10 new stars who could shine at the World Indoor Championships Nanjing 25

 

While many major medallists will compete at the World Indoor Championships Nanjing 25 from 21-23 March, it is always exciting to see which new stars will also step up on the global stage.

Although teams are still yet to be confirmed, here are some of the athletes who could break through in Nanjing.

 

Anthaya Charlton (BAH)

Anthaya Charlton continued the family tradition in Fayetteville at the end of last month, by setting a national record.

The 21-year-old, who is the younger sister of world 60m hurdles record-holder Devynne Charlton, soared out to an outright Bahamian long jump record of 6.98m at the Razorback Invitational on 31 January, improving on her previous bests of 6.74m outdoors and 6.53m indoors.

It was a world lead at the time and since then only two-time world champion Malaika Mihambo has jumped farther with her leap of 7.07m in Karlsruhe.

 

Birke Haylom (ETH)

In 2022, as a 16-year-old, Birke Haylom won the world U20 1500m title in Cali in a championship record of 4:04.27. Two and a half years on, she is still making age-group history.

The now 19-year-old took seven seconds off the world U20 indoor 3000m record with 8:25.37 at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais Trophée EDF in Lievin on 13 February, finishing third behind her compatriots Freweyni Hailu and Gudaf Tsegay. She then placed runner-up to Tsegay at the ORLEN Copernicus Cup in Torun on 16 February, running the second sub-4:00 indoor 1500m of her career by clocking 3:59.82.

 

Josh Hoey (USA)

Josh Hoey has had quite the start to 2025. First, the 25-year-old set a North American indoor 1000m record at the Quaker Invitational in Philadelphia on 18 January, improving a mark that had been set by world champion Marco Arop. The performance also moved Hoey to second on the world indoor all-time list, just 0.28 shy of Ayanleh Souleiman's world indoor record.

He followed that by running 3:33.66 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on 2 February to shave almost five seconds off his previous outright best and continued his win streak by storming to 800m victory at the Millrose Games on 8 February. Clocking a North American indoor record of 1:43.90, he beat world indoor champion Bryce Hoppel in the process.

 

Henriette Jæger (NOR)

Henriette Jæger stormed into the spotlight at the ORLEN Copernicus Cup in Torun on 16 February, smashing the meeting record and setting a world lead in the 400m.

The 21-year-old, who raised her hands to her face in shock after seeing her time, dipped under 51 seconds for the first time indoors with a Norwegian indoor record of 50.44. It was her first 400m of the year, following on from a season in which she reached the 400m final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

 

Biniam Mehary (ETH)

Biniam Mehary is another Olympic finalist who has carried his momentum from 2024 into 2025.

The 18-year-old, who finished sixth in the 5000m at the Paris Games, placed second in the 3000m at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais Trophée EDF in Lievin on 13 February, clocking 7:29.99 to take a couple of seconds off the world U20 indoor record.

He then travelled to Torun, where he finished second in the 1500m in 3:35.70 – less than a second outside his PB, which was a world U20 indoor record when he achieved it in 2024.

 

Amanda Moll (USA)

Like Birke Haylom, Amanda Moll also competed at the World U20 Championships in Cali in 2022, finishing fifth in a pole vault final won by her twin sister Hana.

Now 20, Amanda achieved the highest clearance in the world so far this year, soaring 4.88m in Albuquerque on 15 February. The performance was a US collegiate record that added 22cm to her previous outright best.

 

Attila Molnar (HUN)

Attila Molnar finished fifth in the 400m final at the last World Indoor Championships in Glasgow in 2024 and will surely have medals in mind for the competition in Nanjing.

The 23-year-old is unbeaten so far this season, having run 45.66 to triumph in Belgrade on 29 January, 45.08 to win in Ostrava on 4 February and 45.56 to get top spot in Lyon on 15 February. His 45.66 was a Hungarian indoor record but then he went even faster, his 45.08 a performance just 0.03 off the European indoor record held jointly by Karsten Warholm and Thomas Schonlebe.

 

Cameron Myers (AUS)

World U20 1500m silver medallist Cameron Myers has set numerous Oceanian age-group records in recent years and he added a world U20 record to his CV when contesting the first indoor race of his career.

Running 3:53.12 at the Dr Sander Invitational in New York on 25 January, the 18-year-old took almost two seconds off the world U20 indoor mile record and his 1500m split of 3:37.89 was also an Oceanian U20 indoor record.

He then clocked an Australian indoor 3000m record of 7:33.12 in Boston on 2 February and went even quicker back in New York on 8 February, setting an outright world U20 mile record of 3:47.48, having passed through 1500m in a world U20 indoor record of 3:32.67.

 

Ackera Nugent (JAM)

Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent is the fastest women’s 60m hurdler in the world so far this year courtesy of the 7.75 performance she achieved to win at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Lievin on 13 February. 

The 2021 world U20 100m hurdles champion, who finished fifth at the World Championships in Budapest in 2023, also clocked 7.79 to win in Torun three days later and dipped under eight seconds during the heats at both meetings.

 

Zhang Mingkun (CHN)

China’s Zhang Mingkun has also impressed on the World Indoor Tour Gold stage in 2025. The 24-year-old, who won the Asian indoor title in 2024 and went on to finish seventh at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, soared 8.04m to beat the likes of Olympic and world champion Miltiadis Tentoglou in Lievin on 13 February.

That was Zhang’s season opener and his first competition since Paris, where he jumped 8.07m.