Perhaps sensibly, Gudaf Tsegay has opted to focus on just one event at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25 rather than branch out as she did at her last major championships, the Paris Olympics.

The Ethiopian opted for a treble in the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m but came away without a medal.

In the middle distance of that trio, there was a coming together with Faith Kipyegon and Tsegay dropped back to ninth by the finish. Sixth over 10,000m and then 12th in the 1500m were not really a fair reflection on her talents as an athlete.

The 28-year-old is a two-time world champion, her first gold won over 5000m in Oregon three years ago and then another over double the distance was claimed in Budapest in the summer of 2023. She also has one world indoor title to her name from Belgrade in the 1500m in 2022.

She is comfortably the class act of the field on times alone having run the 1500m five seconds quicker so far this season than any of her championship rivals in Nanjing.

And there will be aspirations for an Ethiopian 1-2-3 along with her teammates Diribe Welteji and Worknesh Mesele, although there are higher-ranked rivals than her fellow Ethiopian athletes.

One particular threat from that continent is Kenya’s Susan Ejore, who finished sixth at the Olympic Games.

Heather MacLean leads the US contingent along with outdoor North American record-holder Shelby Houlihan, who returned to action in January after serving a four-year ban for a doping offence.

Another in the field is Georgia Hunter Bell, who looked about as much of a banker for gold at the European Indoor Championships as was humanly possible. But despite leading the field in the final, she missed out on a medal and later explained how she had been suffering with an ear infection.

Hunter Bell, who claimed Olympic bronze in Paris, ought to be back to full form and fitness come these championships.

Following her Apeldoorn upset, she said: “I will have to go away and rest. Last year, when I came fourth at the World Indoors, that really fuelled me for the summer. So, when I am done being sad about this, maybe I can take some positives out of it. But I am going to let myself be sad for tonight.”

Matt Majendie for World Athletics

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Win probability: 1 Gudaf Tsegay (ETH) 65.5%, 2 Diribe Welteji (ETH) 20.6%, 3 Georgia Hunter Bell (GBR) 3.5%
(This win probability is powered entirely by data and driven by AI technology. More information)

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