Georgia Hunter Bell wins in Karlsruhe (© World Athletics 
Stefan Mayer)
Great Britain’s Georgia Hunter Bell produced a world-leading 4:00.04 in the women’s 1500m at the INIT Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe – the fifth World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold fixture of the year – on Sunday (8), while Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh produced the highlight of the meeting on the infield.
Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Hunter Bell followed the pacemaker through 800m in 2:08.60 before taking control of the race. Ethiopia’s Birke Haylom remained within striking distance for much of the second half, but the Briton’s decisive finishing speed – capped by a 28.82-second final lap – secured victory in a world-leading 4:00.04, just 0.2 shy of the indoor PB she clocked when earning world indoor bronze last year.
Haylom finished second in 4:00.88, while European indoor champion Agathe Guillemot set a French short-track record of 4:02.12 in third.
“I was trying to look up at the screen to see what's going on, but I wanted to try to lead the whole race,” said Hunter Bell, the world 800m silver medallist. “When the pacemaker dropped out, I tried to just hold that position.
“I'm getting used to frontrunning, it's a new thing for me; I wanted to practice something different,” added Hunter Bell, who will be targeting her first global gold at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 next month. “I wanted to get the world lead, I wanted to try to go sub-4:00 and win. So I achieved two out of three: I won and got the world lead.”
Three weeks after opening her 2026 campaign with a world-leading 2.03m in Lviv, Mahuchikh claimed the women’s high jump with a second-time clearance of 2.01m.
The Olympic champion and outdoor world record-holder cleared 1.94m, 1.96m and 1.98m prior to her eventual winning height. She rounded out her series with three attempts at 2.04m. Her compatriot Yuliya Levchenko finished second with 1.96m.
“I am happy I jumped over two meters again, but of course I wanted to clear 2.04m,” said Mahuchikh. “It was so close, especially the third attempt. But I am happy to come back to international level and start my season in Europe. I know I'm in really good shape, so I'm ready to fight at the World Indoor Championships in Poland.”
In what was her first indoor race in almost four years, Gabriela Debues-Stafford returned to winning ways to take the women’s 3000m in highly convincing fashion.
Ethiopia’s Yenawa Nbret had led for much of the race, then USA’s Elise Cranny had a brief stint at the front, but Debues-Stafford moved decisively to the head of the pack with just under two laps remaining and quickly established an unassailable lead.
The Canadian surged clear to win in 8:35.94 – the second-fastest time of her career and just two seconds shy of her PB – finishing ahead of Cranny (8:37.06) and Nbret (8:38.90).
By contrast, the men’s 3000m was a much closer contest, with the top four separated by just 0.62. The field passed 1000m in 2:30.76 and 2000m in 5:08.37. Getnet Wale took a stint at the front, but the Ethiopian later faded to eighth. Instead it was Stefan Nillessen of the Netherlands who timed his finish best, winning in 7:38.48 ahead of Kenya’s Jacob Krop (7:38.64) and Uruguay’s Valentin Soca (7:38.90).
Victories for Stark and Guttormsen
World bronze medallist Grace Stark won the women’s 60m hurdles in 7.86 in her first race of the year, but it wasn’t plain sailing for the US athlete.
France’s Laeticia Bapte was level with Stark until the final strides but stumbled slightly before the finish, taking second place in 7.95, just ahead of compatriot Sacha Alessandrini, who clocked a personal best of 7.95 for third. In the heats, Bapte had narrowly edged Stark, with both credited with 7.93. The heats had been delayed due to the high jump running longer than scheduled.
Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen won the men’s pole vault with a first-time clearance at 5.84m before ending his competition with three attempts at 5.90m. USA’s Cole Walsh cleared 5.78m for second, while Ernest John Obiena finished third with 5.70m less than 24 hours after winning the Asian indoor title in Tianjin.
Diamond League champion Larissa Iapichino won the women’s long jump with 6.84m, having taken the early lead with 6.77m in the opening round before producing her winning mark in round three. France’s Hilary Kpatcha finished second with 6.73m, while two-time world champion Malaika Mihambo placed fourth with 6.45m.
France’s Azeddine Habz – the outdoor world leader in 2025 – took to the track for the first time this year and was rewarded with victory in the men’s 1500m. He followed the pacemaker through 800m in 1:53.95 before maintaining the tempo to the finish, crossing the line in 3:33.36, just 0.28 short of the meeting record set by Daniel Kipchirchir Komen in 2005. Italy’s Federico Riva closed strongly but finished second in an Italian short-track record of 3:33.94.
The men’s 60m produced one of the closest finishes of the meeting, with the top four – representing four different continents – separated by just three hundredths of a second. Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme won in 6.53 ahead of Oman’s Ali Al Balushi (6.54), Germany’s Owen Ansah (6.55) and Jamaica’s Odaine McPherson (6.56).
Elsewhere, Germany’s Alexander Stepanov produced a late surge to win the men’s 800m in a personal best of 1:46.17, while Egypt’s Bassant Hemida was the fastest winner of the three women’s 400m races, clocking 51.97.
