoor, whew, fireworks."
But it would not do to rule out the prospects for Coleman, a classic bullet from a gun over 60m, who went on to win the world indoor title in Birmingham soon after setting his world record.
And neither man will be able to rest easy given the presence in the field of the 22-year-old Jamaican Ackeem Blake, who has a best of 6.42 and who clocked 6.45 in finishing just 0.01 behind Lyles in Boston to place himself third in this year&rsquo;s world list.
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/65dc927d6e76875c07703e6e.jpg" alt="Jamaica's Ackeem Blake" />
Jamaica's Ackeem Blake (&copy; Getty Images)
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Meanwhile, the runaway train that is Kenya&rsquo;s Ferdinand Omanyala is gathering speed. The 28-year-old Commonwealth Games 100m champion took 0.03 off his own national 60m record in clocking 6.51 to win in Bercy on 11 February.
Look out too for Japan&rsquo;s Shuhei Tada, who has clocked a personal best of 6.53 this season, plus Liberia&rsquo;s Emmanuel Matadi and Britain&rsquo;s Jeremiah Azu, winner of the fourth World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Torun in 6.57 which helped him to earn a wild card entry to Glasgow.
And do not ignore Italy&rsquo;s European indoor champion Samuele Ceccarelli, who has only run 6.65 this season but has a best of 6.47; and Ireland&rsquo;s 21-year-old Israel Olatunde, whose best this year is 6.71 but who ran a national record of 6.57 last season.
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics

Expected highlights in the women's and men's 60m

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Five things to look forward to on day one in Glasgow

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