Reigning champion Marie-Julie Bonnin and European road record-holder Yann Schrub headline a strong French squad selected for the Kujawy Pomorze 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland on 20-22 March.
Bonnin returns to the global stage as the defending world indoor pole vault champion, while Schrub arrives in exceptional form after recently breaking the European 10km road record and climbing to second on the world list for the indoor 3000m this season.
Together they spearhead a 23-strong French delegation that could still grow subject to additional qualifying athletes via the world rankings.
It is France’s largest team for the World Athletics Indoor Championships since the global event was staged in Paris in 1997, highlighting both the strong form of the nation’s athletes and the importance they have placed on the indoor season this year.
Bonnin faces tough defence
Bonnin will again be one of the leading contenders in the women’s pole vault, a discipline where France has traditionally excelled at global level.
Although the depth of competition remains exceptionally high, the reigning champion travels to Toruń with the experience and confidence of having already claimed world indoor gold in Nanjing last year.
In-form Schrub changes indoor plans
Schrub’s inclusion is one of the most notable selection stories. The French distance runner had not originally planned to compete in Toruń.
But he requested selection following a series of outstanding performances this winter, including his European 10km road record of 26:43 in Castellón last month and a national indoor record of 7:29:38 over 3000m.
Despite not competing at the French Elite Indoor Championships, the selection committee made an exception, citing both his recent results and his exemplary contribution to the French cross-country team this season.
France’s middle-distance squad also includes Agathe Guillemot, who has enjoyed a record-breaking indoor campaign.
Guillemot underlined her championship pedigree last year by winning the 1500m title at the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships and is in fine fine form, having set three new national indoor records this year in the 1500m, mile and 2000m.
The French team will also look to its traditional strength in the hurdles, with Wilhem Belocian, who won world indoor silver last year among the contenders in the men’s 60m hurdles and Laeticia Bapte leading the women’s challenge in the same event.