<ul>
<li>Italy&rsquo;s Andy Diaz has class to make strong defence of his title</li>
<li>Algeria&rsquo;s in-form Yasser Triki seeking to go one better than 2024 world indoor silver</li>
<li>Andy Hechavarria emerges late as Cuban medal hope with 17.34m effort&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Andy Diaz Hernandez will be a formidable defender of the men&rsquo;s triple jump title at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26.
The 30-year-old has had rich pickings in recent years, earning Olympic bronze in 2024 and European indoor and world indoor gold in 2025 before finishing three places off a medal at the World Championships Tokyo 25.
Diaz has not produced anything exceptional so far this season &ndash; his best of 16.90m has him placed 12th on this year&rsquo;s world list. But given his recent record &ndash; and personal best of 17.80m &ndash; none of his rivals will be taking anything for granted in Toruń&rsquo;s Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena.
That said, some of those rivals will be feeling pretty good about their prospects given their own recent performances.
This year&rsquo;s world list is topped by Algeria&rsquo;s Yasser Mohammed Triki, who recorded 17.35m in winning at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Li&eacute;vin last month. Triki already knows what it takes to earn a global medal, having finished second at the 2024 World Indoor Championships in Glasgow.
One week before the World Indoors, Cuba&rsquo;s Andy Hechavarria announced his status as a medal contender when he jumped 17.34m in Havana.
France&rsquo;s Jonathan Seremes has also produced a late boost to his status thanks to the 17.25m he recorded in winning in Fayetteville on 14 March.
Below him on the list are Jordan Scott of the United States, who jumped 17.11m in finishing second to Triki in Li&eacute;vin, and China&rsquo;s Su Wen, who recorded the same distance in Xian on 4 March.
Another strong medal contender is lurking lower down the current listings in the form of Italy&rsquo;s Andrea Dallavalle, who is ranked 10th with the distance of 16.99m that enabled him to beat Andy Diaz in Ancona earlier this month.
Dallavalle took bronze at last year&rsquo;s European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn before producing a final-round personal best of 17.64m at the World Championships in Tokyo to take silver behind Portugal&rsquo;s Pedro Pichardo, who will not be in Poland.
Also in the medal mix will be Hechavarria&rsquo;s Cuban team-mate Lazaro Martinez, the 2022 world indoor champion and two-time world medallist outdoors, who has a best this year of 16.71m.
Others to look out for include the Brazilian pair of Elton Petronilho and 2018 world indoor silver medallist Almir Dos Santos, who have recorded 17.05m and 17.02m respectively 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.

World Athletics Indoor Championships

Expected highlights in the men's triple jump

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: men's triple jump

<ul>
<li>World record-holder Yulimar Rojas returns to global indoor stage</li>
<li>World champion Leyanis P&eacute;rez Hern&aacute;ndez defends her title</li>
<li>Olympic champion Thea LaFond seeks another major gold</li>
</ul>
Few events at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 can boast a line-up quite like the women&rsquo;s triple jump, where the world record-holder, world champion and Olympic champion will all go head-to-head.
Yulimar Rojas, the most dominant triple jumper of the modern era, returns to the global indoor stage after making her long-awaited comeback last year. The Venezuelan star &ndash; a four-time world champion outdoors, three-time world indoor champion and Olympic gold medallist &ndash; resumed competition at the 2025 World Championships exactly two years to the day after her previous outing and marked the occasion with a bronze medal.
Her form has continued to build since then. Last month she produced a world-leading leap of 14.95m in Valencia, suggesting the world record-holder could once again contend for the title she last won indoors in 2022. It was on that occasion when she produced an outright world record of 15.74m.
Standing in her way is the athlete who has taken over as the event&rsquo;s world champion indoors and outdoors. Leyanis P&eacute;rez Hern&aacute;ndez claimed gold at last year&rsquo;s World Indoor Championships before going on to win the world title outdoors in Tokyo later that season. The Cuban has developed a reputation for delivering her best performances on the biggest stages, setting indoor personal bests at the past two editions of the World Indoors, leaping 14.90m in Glasgow and 14.93m in Nanjing.
Olympic champion Thea LaFond completes a formidable leading trio. The Dominican jumper made history when winning the 2024 world indoor title with 15.01m, becoming the 10th woman in history &ndash; and the most recent &ndash; to surpass the 15-metre barrier indoors. She went on to claim Olympic gold later that year and last year took silver at the World Championships.
Between Rojas, P&eacute;rez Hern&aacute;ndez and LaFond, every global triple jump title &ndash; world, Olympic and world indoor &ndash; contested since 2017 has been claimed by one of the three. They filled the podium at last year&rsquo;s World Championships and could do so again in Toruń.
The event has also developed a recent pattern: the winner of each of the past three world indoor titles has gone on to claim a global outdoor crown later that same year. So whoever wins this year&rsquo;s world indoor crown could become an early favourite for the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in September.
While the spotlight will inevitably fall on the leading trio, several other athletes could challenge for the podium.
Cuba&rsquo;s Liadagmis Povea finished runner-up at the 2025 World Indoors and placed fourth at both the 2024 Olympic Games and the 2025 World Championships. With personal bests of 14.93m outdoors and 14.81m indoors, she has the ability to compete with the sport&rsquo;s biggest names, although she is yet to surpass the 14-metre mark so far this season.
USA&rsquo;s Jasmine Moore owns an indoor PB of 15.12m &ndash; placing her fifth on the world indoor all-time list &ndash; and will be looking to improve on her fifth-place finish from the 2024 World Indoors. The double Olympic bronze medallist is also entered in the long jump.
Serbia&rsquo;s Ivana &Scaron;panović, a two-time world indoor champion in the long jump, has recently shifted her focus towards the triple jump. She set a Serbian indoor record and outright PB of 14.41m earlier this season.
African champion Saly Sarr of Senegal recently matched her outdoor PB of 14.55m indoors &ndash; a mark she first achieved when placing sixth at the 2025 World Championships. Remarkably, Sarr had never competed indoors prior to this year; the World Indoors will be only her third indoor competition to date.
Romania&rsquo;s Elena Andreea Taloș has contested three world indoor finals to date, including fourth place in 2018 and fifth in 2016. She will look to improve on her 10th-place finish from last year.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
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Expected highlights in the women's triple jump

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: women's triple jump

<ul>
<li>Mattia Furlani defends title against fellow 21-year-old rival Bozhidar Sar&acirc;boyukov</li>
<li>Double Olympic gold medallist Miltiadis Tentoglou seeking third world indoor crown</li>
<li>Liam Adcock, Tajay Gayle and Carey McLeod clear medal contenders in competitive field</li>
</ul>
Italy&rsquo;s 21-year-old phenomenon Mattia Furlani, world outdoor and indoor champion last year, is in the form to make a successful defence of the latter title at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26.
But he will need every atom of his extraordinary natural ability to hold off the challenge of a densely talented field which includes another fast-rising 21-year-old in Bulgaria&rsquo;s Bozhidar Sar&acirc;boyukov and Greece&rsquo;s double Olympic champion and two-time world indoor champion Miltiadis Tentoglou.
The latter athlete is seeking a hat-trick of titles at these championships, having won in 2022 and 2024, when he successfully defended his title on countback after he and Furlani had registered 8.22m.
Furlani, who has high-jumped 2.17m, equalled his outright long jump PB of 8.39m in Metz last month when he won on countback from Sar&acirc;boyukov.
Three days later, the Bulgarian &ndash; who shared world U20 high jump silver in 2020 and has cleared 2.28m in that event &ndash; registered a world-leading 8.45m in Belgrade.
He will be eager to add world indoor gold to the European indoor gold he won last year with an effort of 8.13m &ndash; one centimetre farther than Furlani.
Such a rivalry would be compelling viewing in itself &ndash; but there will be so many other layers of interest in this competition, with the combative Tentoglou, who has found the way to win with outrageous regularity in the past decade, lurking with intent once again.
Tentoglou&rsquo;s career record is so extraordinary that it is hard to realise he is still only 27. Apart from his world indoor titles and Olympic victories in 2021 and 2024 &ndash; where Furlani earned bronze &ndash; he has world outdoor gold and silver, three European outdoor and three European indoor golds.
His challenge at last year&rsquo;s World Championships was affected by a calf injury he sustained during his second jump in the final.
With a lifetime best of 8.65m, Tentoglou will arrive as the fourth-ranked jumper in Poland thanks to his season&rsquo;s best of 8.27m.
One place above him is another high jumper/long jumper in Portugal&rsquo;s Gerson Balde, who registered 8.32m in Braga last month.
Other strong medal contenders include Australia&rsquo;s Liam Adcock, last year&rsquo;s world indoor bronze medallist in Nanjing, and the Jamaican contingent of Cary McLeod and Tajay Gayle
McLeod earned world indoor bronze in 2024, while Gayle won the 2019 world outdoor title with a personal best of 8.69m and added world bronze in 2023 and world silver last year.
Also back in the mix is South Africa&rsquo;s 2017 world champion Luvo Manyonga, now 35.
Shu Heng is the only entrant not to have jumped beyond eight metres this season, but he placed sixth at least year&rsquo;s World Indoors with 8.14m.
Mike Rowbottom for World Athletics
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Expected highlights in the men's long jump

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: men's long jump

<ul>
<li>Portugal&rsquo;s Agate De Sousa and Larissa Iapichino of Italy homing in on first global medals</li>
<li>Double Olympic bronze medallist Jasmine Moore looking good for more</li>
<li>Depth of talent provides prospect of hugely competitive contest</li>
</ul>
Portugal&rsquo;s Agate De Sousa and Larissa Iapichino of Italy, who top this year&rsquo;s world list with 6.97m and 6.93m respectively, will both seek a first global medal at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26.
But they will be hard-pressed to do so, given the depth of talent in what promises to be one of most closely contested events at this year&rsquo;s championships.
De Sousa, 25, earned bronze at the 2024 European Championships and gold at the 2025 World University Games. Her season&rsquo;s best, achieved in Madrid last month, along with her 2023 personal best of 7.03m, offers strong evidence of her potential to add further medals to her collection.
Iapichino, 23, has an outdoor best of 7.06m &ndash; five centimetres shy of the Italian record held by her mother, Fiona May.
With European indoor gold and silver to her credit, and silver at her home European Championships in Rome two years ago, Iapichino &ndash; Diamond League winner in 2024 and 2025 &ndash; looks ready to take a significant step up.
The closest she has come thus far to a global medal was in finishing fourth at the Paris 2024 Olympics with 6.87m &ndash; nine centimetres behind Jasmine Moore of the United States.
Moore, who also earned triple jump bronze at the 2024 Olympics, will be ranked third in Poland on her 2026 performance, having recorded 6.86m in Fayetteville last month. She is also looking for a first world indoor medal, having finished fifth at the 2024 edition in Glasgow.
But the three list-leaders will be taking nothing for granted given the achievements of those in the rest of the field.
Switzerland&rsquo;s 25-year-old Annik Kalin, European heptathlon bronze medallist in 2022, demonstrated her versatility last year as she earned long jump silver at both the European Indoors and World Indoors.
Colombia&rsquo;s Natalia Linares, joint 10th on this year&rsquo;s world list with 6.73m, took a surprise world bronze in Tokyo last year.
Monae&rsquo; Nichols of the United States was sixth at the 2024 Olympics, having earned silver at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow earlier in the year.
Romania&rsquo;s Alina Rotaru-Cottman was seventh at the 2024 Olympics, while her teammate Ramona Verman was European U23 champion in 2025.
Sweden&rsquo;s Khaddi Sagnia won European indoor bronze in 2021 and has jumped 6.95m. Meanwhile Serbia will be represented by Milica Gardasevic, who missed a medal by one place at last year&rsquo;s European Indoors.
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 long jump

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: women's long jump

<ul>
<li>Mondo Duplantis returns to the city that he calls &lsquo;a very special place&rsquo;</li>
<li>The Swede, only just days ago, broke the world record for 15th time</li>
<li>The three-time indoor world champion could match the legendary Sergey Bubka</li>
</ul>
Just before last year&rsquo;s World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, Mondo Duplantis released his first single. Now, to the accompaniment of his own music, the Swede continues to break world records. And in Toruń, he will be hunting for another one.
The three-time world indoor champion returns to the place where it all began. It was in Toruń at the 2020 Copernicus Cup where he set the first world record of his career with a vault of 6.17m.
&ldquo;Toruń is a very special place for me since I broke my first world record there,&rdquo; said Duplantis. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been fortunate enough to break a few since then, but the first one is a life-changing moment.&rdquo;
The world and Olympic champion will return to the Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena just days after clearing 6.31m, his 15th world record, at the Mondo Classic in Uppsala. And in case clearing a world record at your own meeting wasn&rsquo;t enough, he did so to the backdrop of his own song, &lsquo;Feelin&rsquo; Myself&rsquo;.
The 26-year-old has won the past three world indoor titles with the three highest vaults in World Indoor Championships history: 6.20m in 2022, 6.05m in 2024 and 6.15m in 2025. And if he wins in Toruń, he will equal Sergey Bubka&rsquo;s record haul of four world indoor titles.
But despite heading to Poland in record-breaking form, nothing is guaranteed &ndash; especially in an event where another athlete has taken attempts at world record heights this season.
Emmanouil Karalis, who took silver behind Duplantis at the World Indoors and World Championships in 2025, recently cleared 6.17m at the Greek Indoor Championships in February to move to second on the world all-time list. He then took a couple of attempts at a would-be world record height of 6.31m.
Of the 41 competitions in which Duplantis and Karalis have clashed, the Greek vaulter has come out on top only once: the 2018 World Indoor Championships, where Karalis placed fifth and Duplantis seventh.
Perhaps it&rsquo;s something of an omen that when Poland last hosted the World Indoor Championships, in 2014, there was a Greek winner on that occasion (Konstadinos Filippidis).
But Duplantis and Karalis aren&rsquo;t the only vaulters heading to Poland in PB form. Sondre Guttormsen, the 2023 European indoor champion, set a lifetime best of 6.06m, which USA&rsquo;s Zachery Bradford has cleared 6.01m and Australia&rsquo;s two-time world bronze medallist Kurtis Marschall has vaulted 6.00m.
With five men on the entry list who have cleared 6.00m this season, plus another two athletes with PBs above that height &ndash; world medallists Chris Nilsen and Ernest John Obiena &ndash; the competition in Toruń could produce record depth.
Piotrek Przyborowski for World Athletics
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Expected highlights in the men's pole vault

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: men's pole vault

<ul>
<li>Marie-Julie Bonnin bids for back-to-back world indoor titles</li>
<li>Eliza McCartney could prove tough to beat if reproducing recent form</li>
<li>Medal battle looks wide open with little to separate the leading contenders</li>
</ul>
Few events at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 2026 look as open as the women&rsquo;s pole vault, with just five centimetres separating the five leading entrants on their season&rsquo;s bests.
Topping that list is New Zealand&rsquo;s Eliza McCartney, who shot to fame at the 2016 Olympics 10 years ago by earning bronze at the age of 19. In the years since, she has produced a slew of strong performances on this stage, finishing fifth in the world indoor final in 2016, fourth in 2018 and taking silver at the 2024 edition in Glasgow.
After struggling with injury last year, she bounced back strongly in 2026, clearing 4.81m to win the national title in Auckland earlier this month and while this will be her first indoor competition in two years, the 29-year-old looks poised to make it a good one.
France&rsquo;s Marie-Julie Bonnin produced a national record of 4.76m to win the world indoor title in Nanjing last year and the 24-year-old proved she&rsquo;s ready to launch a stout defence of her title by clearing the same height at the World Indoor Tour Silver meeting in Clermont-Ferrand last month.
Molly Caudery beat McCartney to gold in the 2024 world indoor final, the British star breaking the national record outdoors later that year with 4.92m. After being unable to compete at the 2025 World Championships due to an ankle injury sustained during her warm-up, she made a strong start to 2026, winning the British indoor title with 4.65m before clearing 4.70m to win in Rouen, France.
Slovenia&rsquo;s Tina Sutej has twice won medals on this stage, taking bronze in 2022 and silver last year, and the 37-year-old has shown consistent form through the indoor season &ndash; her best effort being a 4.80m clearance to win in Metz, France last month.
Czechia&rsquo;s Amalie Svabikova has gone close to global medals on several occasions in recent years, finishing fifth and sixth at the last two World Indoor Championships, fourth in last year&rsquo;s world final in Tokyo and fifth in the 2024 Olympic final in Paris. The 2018 world U20 champion is expected to launch another bold bid after clearing a national indoor record of 4.76m in Clermont-Ferrand last month.
New Zealand&rsquo;s Imogen Ayris has gone over 4.70m at four different competitions during the indoor season and she added six centimetres to her PB when clearing 4.76m in Clermont-Ferrand. A repeat of that could see her claim her first global medal, having previously reached the 2024 Olympic final and 2025 world final.
Switzerland&rsquo;s Angelica Moser took bronze in last year&rsquo;s world indoor final and while she made a late start to the indoor season earlier this month, it was a strong showing, clearing 4.66m to win the national indoor title.
USA has won three of the past five world indoor titles and in the absence of world leader Hana Moll, their hopes will be led by Chloe Timberg, the 2024 NCAA champion who cleared 4.70m to win the US indoor title earlier this month.
The field is completed by Estonia&rsquo;s Marleen Mulla, Brazil&rsquo;s Juliana de Menis Campos, Finland&rsquo;s Wilma Murto and USA&rsquo;s Jessica Mercier. Mulla, a student at the University of South Dakota in the US, has the best clearance among them this year. The 24-year-old twice broke the national record with 4.60m and 4.63m before earning silver with a 4.61m clearance at last weekend&rsquo;s NCAA Indoor Championships.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics
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Expected highlights in the women's pole vault

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: women's pole vault

<ul>
<li>Woo Sanghyeok aims for third world indoor title</li>
<li>European indoor champion Oleh Doroshchuk targets another major indoor crown</li>
<li>Jan &Scaron;tefela hopes to beat his coach's record</li>
</ul>
Defending champion Woo Sanghyeok is gearing up to win a potential third high jump title at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26. But he is one of seven men in the field to have jumped 2.30m this year, suggesting it could be a competitive battle for gold.
The experienced Korean enjoyed a successful 2025. After winning world indoor gold in Nanjing, the 29-year-old also won the Asian title and earned silver at the World Championships in Tokyo.
In the absence of world and Olympic champion Hamish Kerr, Woo&rsquo;s task in Toruń has been made slightly easier. But he&rsquo;ll still have to beat the likes of Jan &Scaron;tefela.
The Czech jumper, who took world bronze in Tokyo last year behind Kerr and Woo, cleared a world-leading 2.32m in Bansk&aacute; Bystrica at the end of February.
He is now aiming to become the first Czech high jumper to win a world indoor crown. To date, his country&rsquo;s best result in this discipline is bronze, earned in 2004 by &Scaron;tefela&rsquo;s coach, Jaroslav Baba.
Poland&rsquo;s Mateusz Kołodziejski, who set a PB of 2.30m in Hustopeče in February, hopes to produce his best form in front of his home crowd and become just the second Polish man to make a world indoor high jump podium.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m trying not to think about what&rsquo;s at stake in Toruń,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no point in putting pressure on myself. I&rsquo;m trying to adopt the right mind-set so that in the competition I can simply repeat what I did in Hustopeče.&rdquo;
This time last year, Oleh Doroshchuk achieved the biggest victory of his career to date, winning gold at the European Indoor Championships with a lifetime best of 2.34m. The Ukrainian has finished in the top six at the last four global championships he has contested, including a fourth-place finish at the World Championships last year, so he&rsquo;ll be keen to make his first global podium.
Other contenders include Jamaica&rsquo;s four-time NCAA champion Romaine Beckford, Japan&rsquo;s 2025 world indoor finalist Naoto Hasegawa and his compatriot Tomohiro Shinno, the Asian silver medallist.
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 men's high jump

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: men's high jump

<ul>
<li>World record-holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh aims to regain the world indoor title</li>
<li>Defending champion Nicola Olyslagers seeks third consecutive gold</li>
<li>Home crowd hopes Maria Zodzik will repeat her success from Tokyo</li>
</ul>
After suffering two crushing defeats at the hands of Nicola Olyslagers last year, Ukraine&rsquo;s Yaroslava Mahuchikh is determined to be the best in the world once again. But following an outstanding 2025 season, her Australian rival is keen to stay on the path of glory.
Mahuchikh &ndash; the world record-holder, Olympic champion, 2023 world champion and 2022 world indoor champion &ndash; was relegate to bronze behind Olyslagers at both the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing and World Championships in Tokyo last year.
Seemingly fired up by those experiences, 24-year-old Mahuchikh has started 2026 in superb form, opening her season with a world-leading 2.03m in Lviv, then following it with victories in Karlsruhe (2.01m) and at the Ukrainian Indoor Championships (1.96m).
But Olyslagers has no intention of going down without a fight. The winner of the 2025 World Athletics Field Athlete of the Year award now aims to join Stefka Kostadinova as the only woman to win three consecutive world indoor high jump titles.
The entries include eight women who have cleared 2.00m at some point during their careers. Aside from Mahuchikh, the only other athlete to achieve the feat this season is Serbia&rsquo;s world bronze medallist Angelina Topić, who jumped 2.00m in Bansk&aacute; Bystrica last month.
The hosts will be keeping their fingers crossed for Maria Żodzik, who claimed a surprise world silver in Tokyo last year. The 29-year-old has finished in the top three in all five of her competitions so far this year and equalled her indoor PB of 1.98m at the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Arena, venue of the World Indoors.
Australia&rsquo;s Eleanor Patterson joined compatriot Olyslagers on the podium at the 2023 World Championships, 2024 Olympics and 2025 World Indoors. The 2022 world champion will be keen to repeat the feat again in Toruń.
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 high jump

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: women's high jump

<ul>
<li>World leader Simon Ehammer looks to reclaim the title he won in 2024</li>
<li>Kyle Garland, owner of the second-best score in history, makes World Indoor debut</li>
<li>Wide-open competition for places on the podium</li>
</ul>
The men&rsquo;s heptathlon at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 looks set to be a battle between Simon Ehammer and Kyle Garland &ndash; both of whom rank in the top five on the world all-time list &ndash; but, as is always the case in combined events, there&rsquo;s scope for a surprise medallist or two.
Ehammer knows what it&rsquo;s like to stand on the top of the podium at the World Indoors, having taken the title in 2024 with 6418. He improved on that mark when taking silver at last year&rsquo;s European Indoor Championships with a Swiss record of 6506, and he claimed another silver at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing later that month (6363).
Ehammer has sometimes struggled with consistency with his jumps in a combined events competition, but the long jump &ndash; a discipline in which he earned world bronze in 2022 &ndash; remains one of his strengths, along with the hurdles. He heads to Poland off the back of a world-leading 6416 and an equal 60m hurdles PB of 7.55 &ndash; a time that would have been enough for a medal in that discipline at the last World Indoors.
But he&rsquo;ll be up against an athlete who owns the second-best heptathlon score in history. Garland &ndash; who&rsquo;ll be making his World Indoors debut &ndash; has a PB of 6639, just six points shy of Ashton Eaton&rsquo;s world record. He set his decathlon PB of 8869 last year, elevating him to 10th on the world all-time list.
At last year&rsquo;s World Championships, the US all-rounder led the decathlon for eight of the 10 disciplines, surrendering his lead in the javelin and then dropping to third by the end of the competition.
Fortunately for the world bronze medallist, the javelin and 1500m aren&rsquo;t part of the heptathlon.
In fact, the leading duo have the same weakness: the 1000m. Ehammer is stronger in the hurdles and long jump, while Garland excels in the shot put and high jump. It makes for a fascinating duel which could all come down to the final discipline.
There are many other medal contenders entered too.
Heath Baldwin made a breakthrough when winning the 2024 US Olympic Trials with a decathlon PB of 8625. The 25-year-old, who finished sixth at last year&rsquo;s World Championships, recently set a heptathlon PB of 6245 at the US Indoor Championships and he&rsquo;ll be looking to improve on his fourth-place finish from last year&rsquo;s World Indoors.
Jente Hauttekeete made his first appearance at the World Indoors in 2024 at the age of 21, placing eighth. He went on to finish fifth at last year&rsquo;s European Indoor Championships, equalling the Belgian record of 6259, and then placed 10th at the World Championships in Tokyo. He recently won the Belgian indoor heptathlon title with 6212, the second-best score of his career, and displayed improved form in the shot put.
Makenson Gletty finished one place ahead of Hauttekeete in Tokyo last year. The European bronze medallist, who placed fifth at the 2024 World Indoors, has a PB of 6230 and heads to Poland with a best this year of 6091. Expect him to bank valuable points in the shot put.
Dario Dester recently improved his own Italian indoor record to 6121, which also puts him in the frame for medal contention.
Czechia&rsquo;s Vil&eacute;m Str&aacute;sk&yacute; was fifth at last year&rsquo;s World Indoors, an improvement of one place on his 2024 outing. He set his PB of 6162 when finishing sixth at last year&rsquo;s European Indoors.
Compatriot Ondřej Kopeck&yacute; finished just ahead of Str&aacute;sk&yacute; at the recent Czech Indoor Championships, scoring a PB of 6059. Kopeck&yacute;, who placed ninth at the 2024 World Indoors, will be out for redemption after failing to register a mark in the decathlon pole vault at the World Championships last year.
Kendrick Thompson of The Bahamas, who finished eighth at last year&rsquo;s World Championships, recently scored a PB of 5963 in just his second heptathlon to date. The NACAC silver medallist will be hoping to join the 6000-point club in Torun.
T&eacute;o Bastien of France and Estonia&rsquo;s Rasmus Roosleht have both surpassed 6000 points this year and will be looking to do so again at the World Indoors.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/en/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/kujawypomorze26/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/2026" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2026 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>
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Expected highlights in the men's heptathlon

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: men's heptathlon

<ul type="disc">
<li>World champion Anna Hall aims for her first world indoor medal&nbsp;</li>
<li>She faces two athletes from the 2025 world indoor and outdoor podiums &ndash; Kate O&rsquo;Connor and Taliyah Brooks</li>
<li>Paulina Ligarska and Adrianna Sułek-Schubert compete for the host nation</li>
</ul>
Anna Hall may have won medals of every colour at the World Athletics Championships, but her collection is still missing indoor medals. That could change at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26, where she will be one of the biggest stars of the US team, going for gold in the pentathlon.
The competition in Poland will mark the 24-year-old&rsquo;s debut at the World Indoor Championships. She was ruled out of the 2024 contest in Glasgow due to knee surgery and she was also absent from last year&rsquo;s competition in Nanjing.&nbsp;
Her PB of 5004, set in 2023, is the North American record and it places her fourth on the world all-time list.
This season she leads the world top list with the score of 4831 she achieved to win the US title in February. That&rsquo;s the only pentathlon she has contested so far this season and it is in Toruń where she will have her first opportunity to face foreign rivals.
For many of the other leading athletes, this will be their first indoor competition of the year. This group includes two world indoor medallists from last year &ndash; Ireland&rsquo;s silver medallist Kate O&rsquo;Connor and USA&rsquo;s bronze medallist Taliyah Brooks.
Both athletes also joined Hall on the podium at the World Championships in Tokyo, O&rsquo;Connor again securing silver and Brooks joint bronze in the heptathlon.
O&rsquo;Connor, who set a national record of 4781 when getting bronze at last year&rsquo;s European Indoor Championships, has competed in the long jump and 60m hurdles this year, winning national indoor medals in both. Brooks, whose PB stands at 4669 from Nanjing, has also contested a couple of individual events so far this year, testing herself in the shot put and long jump.
The host nation has two contenders in Adrianna Sułek-Schubert and Paulina Ligarska. The latter&rsquo;s chances are boosted not only by her recent PB of 4705 that puts her second to Hall on the world top list, but also by her excellent knowledge of the Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena.
Ligarska improved her personal best there twice in the space of seven days in February. First, she won at the Copernicus Cup (4676), and a week later she was crowned Polish champion for the fifth time in her career.
&ldquo;I think I need to be brave and not be afraid to say that I want to compete for a medal,&rdquo; she said in an interview for Polish Television (TVP). &ldquo;I&rsquo;m setting personal bests at the age of 29, and I feel like an athlete who still has something to achieve.&rdquo;
Ligarska narrowly beat Britain&rsquo;s Abigail Pawlett (4675) in the Copernicus Cup. The podium there was completed by Sułek-Schubert (4667), who will return to the World Indoor Championships for the first time since 2022, when she won silver in Belgrade. Hungary&rsquo;s Szabina Szűcs (4571), who finished fourth at the Copernicus Cup, has also been performing well this winter.
While O&rsquo;Connor and Brooks return, the podium from last year&rsquo;s event in Nanjing will not be repeated as the winner Saga Vanninen has decided to focus on the outdoor season following an intense year.
Before her win, Vanninen secured world indoor silver in 2024, and the entry list for Kujawy Pomorze also features the bronze medallist from Glasgow, Sofie Dokter of the Netherlands, as she makes her first pentathlon appearance of the season.
Piotrek Przyborowski for World Athletics
<a href="https://worldathletics.org/competitions/world-athletics-indoor-championships/kujawypomorze26/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/2026" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2026 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>
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 pentathlon

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: women's pentathlon

<ul>
<li>Cole Hocker bids for first world indoor title after 1500m silver in 2024</li>
<li>Josh Kerr looks to regain title two years on from his 3000m gold in Glasgow</li>
<li>World steeplechase champion Geordie Beamish hoping to again finish with a flourish</li>
</ul>
The men&rsquo;s 3000m might be low on quantity &ndash; with 15 athletes set to contest a straight final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 &ndash; but its quality is simply exceptional.&nbsp;
The race will bring together the full men&rsquo;s 1500m podium from the 2024 Olympics &ndash; USA&rsquo;s Cole Hocker, Britain&rsquo;s Josh Kerr and USA&rsquo;s Yared Nuguse &ndash; along with the world champion in the 3000m steeplechase, Geordie Beamish of New Zealand, who unleashed a huge kick to win the world indoor 1500m title two years ago.&nbsp;
Hocker will be seen by many as the slight favourite. The 24-year-old is the Olympic 1500m champion and the world 5000m champion and he possesses both the strength and speed to take victory no matter which way the race is run. However, he can sometimes get into trouble tactically, as he did at the recent US Indoor Championships where he was only fifth in the 1500m, though he showed his class with a superb 3000m win the previous day. Hocker clocked a North American indoor mile record of 3:45.94 in Winston-Salem, USA, last month and will be tough to beat if he&rsquo;s close to the front with a lap to run.
A man who rarely has issues getting into that position is Kerr, who was highly impressive in winning the world indoor 3000m title on home turf in Glasgow two years ago. The 2023 world 1500m champion has only raced once this year, getting outkicked by Hocker in their two-mile clash in New York last month.&nbsp;
Nuguse won world indoor 3000m silver behind Kerr in Glasgow two years ago and the Olympic 1500m bronze medallist has been in good form this season, finishing just 0.03 behind Hocker in the 3000m at the US Indoor Championships and clocking 3:48.31 to finish second to Australia&rsquo;s Cam Myers in the Wanamaker Mile in New York.
Beamish produced a devastating kick to win the world 3000m steeplechase title in Tokyo last year, though he was unable to match Hocker and Kerr over two miles in New York last month, finishing fifth in 8:08.58.&nbsp;
The field is loaded with quality beyond that quartet, with French duo Azeddine Habz and Yann Schrub, along with Irish pair Andrew Coscoran and Nick Griggs, also capable of contending.&nbsp;
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 3000m

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: men's 3000m

<ul>
<li>Freweyni Hailu hoping to retain title and claim a third world indoor gold</li>
<li>Nadia Battocletti targeting her first major indoor medal</li>
<li>Jessica Hull bids for the first of two possible medals at the championships</li>
</ul>
Ethiopia has enjoyed impressive dominance in the women&rsquo;s 3000m at the World Indoor Championships, winning 10 of the past 12 titles. The nation looks to have a great chance of extending that with Freweyni Hailu returning to defend her title at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26.
Hailu added the world indoor 3000m title in Nanjing last year to the 1500m title she won in Glasgow the year before and the 25-year-old holds the fastest time in the world this year &ndash; 8:24.59 from the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Li&eacute;vin last month. She will be joined by her compatriot Aleshign Baweke, who wasn&rsquo;t far behind in Li&eacute;vin when setting a big PB of 8:26.29 after finishing fifth at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in January.&nbsp;
Italy&rsquo;s Nadia Battocletti has long been able to produce her best performances when medals are on the line and after winning 5000m bronze and 10,000m silver at last year&rsquo;s World Championships in Tokyo, she will feel capable of claiming the first major indoor medal of her career. Italy&rsquo;s last world indoor medal in this event came at the first edition in 1985 via Agnese Possamai. Battocletti set an Italian indoor 3000m record of 8:26.44 when finishing behind Hailu and Baweke in Li&eacute;vin, but the 25-year-old tends to be a far more formidable force in championship settings.&nbsp;
Australia will have strong representation in Jessica Hull and Linden Hall. Hull will have Friday&rsquo;s first round of the 1500m in her legs when she toes the line for this final on Saturday but the Olympic 1500m silver medallist looks capable of improving on her bronze medal in last year&rsquo;s world indoor 3000m final.&nbsp;
Hall, meanwhile, was sixth in the world indoor 1500m final in 2022 and the 34-year-old produced an outright PB of 8:27.03 for 3000m in Boston in January, having joined Hall on Australia&rsquo;s victorious mixed relay team at the World Cross Country Championships a fortnight prior.
The US charge will be led by Emily MacKay, who won bronze in the 2024 world indoor 1500m final. She recorded an impressive win over 2024 world indoor 3000m champion Elle St. Pierre at the recent US Indoor Championships, clocking 8:30.01, and with St. Pierre recently withdrawing from this event, Mackay will be backed up by Margot Appleton.&nbsp;
Japan&rsquo;s Nozomi Tanaka and Kazakhstan&rsquo;s Norah Jeruto &ndash; the 2022 world champion in the 3000m steeplechase &ndash; are among the other entrants who look capable of contending, along with British duo Hannah Nuttall and Katie Snowden. &nbsp;&nbsp;
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.

Five things to look forward to on day three in Kujawy Pomorze

Five things to look forward to on day two in Kujawy Pomorze

Five things to look forward to on day one in Kujawy Pomorze

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: men's shot put

WIC Kujawy Pomorze 26 preview: women's shot put