The World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze delivered the highest-quality edition in the history of the championships, underlining its status as a key milestone in a packed global athletics calendar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a competition performance score of 49,516, the three-day event \u2013 which concluded on Sunday (22) \u2013 set a new benchmark for the World Indoor Championships, surpassing the previous best of 49,348 achieved in Belgrade in 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the second of six World Athletics Series events in 2026 \u2013 and the only classic senior global track and field championships of the year \u2013 Kujawy Pomorze provided a major stage for athletes to test themselves against the world\u2019s best, while also offering an early indication of form ahead of the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship later this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe World Indoor Championships in Kujawy Pomorze was a veritable feast of athletics,\u201d said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. \u201cRecords have been broken on and off the field of play and our athletes were awe inspiring. Poland has been a fantastic host, with enthusiastic and knowledgeable crowds in one of the heartlands of global athletics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe World Indoor Championships continues to go from strength to strength. While we reflect on a remarkable edition of our indoor showpiece, we can also look forward to the next two editions, heading to India in 2028 and Kazakhstan in 2030, as well as a host of global events still to come this year, including the inaugural Ultimate Championship.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Records and participation<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Two world records highlighted a competition of exceptional depth and quality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Switzerland\u2019s Simon Ehammer produced a world record of 6670 to win the men\u2019s heptathlon, also setting a world heptathlon best of 7.52 in the 60m hurdles along the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bahamas\u2019 Devynne Charlton equalled her own world and championship record of 7.65 to win the women\u2019s 60m hurdles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Six championship records were set across the programme – 44.76 by Canada’s Christopher Morales Williams in the men\u2019s 400m; 1:55.30\u00a0by Briton Keely Hodgkinson in the women\u2019s 800m; 7.65 (=CR) by Bahamian Devynne Charlton in the women\u2019s 60m hurdles; 6.25m by Mondo Duplantis of Swerden in the men\u2019s pole vault; 6670 points by Swiss Simon\u00a0Ehammer\u00a0in the men\u2019s heptathlon\u00a0and 3:01.52 by the United States men\u2019s 4x400m\u00a0quartet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elsewhere,\u00a0USA\u2019s\u00a0Anna Hall set a championship pentathlon\u00a0800m\u00a0best of 2:06.32.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n A total of 632 athletes from 111 countries competed in Kujawy Pomorze, comprising 323 men and a record 309 women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Across the three days of\u00a0competition, athletes produced 12 world-leading marks; seven\u00a0area records; 46 national records\u00a0and 174 personal bests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The medals\u00a0table reflected the global spread of success with 16 countries winning gold medals; 32 countries reaching the podium\u00a0and 50 countries achieving at least least one\u00a0top-eight\u00a0finish.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The United States topped the medals table with five gold, seven silver and six bronze medals, extending its all-time tally at the World Indoors to 324 medals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Milestones and standout achievements<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n The championships also delivered a series of notable individual milestones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mondo Duplantis continued his remarkable dominance. There have been nine global championships so far this decade, and the Swedish pole vaulter has won gold at all nine (two Olympics, three World Championships, four World Indoors). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Shot putter Tom Walsh of New Zealand added to his record medal haul with his fourth title and seventh medal. No other man in history has earned more medals at the World Indoor Championships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n USA\u2019s Cooper Lutkenhaus became the youngest ever individual medallist and champion in World Indoor Championships history, while Devynne Charlton became the first athlete to win three world indoor titles in the women\u2019s 60m hurdles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Spain\u2019s 1500m winner Mariano Garc\u00eda, the gold medallist over 800m in 2022, became the first athlete to win world indoor titles at both middle-distance events, while Colombia\u2019s Natalia Linares secured her country\u2019s first ever World Indoor Championships medal with bronze in the long jump. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The championships also had record depth in the men\u2019s and women\u2019s 60m, men\u2019s and women\u2019s pole vault, and men\u2019s 60m hurdles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Strong engagement on and off the track<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n The championships welcomed more than 20,000 spectators across the weekend, with both the Saturday and Sunday evening sessions completely sold out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n More than 70 rights-holding broadcasters delivered coverage across over 130 territories, complemented by global access via the World Athletics+ streaming platform. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The event attracted significant global attention, with 280 accredited media on site, including 141 press and 120 photographers, alongside broadcasters and content creators. About 1100 interviews were conducted in the mixed zone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In traditional media coverage, there was a 72% increase in media visibility compared to the 2024 edition of the championships in Glasgow \u2013 which was the previous highest \u2013 with 90,000 articles and a potential reach of 41.6 billion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nearly 1000 journalists and commentators \u2013 both on-site and remote \u2013 used the smart live commentary system. More than 11,000 official data messages and 28,000 live tracking data points were processed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Digital engagement continued to grow, with a 40% increase in World Athletics website users compared to the 2025 edition and a 60% rise in participation in the \u2018Predict the Podium\u2019 game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In terms of World Athletics\u2019 social media channels, YouTube had 17.3 million impressions and 3 million views, while Facebook had 25.2 million views. Reach on Instagram and TikTok was 2.5 million on each channel, with 37.3 million views on Instagram and 4.1 million video views on TikTok. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The MOWA exhibition attracted 55,000 visitors in the lead-up to and during the championships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The championships also placed sustainability and athlete welfare at the centre of its delivery. The local organising committee targeted gold-level achievement under the Athletics for a Better World Standard, with a range of initiatives embedded across the event. While the audit process is ongoing, sustainability was a clear priority throughout planning and delivery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, 323 female athletes completed SRY gene screening tests as part of ongoing athlete support and eligibility processes. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze delivered the highest-quality edition in the history of the championships, underlining its status as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-10861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-athletics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t