Madrid 1500m winner Gudaf Tsegay (© Dan Venon)
Solid fields are taking shape for the Villa de Madrid meeting on 24 February, the final World Athletics Indoor Gold series meeting of 2021.
Gudaf Tsegay, who this winter has already set the world indoor record in the 1500m and is the world leader over 800m, will turn her attention to the 3000m, gunning for Ethiopian compatriot Lemlem Hailu's 8:31.24 world lead. Hailu will also be in the field.
Meanwhile, Genzebe Dibaba, whose 1500m world record Tsegay broke last month, will also be in action, eager to reclaim her mark.
Grant Holloway will also return to action looking to continue his revision of the world all-time list in the 60m hurdles. Only a dozen men have dipped under 7.40 in the event. Holloway has done so on seven occasions, five of those over the last four weeks, capped by a 7.32 victory in Lievin which was just 0.02 shy of Colin Jackson's world record set nearly 27 years ago.
Local eyes will focus on European 400m indoor silver medallist Óscar Husillos and a strong Spanish 1500m trio formed by Jesús Gómez, Ignacio Fontes and Mohamed Katir. Gomez raced to European indoor 1500m bronze in 2019 while Katir has produced a strong indoor season, improving his lifetime indoor bests to 3:36.89 for 1500m and 7:35.29 over 3000m.
Other Spanish stars expected include national 60m record-holder Yunier Perez and two-time outdoor world long jump finalist Eusebio Cáceres.
Like other World Athletics Indoor Tour events, spectators will not be allowed to attend the meeting, in line with local restrictions due to the pandemic.
Organisers for World Athletics
