Great Britain\u2019s Georgia Hunter Bell produced a world-leading 4:00.04 in the women\u2019s 1500m at the INIT Indoor Meeting Karlsruhe while Ukraine\u2019s Yaroslava Mahuchikh produced the highlight of the meeting on the infield yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Hunter Bell followed the pacemaker through 800m in 2:08.60 before taking control of the race. Ethiopia\u2019s Birke Haylom remained within striking distance for much of the second half, but the Briton\u2019s decisive finishing speed \u2013 capped by a 28.82-second final lap \u2013 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was trying to look up at the screen to see what’s going on, but I wanted to try to lead the whole race,\u201d said Hunter Bell, the world 800m silver medallist. \u201cWhen the pacemaker dropped out, I tried to just hold that position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI’m getting used to frontrunning, it’s a new thing for me; I wanted to practice something different,\u201d added Hunter Bell, who will be targeting her first global gold at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 next month. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three weeks after opening her 2026 campaign with a world-leading 2.03m in Lviv, Mahuchikh claimed the women\u2019s high jump with a second-time clearance of 2.01m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am happy I jumped over two meters again, but of course I wanted to clear 2.04m,\u201d said Mahuchikh. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In what was her first indoor race in almost four years, Gabriela Debues-Stafford returned to winning ways to take the women\u2019s 3000m in highly convincing fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ethiopia\u2019s Yenawa Nbret had led for much of the race, then USA\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Canadian surged clear to win in 8:35.94 \u2013 the second-fastest time of her career and just two seconds shy of her PB \u2013 finishing ahead of Cranny (8:37.06) and Nbret (8:38.90).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By contrast, the men\u2019s 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\u2019s Jacob Krop (7:38.64) and Uruguay\u2019s Valentin Soca (7:38.90).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
World bronze medallist Grace Stark won the women\u2019s 60m hurdles in 7.86 in her first race of the year, but it wasn\u2019t plain sailing for the US athlete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
France\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Norway\u2019s Sondre Guttormsen won the men\u2019s pole vault with a first-time clearance at 5.84m before ending his competition with three attempts at 5.90m. USA\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diamond League champion Larissa Iapichino won the women\u2019s 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\u2019s Hilary Kpatcha finished second with 6.73m, while two-time world champion Malaika Mihambo placed fourth with 6.45m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
France\u2019s Azeddine Habz \u2013 the outdoor world leader in 2025 \u2013 took to the track for the first time this year and was rewarded with victory in the men\u2019s 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\u2019s Federico Riva closed strongly but finished second in an Italian short-track record of 3:33.94.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The men\u2019s 60m produced one of the closest finishes of the meeting, with the top four \u2013 representing four different continents \u2013 separated by just three hundredths of a second. Cameroon\u2019s Emmanuel Eseme won in 6.53 ahead of Oman\u2019s Ali Al Balushi (6.54), Germany\u2019s Owen Ansah (6.55) and Jamaica\u2019s Odaine McPherson (6.56).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, Germany\u2019s Alexander Stepanov produced a late surge to win the men\u2019s 800m in a personal best of 1:46.17, while Egypt\u2019s Bassant Hemida was the fastest winner of the three women\u2019s 400m races, clocking 51.97.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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