With the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Kujawy Pomorze in Poland from 20-22 March just days away, who are Europe’s biggest title contenders across the three days of competition?
This will be the 22nd edition of the World Athletics Indoor Championships and the second time the event will be held in Poland after the coastal city of Sopot staged the event in 2014.
There were 11 European gold medals at the last edition in Nanjing 2025. Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen swept the men's 1500m/3000m titles and Sweden’s Armand Duplantis won his third men's pole vault title. The Nordic theme continued in the combined events with Finland’s Saga Vanninen and Norway’s Sander Skotheim winning the pentathlon and heptathlon titles respectively.
European Athletics picks out another 11 athletes who have excellent gold medal prospects at this year’s World Athletics Indoor Championships.
Keely Hodgkinson (GBR)
For her numerous exploits, it is easy to forget Keely Hodgkinson still hasn’t won a world title. But barring a disaster or something out of left-field, this will surely change this weekend.
In her most recent 800m, Hodgkinson shattered the long-standing world indoor record with 1:54.87 in Lievin before sharpening up for an assault on an elusive world title with an outright 400m lifetime best of 51.49.
Armand Duplantis (SWE)
Armand Duplantis reasserted his dominance in the pole vault by clearing 6.31m on his first attempt at the Mondo Classic in Uppsala on Thursday, the 15th world record of his incredible career.
A fourth successive world indoor pole vault title will be the aim for Duplantis in an arena where he has achieved two notable firsts. He cleared his first ever world record with 6.17m in Torun in 2020 and won his first and only European indoor title in the same city in 2021.
Zaynab Dosso (ITA)
Having won bronze and silver medals in the last two finals, can Zaynab Dosso complete the set of medals in the 60m? The Italian is unbeaten in her four finals this year and holds a share of the world lead at 6.99 which was set on this track at the Copernicus Cup only last month.
Dosso’s main rival will be the athlete who she shares the world lead with: Julien Alfred. She became the first ever St. Lucian to win a world indoor 60m title in 2024 before storming to Olympic 100m gold in Paris.
Jessica Schilder (NED)
The women’s shot put is one of the most competitive events at the championships but Jessica Schilder is a cut above the field on recent form. She won at the ISTAF Indoor in Berlin with 20.69m which equalled her Dutch record which she set at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn last year.
Schilder has also been a cut above the field at most recent championships. And if she wins gold next weekend, she will concurrently hold the world indoor and outdoor title as well as the European indoor and outdoor titles.
Georgia Hunter Bell (GBR)
Georgia Hunter Bell could provide the first half of a British middle distance double as well as a double for the M11 Track Club with Keely Hodgkinson the red-hot favourite for 800m gold.
Hunter Bell might not hold the world lead but the world 800m silver medallist defeated nearly all of her main rivals in Karlsruhe and Lievin in February, producing fast last laps on both occasions, before setting an indoor 800m PB of 1:57.88 in Glasgow.
Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR)
It has been a low-key indoor season for the Ukrainian but Yaroslava Mahuchikh is unbeaten in her three competitions this year, clearing 2.01m or higher in two competitions. In fact, her world lead of 2.03m in Lviv was her best clearance since breaking the world high jump record in 2024.
Mahuchikh will be aiming to reclaim her title from 2022 in the arena where she won her first of three European indoor titles in 2021.
Jakub Szymanski (POL)
After a stumble cost him a place in the final last year, can Jakub Szymanski make amends in front of his home fans in the 60m hurdles? The European indoor champion is unbeaten in 11 races this year and lowered his Polish record to 7.37 in his last race in Berlin to tie Dylan Beard and Trey Cunningham at the top of the entry-list.
This could be the closest race of the championships and a fervent home crowd will be hoping Szymanski can come out on top.
Ditaji Kambundji (SUI)
With just 0.01 separating the top four on the 2026 world list, the women’s 60m hurdles will be every bit as competitive as the men’s 60m hurdles. And among those in title contention is world champion Ditaji Kambundji.
Kambundji is a championship performer par excellence and the 23-year-old also blitzed to the European indoor title in Apeldoorn last March in a European record of 7.67.
Bozhidar Saraboyukov (BUL)
The multi-talented Bozhidar Saraboyukov won the European indoor long jump title last March and he is honing in on his first global title. Saraboyukov will face many of his regular rivals including reigning champion Mattia Furlani and Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou but Saraboyukov is the only jumper to surpass the 8.40m-barrier this year, a feat he has achieved twice.
Saraboyukov displayed his immense all-round ability at the Bulgarian Indoor Championships by winning the triple jump, high jump and long jump titles. On the second day, he jumped 8.13m in the long jump and cleared 2.28m in the high jump in the space of 22 minutes!
Leonardo Fabbri (ITA)
With Ryan Crouser absent, can Leonardo Fabbri finally step up and land a major global title in the shot put in Torun?
He will still have to contend with a strong US triumvirate including Roger Steen and Jordan Geist, both of whom have broken the 22 metre-barrier indoors this year, as well as reigning champion Tom Walsh from New Zealand. But if Fabbri can keep his cool and reproduce his world leading form, this could be his moment to seize.
Eliott Crestan (BEL)
The absence of reigning champion and world indoor record-holder Josh Hoey opens up the door to a cast of contenders including Belgium’s Eliott Crestan who is aiming to upgrade his bronze and silver medals from the last two world indoor 800m finals.
Early season form points to Crestan being the one to beat. He leads the entry-list with a national indoor record of 1:43.83 and is unbeaten in four races this year. But he is yet to face the 17-year-old US wonder-kid Cooper Lutkenhaus who has broken the world indoor U20 record this year with 1:44.03 before winning the US indoor title.
