Everything you need to know about the big global meeting in Toruń on March 20-22.
With no global championships this summer, the World Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland, has attracted many of the best athletes. An Olympic year would see many prefer to focus on training ahead of the Games itself, but in 2026 there is no such distraction.
It means 12 reigning champions from the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing last year are back to defend their titles. They include: Jeremiah Azu (60m), Woo Sanghyeok (high jump), Mondo Duplantis (pole vault), Mattia Furlani (long jump), Andy Diaz Hernandez (triple jump), Tom Walsh (shot put), Freweyni Hailu (3000m), Devynne Charlton (60m hurdles), Nicola Olyslagers (high jump), Marie-Julie Bonnin (pole vault), Leyanis Perez Hernandez (triple jump) and Sarah Mitton (shot put).
We are also set to see 11 individual gold medallists from the World Championships in Tokyo last year and nine reigning Olympic champions, including Duplantis, high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh and 800m star Keely Hodgkinson.
BBC is showing the action from the Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena in Toruń from March 20-22 online and the iPlayer.
There are also live broadcasts on BBC2 on Friday (9am-1pm and 5pm-8.30pm); Saturday (9am-12.30pm and 5.15pm-8.45pm); Sunday (9am-12.45pm and 5pm-8.15pm).
British hopes are high, led by Hodgkinson, Azu, Molly Caudery and Josh Kerr.
Men
60m: The men’s 60m looks set to be one of the most competitive events of the championships, with defending world indoor champion Jeremiah Azu aiming to retain the title he won in 2025. Azu showed last year that he knows how to peak for the big occasion, winning world and European indoor titles, and is fresh from a 6.47 Welsh record.
Jordan Anthony of the United States leads the rankings, though, with 6.43 with Kishane Thompson, the Olympic 100m silver medallist from Jamaica, running 6.46 outdoors and Trayvon Bromell of the United States clocking 6.47 this year.
400m: World indoor champion Christopher Bailey of Canada returns as a leading contender after winning the global title in 2025. But Khaleb McRae of the United States is the in-form athlete with a recent world record of 44.52.
Attila Molnar of Hungary carries European hopes with a best this year 45.01 – a European indoor record – in an event that will feature controversial new rules with effectively two finals. Don’t write off 2022 world indoor champion Jereem Richards of Trinidad and Tobago either.
800m: Josh Hoey, who broke Wilson Kipketer’s long-standing world indoor record earlier this year, is not competing, but a much younger American, Cooper Lutkenhaus, 17, carries US hopes.
Eliott Creston has been in brilliant form on the European circuit and has a best this year of 1:43.83, whereas Mohamed Attaoui of Spain is always dangerous and home hope Maciej Wyderka will have lots of support.
Watch out too for Britain’s Ben Pattison and Ireland’s Mark English if they can get their tactics right and utilise their strong finish.
1500m: With Jakob Ingebrigtsen sidelined, the men’s 1500m becomes one of the most open distance events of the championships. The surprise world outdoor champion in Tokyo, Isaac Nader, has been in outstanding indoor form in 2026 – including a Portuguese record of 3:32.44 – and will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Rui Silva, who won the title for Portugal on home soil in Lisbon in 2001.
Look out too for Sam Chapple of the Netherlands, Federico Riva of Italy, former world indoor 800m champion Mariano Garcia of Spain and 19-year-old rising star Hakon Moe Berg of Norway.
3000m: A mouth-watering race in prospect with Britain’s Josh Kerr, who won this title in Glasgow in 2024, up against Olympic 1500m and world 5000m champion Cole Hocker of the United States in a straight final. Certainly, Kerr is full of confidence going into the event.
Fastest on paper this season is Yann Schrub of France with 7:29.38 followed by Ireland’s Andrew Corcoran and Nick Griggs.
Contenders also include Yared Nuguse of the United States, Azeddine Habz of France, Getnet Wale of Ethiopia and fast-finishing world steeplechase champion Geordie Beamish of New Zealand.
60m hurdles: Jakub Szymański of Poland has run 7.37 this season but so have Americans Dylan Beard and Trey Cunningham. The European indoor champion is guaranteed huge support, though, and is the host nation’s best chance of gold this weekend.
The final could be just as close with Wilhem Belocian of France and Enrique Llopis of Spain adding to the quality.
High Jump: Woo Sanghyeok of South Korea is back to defend his title but faces a string of tough competitors.
They include Oleg Doroshchuk of Ukraine, Tomohiro Shiro of Japan and Mateusz Kolodziejski of Poland, with Jan Stefela of the Czech Republic the top man on rankings this season with 2.32m.
Pole Vault: Emmanouil Karalis of Greece announced himself as a threat to Mondo Duplantis’ dominance with a 6.17m clearance this season but Duplantis reminded everyone why he’s the clear world No.1 with yet another world record last week of 6.31m – and he believes he can go even higher soon.
Duplantis is going for his fourth world indoor title in Torun and coincidentally the Polish town is where he set his first-ever world record in 2020.
Long Jump: Bulgarian jumper Bozhidar Saraboyukov has produced a huge world-leading leap of 8.45m during the indoor season.
Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece remains the benchmark in major championship thanks to his consistency and ability to deliver big jumps under pressure. And watch out for Italian talent Mattia Furlani.
Triple Jump:Yasser Triki of Algeria leads the 2026 rankings, while Andy Díaz of Italy defends the title he won in Nanjing last year.
Shot put: Leonardo Fabbri of Italy leads the rankings with an outdoor 22.50m this season with Americans Roger Steen and Jordan Geist also breaking the 22-metre barrier in 2026.
You can expect Tom Walsh of New Zealand to put up a fierce defence of his title, though, whereas British hopes lie with multiple national champion Scott Lincoln.
Heptathlon: The heptathlon will test athletes across seven events over two days: 60m, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1000m.
Swiss athlete Simon Ehammer brings exceptional long-jump ability that often gives him a major points advantage and he leads the rankings with 6416 this season.
4x400m: It is hard to look beyond the United States, the reigning champions and rankings leaders with 3:02.55.
Women
60m: The women’s 60m could be one of the fastest races of the championships, with Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred in fine form. Alfred has already clocked 6.99 this winter, the joint world-leading mark for 2026, confirming her status as the athlete to beat.
Italy’s Zaynab Dosso has matched that time this season and has been consistently strong on the World Indoor Tour, making her one of the biggest challengers for gold.
Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith has also returned to strong form indoors, highlighted by a 7.05 win at the UK Indoor Championships ahead of Amy Hunt, who has since improved to 7.04.
Patrizia van der Weken of Luxembourg will be trying to make an impact, too, whereas the event includes European under-20 champion Kelly Doualla who, at 16, is the youngest athlete at the championships.
400m: Dutch star Lieke Klaver has been one of the standout performers of the indoor season and topped the World Athletics Indoor Tour standings in the event as she goes for her first world individual title.
Look out too for Henriette Jaeger of Norway, the world leader with 50.62 who won bronze 12 months ago, Emma Zapletalová of Slovakia and Natalia Bukowieka of Poland. Neither reigning champ Amber Anning, world leader Ella Onojuvwevwo nor NCAA indoor champion Dejanea Oakley are racing.
800m: The women’s 800m is likely to be one of the headline events of the championships thanks to the remarkable form of Keely Hodgkinson. The Olympic champion recently broke the long-standing indoor world record with 1:54.87 in Liévin, establishing herself as the clear favourite in Toruń.
Hodgkinson’s aggressive front-running style has made her difficult to beat when she controls the pace from the start. Switzerland’s Audrey Werro, who finished second in that record race, has also shown impressive form this winter and could contend for a medal.
1500m: Ethiopia’s Birke Haylom has been one of the standout athletes of the indoor season, topping the World Indoor Tour standings in the event.
But Britain’s Georgia Hunter Bell has run slightly quicker this season with a world lead of 4:00.04.
Further contenders include Agathe Guillemot of France, Saron Berhe of Ethiopia and Jemma Reekie of Britain.
3000m: Ethiopia takes the World Indoor Championships seriously – so much so that they topped the medals table in 2022 ahead of the United States.
This was primarily due to their distance runners and they will be going for gold in the women’s 3000m with defending champion Freweyni Hailu and Aleshign Baweke.
Olympic and world medallist Nadia Battocletti from Italy will be striving to make an impact, though, plus Britain’s Hannah Nuttall, American Emily MacKay and Australian duo Linden Hall and Jess Hull, the latter of whom is also entered for the 1500m.
60m hurdles: Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas recently closed out the World Indoor Tour season with another victory in Toruń, underlining her consistency and speed over the barriers. In Poland this weekend she is going for a hat-trick of world indoor titles, too.
Ditaji Kambundji, the world 100m hurdles champion from Switzerland, is also a top contender, plus Nadine Visser of the Netherlands and home Polish hope Pia Skrzyszowska.
High Jump: Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh remains the benchmark in the event thanks to her remarkable consistency at heights above 2.00 metres. The Ukrainian won the European indoor title in the same arena in 2021, too.
But Nicola Olyslagers of Australia is going for her third world indoor title and is always tough to beat and she is joined in the Aussie team by Eleanor Patterson.
They will likely face strong competition from athletes such as Yulia Levchenko of Ukraine and rising star Angelina Topic of Serbia.
You can guarantee a great atmosphere in the arena, too, if Poland’s Maria Żodzik gets in the mix. Fellow Pole Kamila Licwinko won gold in this event on Polish soil in Sopot in 2014.
Pole Vault: Can Molly Caudery get back on the podium again after the disappointment of the Paris Olympics and World Champs last year in Tokyo? The 2024 world indoor champion has been steadily building back to top form this winter after injury in Tokyo and has come into this championships a little under the radar.
Main rivals are likely to be Eliza McCartney of New Zealand and Tina Sutej of Slovenia.
Long Jump: Portugal’s Agate De Sousa leads the 2026 world list with a jump of 6.97m, while Italy’s Larissa Iapichino is close behind with 6.93m.
Both athletes have shown the ability to deliver big jumps early in competitions, which can put pressure on the rest of the field.
Further contenders include American duo Jasmine Moore and Monae’ Nichols but it is a fairly wide open competition.
Triple Jump: This event will likely be led by world record-holder Yulimar Rojas, whose dominance over the event has defined the discipline in recent years.
The Venezuelan athlete has been returning from Achilles surgery in 2024, though, which caused her to miss the Paris Olympics and she won “only” a minor medal at the World Champs last year.
She believes she is almost back to her best, though, as she goes for her fourth world indoor crown.
READ MORE: Rojas: “I am pure fire and strength.”
Rivals are likely to include Olympic champion Thea LaFond of Dominica and world champion Leyanis Pérez of Cuba.
Shot put: Chase Jackson has been in fine form this winter and it looks like being an intriguing shoot-out between the American and two-time and reigning world indoor champion Sarah Mitton of Canada, Olympic champion Yemisi Ogunleye of Germany and reigning world and European champion Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands, with the latter also being the world No.1 so far in 2026.
Will we see Valerie Adams’ championship record of 20.67m set in Poland in Sopot in 2014 fall?
Pentathlon: The women’s pentathlon—comprising 60m hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 800m—often produces one of the most dramatic competitions of the championships.
Anna Hall, the reigning world heptathlon champion, leads the world rankings with 4831.
Ireland’s Kate O’Connor, the 2025 world silver medallist in the heptathlon, has continued to show strong form and remains a major contender.
Britain’s Abi Pawlett will also be aiming to make an impact. Watch out as well for Taliyah Brooks of the United States, Sandrina Sprengel from Germany and Sofie Dokter of the Netherlands with reigning champion Saga Vanninen of Finland missing.
4x400m: United States were runaway winners last year and once again the hot favourites on paper but the home nation should put up a fight with a team that is likely to include Natalia Bukowiecka.
Mixed 4x400m: This event makes its debut at the World Indoor Champs. The Americans will be tough to beat but look out for Netherlands, Poland and Belgium to provide the biggest challenge.
Timetable and results here