<ul>
<li>Georgia Hunter Bell in flying form as she targets first global gold</li>
<li>Ethiopian trio of Birke Haylom, Saron Berhe and Haregeweyni Kalayu look to continue recent dominance</li>
<li>Jessica Hull and Nikki Hiltz among leading contenders in field of formidable depth</li>
</ul>
Ethiopia has enjoyed remarkable dominance in this event in recent years, winning eight women&rsquo;s 1500m titles at the last 11 editions. Their hopes of making it nine from 12 at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 will rest with Birke Haylom, Saron Berhe and Haregeweyni Kalayu, and all three will have medal ambitions.
Haylom was fifth over 3000m at last year&rsquo;s World Indoor Championships and she&rsquo;s been in strong form this indoor season, winning at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Ostrava in 4:00.62 and earning a wild card spot at this event by taking overall victory in the World Indoor Tour.
As a result, Ethiopia will have three athletes competing. Berhe, the 2024 African champion and world U20 champion, lowered her PB to 3:57.72 outdoors last year and clocked an indoor PB of 4:01.23 when finishing second to Haylom in Ostrava last month. Kalayu was just behind in third with an outright PB of 4:01.92.&nbsp;
However, the favourite is likely Georgia Hunter Bell, the 32-year-old British athlete who won bronze in this event in Nanjing last year and finished third in the 2024 Olympic 1500m final. She dropped down to 800m for last year&rsquo;s World Championships in Tokyo, winning silver there, and has been in impressive form this year, setting an indoor PB of 1:57.80 in Glasgow and winning over 1500m in Karlsruhe and Li&eacute;vin, clocking 4:00.04 and 4:00.21.
Australia&rsquo;s Jessica Hull went second on the world 2000m short track all-time list when clocking 5:26.68 at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Li&eacute;vin last month and after winning world indoor bronze over 3000m in Nanjing last year, the Olympic 1500m silver medallist will be keen to add another medal to her collection. She&rsquo;s set to have a busy weekend given she&rsquo;s also contesting the 3000m, which will take place on Saturday evening, with the heats of the 1500m on Friday and the final on Sunday.
It&rsquo;s more than two decades since the US won this title but in Nikki Hiltz, they have a big-kicking athlete who looks capable of striking gold. The 31-year-old won 1500m silver in Glasgow two years ago and was fifth in last year&rsquo;s world 1500m final in Tokyo. Hiltz was highly impressive when winning the Wanamaker Mile in New York last month in 4:19.64 and when taking the US indoor 1500m title in early March.&nbsp;
France&rsquo;s Agathe Guillemot has also been in fine form this year, the European indoor champion setting a national indoor 1500m record of 4:00.64 to win at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Toruń. She will feel confident of improving on her seventh-place finish in the world indoor 1500m final two years ago in Glasgow.&nbsp;
Portugal&rsquo;s Salome Afonso finished eighth in the last two world indoor 1500m finals. After winning two medals at the European Indoor Championships last year, and setting a national indoor record of 4:01.98 in Ostrava last month, she looks capable of a much higher finish in 2026.
Kenya&rsquo;s Susan Lokayo Ejore-Sanders was sixth in the 2024 Olympic final in a PB of 3:56.07 and fifth in last year&rsquo;s world indoor 1500m final. She recently showed solid form with a 3000m PB of 8:37.84 in Winston-Salem, USA.&nbsp;
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics
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World Athletics Indoor Championships

Expected highlights in the women's 1500m

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: women's 1500m

<ul>
<li>Eliott Crestan tops entry list, aiming to complete medal set</li>
<li>Rising talent Cooper Lutkenhaus has chance to make more history</li>
<li>After Polish record, Maciej Wyderka leads home hopes</li>
</ul>
The men&rsquo;s world 800m short track all-time list has undergone some serious revision this year and three of the seven fastest men in history star in the field for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26.
In the absence of Josh Hoey, who set a world short track record of 1:42.50 in Boston in January, Eliott Crestan tops the entry list with his Belgian record of 1:43.83 from Ostrava last month.
That performance launched the 27-year-old to fourth on the world all-time list, behind only Hoey, Wilson Kipketer and Elliot Giles. After his silver in 2025 and bronze in 2024, Crestan now has the chance to emulate Kipketer by becoming a three-time world indoor 800m medallist. Should he do so, he would be just the third man to achieve the feat after Kipketer and Mbulaeni Mulaudzi.
Crestan will also take confidence from the impressive consistency he has shown the past couple of years. He followed his season opener in Ostrava with two more World Indoor Tour Gold meeting victories in Li&eacute;vin (1:43.91) and Toruń (1:44.07) &ndash; the latter being his seventh consecutive sub-1:45 indoor 800m final, achieved at the same Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena Toruń that will host the championships this weekend.
Those three World Indoor Tour performances are among the six fastest times of the season so far and the 12 fastest indoor runs of all time.
In all three races, Crestan was chased over the finish line by Maciej Wyderka and the pair are set to clash again in Toruń.
Wyderka leads home medal hopes following his 1:44.07 in Ostrava that improved Adam Kszczot&rsquo;s Polish short track record by half a second. The 23-year-old now sits seventh on the world all-time list and will want to follow in the footsteps of Kszczot, who won the world indoor title in 2018.
Wyderka will be joined on the host nation team by Filip Ostrowski, who ran 1:44.68 to finish runner-up to Hoey in his world record race in Boston.
Mark English further improved the Irish record to 1:44.23 to finish third in Ostrava and is now the 12th-fastest indoor 800m runner in history. A five-time European medallist indoors and outdoors, he will be on the hunt for his first global podium.
Splitting that group on the world all-time list is rising talent Cooper Lutkenhaus, who ran a world U20 short track record of 1:44.03 in Winston Salem last month &ndash; a performance that catapulted him to sixth on the senior all-time list.
He went on to win the US indoor title in New York and will now want to continue his nation&rsquo;s strong form in this event, US athletes having won at least one men's 800m medal at each edition since 2016. At the age of 17 years and 93 days on the day of the final, he has the chance to become the youngest individual medallist in World Indoor Championships history. Javier Sotomayor was 17 years and 97 days when he claimed high jump silver in 1985.
The youngest ever men's world indoor 800m medallist is Kenya&rsquo;s Noah Kibet, who was 17 years and 341 days when he secured his silver medal in 2022. He lines up for his fourth World Indoor Championships in Kujawy Pomorze, at the age of 21.
Great Britain&rsquo;s 2023 world bronze medallist Ben Pattison is another major medallist in action, while Australia&rsquo;s Peter Bol &ndash; who ran 1:43.89 outdoors in Perth last month &ndash; is entered for his first indoor competition since 2019.
Also among the entries are recent national record-setters Mohamed Ali Gouaned of Algeria, Navasky Anderson of Jamaica, Ryan Clarke of the Netherlands and Handal Roban of Saint Vincent. They are joined by Algeria&rsquo;s Slimane Moula and Spain&rsquo;s Mohamed Attaoui, who set a European short track 1000m record of 2:14.52 at the World Indoor Tour meeting in Madrid.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
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Expected highlights in the men's 800m

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: men's 800m

<ul>
<li>World record-holder Keely Hodgkinson seeks her first world indoor medal</li>
<li>Audrey Werro set to be her closest challenger</li>
<li>Tsige Duguma and Isabelle Boffey among medal contenders</li>
</ul>
Keely Hodgkinson&rsquo;s extensive collection of medals is lacking in one respect &ndash; nothing from a World Indoor Championships.
Untimely injuries have prevented her from taking part in the past three editions of the competition, with her closest call coming in 2022 when she arrived in Belgrade having set the fastest women&rsquo;s indoor 800m for 20 years &ndash; 1:57.20 &ndash; only to damage a quad muscle during warm-up.
This time the 24-year-old Briton, who earned Tokyo Olympic silver and Paris Olympic gold and who has two world outdoor silver medals and a bronze, appears to be in perfect shape to give full expression to her talent in Poland &ndash; following a 2025 season to which she was only able to make a late entry in August.
In her first race of the season at the UK Indoor Championships, Hodgkinson lowered her British short track record from 1:57.18 to 1:56.33, moving up to third place on the world all-time list.
That was by way of a warm-up for her world record attempt at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Li&eacute;vin five days later, when she broke the mark of 1:55.82 set by Slovenia&rsquo;s Jolanda Čeplak on 3 March 2002 &ndash; the day Hodgkinson was born &ndash; with 1:54.87.
She said afterwards that she thought she could go faster.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had my healthiest winter for years,&rdquo; she said in Birmingham. &ldquo;It was so frustrating being on the sidelines for such a long time. I&rsquo;m just happy to be able to do an indoor season and have nothing holding me back.&rdquo;
What that will mean in the Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena Toruń remains to be seen &ndash; but it will be worth watching.
With Hodgkinson&rsquo;s training partner Georgia Hunter Bell &ndash; who narrowly beat her to 800m silver at last year&rsquo;s World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 &ndash; concentrating on the 1500m in Poland, her main challenger looks likely to be the 21-year-old Swiss athlete who has also benefitted from a full, hard winter of training &ndash; Audrey Werro.
Winner of the 2025 Diamond League title, Werro became the early world leader after improving her own Swiss short track record to 1:57.27 at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Belgrade, having run 1:57.49 10 days earlier.
In Li&eacute;vin she contested the lead with Hodgkinson after the pacemakers had dropped away at the halfway point but lost touch with her by 600 metres, finishing second in 1:58.38, with Ethiopia&rsquo;s Olympic silver medallist Tsige Duguma third in 1:58.83.
Duguma, who began her career as a 400m runner, will be seeking to replicate her performance at the 2024 edition of the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow when she announced her arrival as an 800m force by taking gold.
Hodgkinson&rsquo;s compatriot Isabelle Boffey will also be in the medal mix after running a personal best of 1:57.43 in Boston, a performance that has established her as third fastest in this year&rsquo;s world top list.
Other notable contenders include Kenya&rsquo;s Gladys Chepngetich, who has run a best of 1:58.81 this year, last year&rsquo;s silver medallist Nigist Getachew of Ethiopia, the US pair of Valery Tobias and Addison Wiley, and Jamaica&rsquo;s Natoya Goule-Toppin, while European indoor champion Anna Wielgosz races for the host nation.
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics
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Expected highlights in the women's 800m

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: women's 800m

<ul>
<li>Mixed 4x400m makes its debut on the World Indoor Championships programme</li>
<li>USA are the outdoor world record-holders and winner of the past two world titles outdoors</li>
<li>Netherlands, Poland and Belgium will provide stiff opposition</li>
</ul>
Twenty-two years after the last significant change to the programme, the World Athletics Indoor Championships marks a new chapter in its history with the inclusion of the mixed 4x400m.
The discipline has proven a popular addition to the World Championships and Olympic programme in recent seasons, and last year it featured at the European Indoor Championships for the first time. On Saturday 21 March, six teams will take to the track for the inaugural mixed 4x400m at the World Indoor Championships.
Relays powerhouse USA have won the mixed 4x400m at the past two outdoor World Championships, as well as the past two editions of the World Relays. They also hold the outdoor world record, so they naturally start as the favourites &ndash; albeit just marginally, given that this is a new discipline indoors, which makes it a bit challenging to assess.
The US squad includes Elija Godwin, a 44.75 performer indoors at his best. He has previously earned world indoor and outdoor golds in the men&rsquo;s 4x400m, as well as world and Olympic bronze medals in the mixed 4x400m. Teammate Justin Robinson, meanwhile, contributed to USA&rsquo;s gold medals in both the men&rsquo;s and mixed 4x400m relays at the 2023 World Championships.
But the USA will be up against the two countries that beat them to mixed 4x400m gold at the past two Olympic Games.
Netherlands, the Olympic champions, won the mixed 4x400m title at the European Indoor Championships on home soil last year. They clocked 3:15.63, which is the fastest time ever recorded for the event indoors, though it&rsquo;s not yet an official world short track record discipline.
Poland will not only have the home town advantage, they also have two of the team members from their Olympic triumph in 2021: Justyna Swiety-Ersetic and Kajetan Duszynski. In fact, Swiety-Ersetic is perhaps the most experienced relay runner entered for the championships, having competed back in 2014 when Poland last hosted the World Indoors.
Spain, perhaps the most improved relays nation over the past two years, fields a team that includes Paula Sevilla and Blanca Hervas, both of whom featured on the victorious women&rsquo;s 4x400m team at last year&rsquo;s World Relays.
When the mixed 4x400m made its debut at the outdoor World Championships in 2019, Jamaica took silver. The Caribbean nation will look to do the same again when the discipline makes its global indoor debut.
The six-nation line-up is completed by Belgium, the European indoor silver medallists. Their squad includes Helena Ponette, who earned mixed 4x400m bronze at last year&rsquo;s World Championships.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
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Expected highlights in the mixed 4x400m

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: mixed 4x400m

<ul>
<li>Defending champions United States seeking a 12th victory in this event</li>
<li>Belgium challenging for a third title after their wins in 2022 and 2024</li>
<li>Jamaica, the Netherlands and Hungary eyeing podium returns</li>
</ul>
The United States have dominated this event since it was introduced at the 1991 World Indoor Championships in Seville, winning 11 titles, including six in a row between 2006 and 2016.
And they are the defending champions, having finished ahead of Jamaica and Hungary at the 2025 edition in Nanjing.
None of the athletes who earned gold in China last March will be present in Poland &ndash; but such is the US depth of talent that title hopes remain buoyant.
Among those upon whom the United States will be able to call is Khaleb McRae, who ran the third leg when they were narrowly beaten by Botswana at last year&rsquo;s rainswept final at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25.
Last month McRae set a short track world record of 44.52 (pending ratification) at the World Indoor Tour Silver meeting in Fayetteville. He then went on to win the US indoor title in 45.01.
Backing up the 25-year-old national indoor champion will be Chris Robinson, who won the mixed 4x400m at last year&rsquo;s World Relays and finished second to McRae at the US Indoor Championships.
The main challenge to the United States looks likely to come from Belgium, who are, by contrast, fielding athletes who have performed with distinction as team members in recent years.
Having won gold at the past two World Indoor Championships where they have competed in the men&rsquo;s 4x400m, in 2022 and 2024, Belgium are now seeking a third title &ndash; and concentrating their energies entirely on the relay.
All four of the men who brought the baton home first in Glasgow two years ago are back &ndash; Jonathan Sacoor, Dylan Borlee, Christian Iguacel and Alexander Doom, the European and 2024 world indoor individual champion.
The other team members are hugely experienced. Robin Vanderbemden helped Belgium earn bronze at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, and last year he was in the quartet that finished second at the World Relays. Julien Watrin, meanwhile, was a member of the team that won world indoor gold in 2022.
The Netherlands, whose last 4x400m relay involvement in these championships saw them earn bronze at the 2024 edition in Glasgow, have proved a consistent force in recent years.
Last year they won gold at their home European Indoor Championships before finishing eighth at the World Championships in Tokyo.
Liemarvin Bonevacia &ndash; who ran in Tokyo last year &ndash; remains an exuberant and effective competitor, and he will be aided and abetted by Tony van Diepen, a co-member of the team that took silver behind the United States at the Olympic Games in 2021.
Hungary include three of the men who earned bronze in Nanjing last year, including European champion Attila Molnar, who this year set a European short track record of 45.01.
Poland, Czechia, Portugal and Venezuela are the other countries in contention.
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics
If you don&rsquo;t want to miss this event, you can&nbsp;<a href="https://ql.e-c.al/46KjUYP">sync your calendar</a>&nbsp;to receive a notification right before it starts.

Expected highlights in the men's 4x400m

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: men's 4x400m

<ul>
<li>Natalia Bukowiecka strengthens Polish chances of first gold</li>
<li>USA aims for a sixth win in nine editions and has formidable depth</li>
<li>Spain looking to build on recent relay progress with first world indoor medal</li>
</ul>
Poland has been a consistent force at this event over the past decade, winning women&rsquo;s 4x400m medals at four of the last five editions, including silver last year in Nanjing. Three members of that team, including the vastly experienced Justyna Swiety-Ersetic, are part of their relay pool this year and the noise will be deafening inside the Kujawsko Pomorska Arena if they can deliver their first gold.
Their chances of doing so will be strengthened significantly by the presence of Natalia Bukowiecka, the Olympic bronze medallist and European champion over 400m, who clocked an impressive 50.97 at the host venue last month before winning the Polish indoor title in 51.44.
Despite USA&rsquo;s proud tradition in this discipline, it took until 2010 for them to strike gold at the World Indoor Championships for the first time. But since then, the sprint superpower has enjoyed a much better run, winning five of the last eight women&rsquo;s 4x400m titles, including last year&rsquo;s edition in Nanjing.
They should again put up a bold bid for gold, with their two 400m representatives Rosey Effiong and Bailey Lear &ndash; who went 1-2 at the US Indoor Championships in 51.53 and 51.60 and who were part of their victorious team last year &ndash; in their ranks. Paris Peoples, who was third at their national indoor championships in 51.65, will also be available for selection along with Shamier Little, a two-time world medallist in the 400m hurdles who ran the opening leg for the US women&rsquo;s 4x400m team that won Olympic gold in 2024.
Spain has made considerable progress in the women&rsquo;s 4x400m in recent years, taking victory at the World Athletics Relays last year in a national record of 3:24.13 and finishing fifth in the world final in Tokyo. Only one athlete who was part of those quartets &ndash; Eva Santidrian &ndash; will not be travelling to Poland. Spanish indoor 400m champion Paula Sevilla, who won European indoor 400m bronze last year, will hope to lead her nation to their first world indoor medal in this event.
The Netherlands took gold in this event in 2024 but only one of that quartet &ndash; Lieke Klaver &ndash; is available for selection this time. She opened her indoor season with a swift 51.00 clocking in Ostrava last month and took victory in 51.28 at the Dutch Indoor Championships ahead of Myrte van der Schoot (51.33) and Eveline Saalberg (52.26), who are also part of the relay pool.
The Slovakian team will be led by world 400m hurdles bronze medallist Emma Zapletalova, who set a national indoor record of 50.78 in Metz, France last month. Great Britain and Northern Ireland won bronze in this event in 2024 but will field an entirely different quartet this time, led by national indoor 400m champion Yemi Mary John, who was part of the team that earned Olympic bronze in 2024.
Czechia claimed bronze at the European Indoor Championships last year and their relay pool includes rising star Lurdes Gloria Manuel, the 2024 world U20 400m champion, who has a best of 51.03 this year. Among those joining her are national indoor 400m champion Lada Vondrova, who clocked 51.88 to win that title in early March.
Portugal will complete the line-up and they will be led by national indoor 400m champion Sofia Lavreshina, who set a national indoor record of 52.07 in Madrid last month.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics
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Expected highlights in the women's 4x400m

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: women's 4x400m

<ul>
<li>The battle for top spots is a clash of two continents</li>
<li>Jakub Szymański carries host nation&rsquo;s best chance of gold</li>
<li>In the absence of Grant Holloway, USA still has two strong contenders</li>
</ul>
Jakub Szymański, the Poland&rsquo;s great hope, broke the national record in early March and became the joint leader on the world list. The European indoor champion now faces a battle against two US athletes for the title of the world&rsquo;s best 60m hurdler.
Szymański has contested 11 races this year, heats and finals, and has won them all. In his last race before the World Indoors, he took 0.02 off his own Polish record, winning at the ISTAF Indoor meeting in Berlin with 7.37.
After winning the European indoor title last year, Szymański missed out on making the world indoor final in Nanjing so he will be keen to make amends on home soil.
&ldquo;Even though there are three of us with a time of 7.37, I feel like the favourite for the World Indoor Championships,&rdquo; said Szymański. &ldquo;I believe I can win gold in Toruń.&rdquo;
US athletes have won the men&rsquo;s 60m hurdles title at 13 of the past 21 editions. World record-holder Grant Holloway, winner of the past three titles, won&rsquo;t be present this time, but compatriots Dylan Beard and Trey Cunningham, both with a season&rsquo;s best of 7.37, are contenders for the crown.
Beard came to prominence in 2024, when as an unsponsored athlete working at a deli, he won the 60m hurdles at the Millrose Games. He won again at that meeting last year in a PB of 7.38 and improved on that time last month to win the US title in 7.37 ahead of Cunningham, the 2022 world silver medallist.
France&rsquo;s world indoor and European indoor silver medallist Wilhem Belocian and Spain&rsquo;s European silver medallist Enrique Llopis, fourth at the 2024 Olympics and 2025 World Championships, both head to Toruń with a season&rsquo;s best of 7.45.
Liu Junxi, the surprise bronze medallist on home soil last year in Nanjing, won the Asian indoor title last month and could be a factor this weekend.
Other contenders include Italy&rsquo;s European champion Lorenzo Simonelli and Jamaican duo Demario Prince and Jerome Campbell &ndash; all of whom finished fourth, sixth and seventh respectively in Nanjing last year.
Piotrek Przyborowski for World Athletics
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Expected highlights in the men's 60m hurdles

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: men's 60m hurdles

<ul>
<li>Two-time world indoor champion Devynne Charlton heading for historic hat-trick</li>
<li>Charlton, the world record-holder, takes on Europe&rsquo;s &lsquo;big three&rsquo;</li>
<li>Home fans pin their hopes on one of their biggest medal prospects</li>
</ul>
Devynne Charlton could become the first woman to win three consecutive world indoor 60m hurdles titles, but the chasing pack &ndash; comprising mostly of European contenders &ndash; will be doing their best to prevent that piece of history being made.
A 30-year-old may still have to seek her first major victory during the summer season, but indoors, she is undoubtedly one of the best in history. Now, as one of the 12 gold medallists from last year's World Indoor Championships, she will defend her glory in Toruń.
Nicknamed &lsquo;Sonic&rsquo; due to her exceptional speed and explosive acceleration, Charlton&rsquo;s destiny was to become an athlete. Her father, David, represented The Bahamas in the hurdles at the inaugural World Championships in Helsinki, and met Charlton&rsquo;s mother on the track.
Charlton&rsquo;s major medal collection started with her silver at the 2022 World Indoors in Belgrade. That became simply a prelude for what happened at the next two editions of the championships.
Charlton won in Glasgow, clocking a world record of 7.65, and then retained her title in Nanjing, becoming just the third woman in history to win two consecutive 60 m hurdles titles. Lolo Jones and Nia Ali, both of the US, are the only other athletes to have achieved the same.
&ldquo;There is always going to be some level of pressure, but at the same time, I kind of put it in the back of my head,&rdquo; Charlton said recently.
She leads this year&rsquo;s world list with 7.77, which she clocked at the Copernicus Cup, held at the same Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena where the World Indoors will be staged.
Ditaji Kambundji, Nadine Visser, and Pia Skrzyszowska &ndash; all of whom have clocked 7.78 this year &ndash; followed Charlton home in that race and they&rsquo;ll be out for revenge when they return to Toruń.
Skrzyszowska, the bronze medallist from Glasgow two years ago, will be particularly keen to put on a good show in front of her home crowd. It was on this very track in Toruń that she recently became the Polish indoor champion.
&ldquo;This season has been so consistent, steady and fast that I&rsquo;m happy with it,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m focusing on putting it all together so that I can do well at the World Championships in Toruń.
Kambundji produced a surprise victory at the European Indoor Championships last year in a continental record of 7.67, elevating her to equal second on the world all-time list. She showed it was no fluke, though, when claiming the world title in Tokyo later in 2025.
She finished just 0.01 behind Charlton in Toruń last month, and at last year&rsquo;s World Indoor Championships.
Other contenders include USA&rsquo;s Alia Armstrong, Laeticia Bapt&eacute; of France and Megan Simmonds of Jamaica.
Piotrek Przyborowski for World Athletics
If you don&rsquo;t want to miss this event, you can&nbsp;<a href="https://ql.e-c.al/46KjUYP">sync your calendar</a>&nbsp;to receive a notification right before it starts.

Expected highlights in the women's 60m hurdles

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: women's 60m hurdles

<ul>
<li>World record under threat as two of the fastest men in short track history go for gold</li>
<li>2022 champion Jereem Richards aiming to reclaim title</li>
<li>New rules set to change dynamic in medal decider</li>
</ul>
Two of the three fastest short track 400m runners in history &ndash; Christopher Morales Williams of Canada and USA&rsquo;s Khaleb McRae &ndash; are set to clash as they chase their first individual global medals.
But in a race loaded with quality, they&rsquo;ll face a stiff challenge from the new European indoor record holder, Attila Molnar of Hungary, along with the 2022 world indoor champion Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago.
The battle for gold will have an intriguing new element given the revised format for the indoor 400m, with a maximum of four athletes in each race, using lanes three to six &ndash; a change aimed at reducing the disadvantage previously experienced by athletes drawn in lanes one and two.
As a result, the 400m final will be split into two sections, with four in each race and the three fastest overall times determining the medallists.
McRae will go into the event as the favourite after a hugely impressive season. The 25-year-old clocked a world short track record, pending ratification, of 44.52 in Fayetteville in February. He also produced a convincing win at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Boston in January, clocking 45.38.
Having helped USA to 4x400m silver at the World Championships in Tokyo last year, he looks poised to claim his first individual global medal in Kujawy Pomorze, although nothing is assured when it comes to the indoor 400m. The US challenge is especially strong given the presence of his teammate Chris Robinson, the 2023 NCAA 400m hurdles champion who was runner-up to McRae at their national indoor championships, clocking an indoor PB of 45.36 to McRae&rsquo;s 45.01.
Morales Williams is also sure to be in contention, having run 44.80 on his most recent outing in Clemson in mid-February. His indoor PB of 44.49 from 2024 puts him atop the world short track all-time list, but that was not ratified as a world record due to an issue with the starting blocks.
The 21-year-old finished fifth in the world indoor final last year in Nanjing but should improve on that if he can bring his recent form to Kujawy Pomorze.
The same is true for Molnar, the 24-year-old Hungarian who has taken a step forward in 2026, breaking the European short track record with 45.01 in Ostrava last month. The European indoor champion was fourth in last year&rsquo;s world indoor 400m final and fifth in 2024. Having helped Hungary to world indoor 4x400m bronze last year, he looks capable of winning his first individual global medal here.
Jereem Richards has vast experience at this level, having won the world indoor 400m title in 2022, and the 32-year-old is coming off a breakthrough year after setting a national record of 43.72 to earn 400m silver at the World Championships in Tokyo. The US-based athlete produced a solid showing on his sole indoor outing over 400m this season, clocking 45.56 in Fayetteville last month.
France&rsquo;s Muhammad Abdallah Kounta, Czechia&rsquo;s Tomas Horak and Kenya&rsquo;s Brian Onyari Tinega will also have their eyes on a place in the final, with respective season&rsquo;s bests of 45.62, 45.64 and 45.68. Brazil&rsquo;s Matheus Lima, who was sixth in last year&rsquo;s world indoor final, will hope for a similar showing, having won the national indoor title in 45.54 in January.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics
If you don&rsquo;t want to miss this event, you can&nbsp;<a href="https://ql.e-c.al/46KjUYP">sync your calendar</a>&nbsp;to receive a notification right before it starts.

Expected highlights in the men's 400m

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: men's 400m

<ul>
<li>Norway&rsquo;s Henriette J&aelig;ger top-ranked and ready for another podium flourish</li>
<li>Lieke Klaver hopes to claim first individual global title</li>
<li>Slovakia, Spain and hosts Poland also carry strong medal hopes</li>
</ul>
A year after taking 400m bronze in Nanjing, Norway&rsquo;s 22-year-old Henriette J&aelig;ger has the prospect of doing even better at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26.
Dutch athlete Lieke Klaver, overall women&rsquo;s 400m winner in this year&rsquo;s World Athletics Indoor Tour, will also fancy her chances, while strong challenges are expected from Slovakia&rsquo;s Emma Zapletalova and home athlete Natalia Bukowiecka.
The event will be without 2025 winner Amber Anning, world leader Ella Onojuvwevwo and NCAA indoor champion Dejanea Oakley, which means that Jaeger travels to Poland as the fastest 400m entrant based on this season&rsquo;s times, thanks to the 50.62 she recorded in Metz, just 0.18 shy of the PB she set last year.
But while Klaver &ndash; who won mixed 4x400m gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics &ndash; has run 51.00 this season, she is the fastest in the field with a short track personal best of 50.10.
She will also be buoyed by the memory of her victory at last year&rsquo;s European Indoor Championships on home soil in Apeldoorn, where she clocked 50.38 to finish ahead of Jaeger, who clocked 50.45 for silver.
It could be Klaver&rsquo;s best opportunity yet to earn an individual global title, but she won&rsquo;t underestimate the challenge from competitors such as world 400m hurdles bronze medallist Zapletalova, who clocked 50.78 as she followed Jaeger home in Metz.
Also contending for a medal will be Poland&rsquo;s own Bukowiecka, who clocked 50.97 last month in the Kujawsko-Pomorska arena where the championships will be held.
And home fans will have fingers crossed that their long-time favourite Justyna Swiety-Ersetic, European champion in 2018 and possessor of four World Indoor Championship relay medals will be able to produce another flourish at the age of 33.
Other medal contenders will be present in Spain&rsquo;s Paula Sevilla, who equalled the national record of 50.99 in taking European indoor bronze last year and who has a 2026 best of 51.69.
The top US performer looks likely to be Rosey Effiong, who has run 51.53 this year but has a best of 50.54.
Also in the hunt will be Czechia&rsquo;s Lurdes Gloria Manuel, who has run a best of 51.03 this season, Klaver&rsquo;s teammate Myrte van der Schoot, who has clocked 51.33, and Kenyan record-holder Mercy Oketch.
In the absence of Anning, Britain&rsquo;s banner will be carried by Yemi Mary John, who has set a personal best of 51.55 this season.
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics
If you don&rsquo;t want to miss this event, you can&nbsp;<a href="https://ql.e-c.al/46KjUYP">sync your calendar</a>&nbsp;to receive a notification right before it starts.

Expected highlights in the women's 400m

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: women's 400m

<ul>
<li>US newcomer Jordan Anthony, world leader at 6.43, seeking first global title</li>
<li>Jamaica&rsquo;s world and Olympic silver medallist Kishane Thompson in personal best form</li>
<li>Britain&rsquo;s defending champion Jeremiah Azu in good order between the two sprint superpowers</li>
</ul>
Jeremiah Azu has good reason to believe in his chances of retaining the 60m title he won in Nanjing last year, having lowered his personal best to 6.47 this month.
But the 24-year-old Briton will find himself operating between two long-established power blocs in sprinting as the United States and Jamaica bring their top talents into action.
Azu is tied on the season list with Jamaica&rsquo;s 22-year-old world 200m bronze medallist Bryan Levell and 30-year-old Trayvon Bromell, who won this title 10 years ago in Portland, and who helped the United States win world 4x100m gold in Tokyo last September.
Bromell has an indoor best of 6.42 and a season&rsquo;s best of 6.47. 2024 world indoor bronze medallist Ackeem Blake also has a PB of 6.42, set outdoors in 2023, while his indoor PB is 6.45.
The battle for gold, however, looks likely to involve the two men who top this super-talented field &ndash; Jordan Anthony of the United States and Jamaica&rsquo;s Kishane Thompson.
Anthony, 21, has made an electrifying start to his professional career after years of accolade in the NCAA 60m and 100m events. His time of 6.43, clocked in Fayetteville last month, tops this year&rsquo;s world list and puts him joint ninth on the world indoor all-time list.
This month he won the 60m at the USATF Indoor Championships in 6.45, ahead of Bromell and his training partner Noah Lyles, the Olympic 100m champion, who clocked 6.51.
A couple of days earlier Thompson, the world and Olympic 100m silver medallist, had made his own statement of intent in clocking an outdoor personal best of 6.46 (0.7m/s) at the Gibson McCook Relays in Kingston, beating Levell and Blake in the process.
Eloy Benitez, meanwhile, will be seeking redemption. The Puerto Rican sprinter looked in great form when winning his heat and semifinal at last year&rsquo;s World Indoors before pulling up injured in the final. This year he has reduced his PB to 6.48.
Other likely contenders include Brazil&rsquo;s Eric Cardosa, who has run 6.49 this year, and New Zealand&rsquo;s Tiaan Whelpton, who has clocked 6.50. Home hopes will rest with Oliwer Wdowik, who has run a personal best of 6.54 this season.
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics
If you don&rsquo;t want to miss this event, you can&nbsp;<a href="https://ql.e-c.al/46KjUYP">sync your calendar</a>&nbsp;to receive a notification right before it starts.

Expected highlights in the men's 60m

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: men's 60m

<ul>
<li>Joint world leaders Julien Alfred and Zaynab Dosso renew rivalry</li>
<li>Two medallists from 2025 return, Dosso joined by Patrizia van der Weken</li>
<li>Ewa Swoboda leads home hopes</li>
</ul>
The women&rsquo;s world 60m lead is shared by two athletes &ndash; Julien Alfred and Zaynab Dosso &ndash; and they will go head to head at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26.
Both athletes clocked 6.99 in February, Alfred during one of her four races in Fayetteville this season and Dosso in the same Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena Toruń that will host the championships this weekend. Whether they hit that form again in Kujawy Pomorze or not, there are several other contenders ready to challenge them.
Since winning her world indoor title in Glasgow in 2024, Saint Lucia&rsquo;s Alfred has become an Olympic 100m champion and 200m silver medallist. She also secured 100m bronze at last year&rsquo;s World Championships in Tokyo.
The 6.99 she ran at the Tyson Invitational last month was the 24-year-old&rsquo;s quickest time since the 6.98 she ran to get gold in Glasgow, and the area record-equalling 6.94 she ran in 2023 puts her joint second on the world all-time list.
In Glasgow, Alfred became her nation&rsquo;s first medallist at a senior global championships. Should she win again in Kujawy Pomorze, the Saint Lucian star would become the sixth woman to win two world indoor titles in this event.
But Dosso is in PB form. The Italian 26-year-old dipped under seven seconds for the first time at last month&rsquo;s Copernicus Cup in Toruń and will be aiming to go one better than the silver she secured behind Mujinga Kambundji at the last edition of the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing.
Gold would complete her world indoor medal set, as she also clinched bronze in 2024. She has won all four finals she has contested so far this year &ndash; three World Indoor Tour Gold victories in Toruń, Ostrava and Belgrade plus an Italian title win.
Kambundji will not defend her title as she gave birth to her first baby in November, but Alfred and Dosso will face another Nanjing medallist in Patrizia van der Weken, whose bronze last year was Luxembourg&rsquo;s first ever world medal, indoors or out.
Van der Weken sits third on the season top list with the 7.01 national record she set to finish second to Dosso at the Copernicus Cup and the top four in that race will all clash again. Great Britain&rsquo;s world 200m silver medallist Amy Hunt ran a PB of 7.04 that day to hold off home favourite Ewa Swoboda, the Polish record-holder who will target the podium again after getting world indoor silver between Alfred and Dosso in Glasgow two years ago.
Hunt will be joined on the British team by Dina Asher-Smith, who was 0.02 off her national record when winning the British title in 7.05 ahead of Hunt, while Jacious Sears lines up after winning the US title in 7.04. Jamaica will be represented by two-time world relay medallist Jonielle Smith and 2022 world U20 200m champion Brianna Lyston.
Brazil&rsquo;s Ana Carolina Azevedo will want to build on the 7.09 she ran to win the South American indoor title at the end of last month, a performance that followed the 7.05 area record she set outdoors 10 days prior. Czechia&rsquo;s Karol&iacute;na Maňasov&aacute; has also run 7.05 this year &ndash; a national record that improved her previous best by 0.05.
The entry list also includes Dosso&rsquo;s Italian teammate Kelly Doualla, the European U20 100m and 4x100m champion who at 16 will be the youngest athlete competing at the championships.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
If you don&rsquo;t want to miss this event, you can&nbsp;<a href="https://ql.e-c.al/46KjUYP">sync your calendar</a>&nbsp;to receive a notification right before it starts.

Expected highlights in the women's 60m

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: women's 60m

Qualification system and entry standards

Documents

World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 2026

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: men's heptathlon

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: women's pentathlon

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: men's 3000m

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: women's 3000m

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: men's 1500m