Long jump winner Mattia Furlani in Ostrava (© Sona Maleterova)
A host of global medallists and rising stars will descend on Ostrava for the Czech Indoor Gala, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting, on Tuesday (3).
Several athletes have already opened their 2026 campaign, while others will be kick-starting theirs as they build towards the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 and, beyond that, the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
Two athletes who have already qualified for the World Ultimate Championship will engage in their first head-to-head clash of the season at Ostrava’s Atletická Hala. World long jump champion and current world leader Mattia Furlani takes on long-time rival and Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou.
The last time they clashed indoors was at the 2025 World Indoor Championships, where Furlani came out on top. They went on to compete against one another six more times in 2025 with the Italian finishing ahead of the multiple world and Olympic champion on four of those occasions.
Furlani – who won in Ostrava last year with 8.23m – recently opened his season with a world-leading 8.33m, just four centimetres shy of his indoor PB.
The long jump in Ostrava won’t be a two-man contest, though. European indoor champion Bozhidar Saraboyukov, who has already jumped 8.26m this year, will be looking to maintain momentum, while Sweden’s multiple indoor medallist Thobias Montler adds further quality to the field.
When Isaac Nader won the world 1500m title in Tokyo last year, few had considered him to be a gold medal contender. This year, however, all eyes will be on the Portuguese middle-distance runner when he takes to a startline.
Nader opens his 2026 campaign in Ostrava over 3000m in what will be his first track race since winning the world 1500m title, and his first indoor 3000m in four years. He'll face the likes of Ermias Girma, the 2022 world U20 800m champion now stepping up in distance, and his fellow Ethiopians Wegene Adisu and Milkesa Fikadu, who recently teamed up to take mixed relay bronze at the World Cross in Tallahassee. European 1500m bronze medallist Pietro Arese and South African 1500m record-holder Tshepo Tshite round out the field.
European indoor champion Zaynab Dosso leads a strong women’s 60m line-up. The Italian is up against world indoor bronze medallist Patrizia van der Weken of Luxembourg and Britain’s world 200m silver medallist Amy Hunt. The home support will be strong for Karolina Manasova, who recently set a Czech record of 7.05.
Both 800m events reunite medal-winners from recent major indoor championships. In the women’s event, world indoor champion Prudence Sekgodiso goes head-to-head with world indoor silver medallist Nigist Getachew. European silver medallist Gabriela Gajanova and European indoor bronze medallist Anita Horvat add further pedigree.
The men’s 800m brings together the full podium from the 2025 European Indoors: gold medallist Samuel Chapple of the Netherlands, Belgium’s Elliot Crestan and Mark English, the latter having recently lowered the Irish short track record to 1:44.65.
Poland’s Filip Ostrowski, who set a big PB of 1:44.68 last week in Boston, and 2022 world indoor silver medallist Noah Kibet, add more depth to the field.
World and Olympic medallists star on the infield
In the men’s shot put, Jamaica’s Olympic bronze medallist Rajindra Campbell takes on European indoor champion Andrei Toader, European indoor silver medallist Wictor Petersson and 22-metre performer Jordan Geist of the USA.
The women’s pole vault looks set to be a clash between world bronze medallist Tina Sutej and Czech record-holder Amalie Svabikova.
The men’s 60m hurdles includes European indoor champion Jakub Szymanski – who has already clocked 7.48 this year – and fellow Pole Damian Czykier, along with 2019 European indoor champion Milan Trajkovic.
A Polish sprint hurdles double looks highly likely, as 2022 European champion Pia Skrzyszowska is entered for the women’s event. She heads a field that also includes USA’s Alaysha Johnson, Irish outdoor record-holder Sarah Lavin and 2022 European silver medallist Luca Kozak.
The reigning continental indoor champions headline the men’s and women’s 400m.
Hungary’s Attila Molnar, who went to third on the European indoor all-time list with his 45.08 triumph at the European Indoors last year, takes on European indoor 4x400m champion Isaya Klein Ikkink. Rising Czech talent Tomas Horak, who recently set a national U20 short track record of 46.36, is also one to watch.
The women’s 400m pits European indoor champion Lieke Klaver against Lurdes Gloria Manuel, the 2024 world U20 champion who is back from injury, and Czech teammate Lada Vondrova, the 2023 world mixed 4x400m bronze medallist.
Birke Haylom, who represented Ethiopia at the 2024 Olympics and 2025 World Championships, leads the women’s 1500m entries. She is joined by African champion Saron Berhe, double European U20 champion Innes FitzGerald, two-time world indoor silver medallist Axumawit Embaye and Italy’s Marta Zenoni.
