Most of us may not have won a medal at last week’s World Athletics Indoor Championships, but as it turns out, that doesn’t prevent you from feeling the championship high. And then the subsequent championship low, when Monday hits and it’s all over. Luckily for us though, the outdoor season didn’t waste any time in getting going. It was indoors done and on to the next, all in one fell swoop. No time to feel anything but the familiar rush of fast times, and record performances. Although come to think of it, maybe now’s a good time to reflect.
1. The 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships- in numbers
46 National Records…
Were set across the championships. Most of them belonged to Portugal, with 5 of its athletes making history that weekend. The very last to do so was long jump champion Gerson Baldé, who set a national record of 8.46m in the final round to snatch the title from Mattia Furlani of Italy.
Interestingly though, in the men’s 400m, Venezuelan athlete Javier Gómez set a national record of 46.96 in heat 5, only to then see it lowered to 46.70 by his teammate Kelvis Padrino in heat 6.
1 World Record…
Was broken at the World Athletics Indoor Championships, and it wasn’t in the pole vault! After starting off day 2 with a 60m hurdle heptathlon world best of 7.52, Simon Ehammer of Switzerland then finished it by breaking another one of Ashton Eaton’s records. His world record. The American’s 14 year old score of 6645 is no longer the highest ever- 6670 is. Simon Ehammer reclaimed his world indoor title from 2024, and got his first ever world record in the process. A very successful two days for him.
28 Minutes…
Was how long it took for Great Britain to win 3 gold medals on Sunday, moving it up to 2nd place on the medal table with a total of 4. Georgia Hunter Bell won gold in the 1500m, followed by Molly Caudery in the pole vault, and then Keely Hodgkinson completed the triple in the 800m. 3 women, 3 back-to-back golds.
18 Medals…
Were won by the USA across the World Athletics Indoor Championships, topping the medal table for the 3rd year in a row. 5 golds, 7 silvers and 6 bronze. Spain earned the second highest number of medals with 5, but as only one of them was gold, finished 6th on the medal table.
27 Years…
Is the age of the oldest record broken at these Championships. Keely Hodgkinson’s 800m winning time of 1:55.30 broke Ludila Formanova’s championship record of 1:56.90 from 1999 by over a second and a half.
5 World Indoor Champions…
Won their first ever global medal on the track this weekend. 1 woman and 4 men, and 4 of whom had never even attended a World Indoor Championships before! Of the 6 male track champions the average age was 23, whereas on the women’s side it was 26. In the championships as a whole, the oldest medallist was Tina Sutej who won silver in the women’s pole vault at age 37. The youngest was 17 year old Cooper Lutkenhaus, the men’s 800m champion.
1 Title Defence…
Was successful on the track. Out of the 3 reigning champions who returned this year, only Devynne Charlton in the women’s 60m hurdles managed to hold on to her title. And not just hold on to it. She secured her third win in a row, the only woman to ever do so in her event.
2. The US Half Marathon trial disaster finally gets solved
How many weeks in a row have I talked about the US half marathon trials? 3? It’s crazy how one wrong turn and the loss of a few minutes can give you so much to discuss, but luckily for you, and for me, this is the last time.
In case the details went awash with all the world championship excitement, let me start with a recap. At the female US half marathon trials a few weeks ago, the leading pack of 3 women (Jess Mcclain out in front, closely followed by Emma Hurley and Ednah Kurgat), were led off course when a lead motorcycle took a wrong turn. The incident happened with less than 2 miles to go, meaning these women were almost certain to come top 3. And yet as a result they lost not only time, but their positioning. The 3 women who crossed the line first, were an entirely different group.
USATF refused to change the official results, finding no basis upon which to do so, and the reason this mattered so much was not just the prize money. A top 3 spot would have guaranteed them selection for the World Road Running Championships in Copenhagen this year. The first problem was easily solved: Atlanta Track Club paid the respective prize money these 3 women were on track to earn. The second problem of the championship team however, was a bit more complicated. USATF ended up sending a special request to World Athletics, and this week, we finally got to learn the details.
What did World Athletics decide?
Instead of the usual team of 4, the USA has been allowed, on an exceptional basis, to send 7 female athletes to the World Road Running Championships. This therefore allows those 3 women who didn’t officially make the team, to attend alongside the recorded top 3 finishers and a spot for qualification via world ranking. But there’s a catch: only 3 athletes can score for team USA. The other 4 can run, sure they can even win, but there’ll be no medals, no prize money, and no points for the team. The only thing they’ll officially earn, are world ranking points.
This decision has stirred up quite the reaction. Would the same be done for any other country? Is this just preferential treatment? What is even the point? That last one resonates the most with me. After all, given the 3 women led off course are the USA’s fastest women, it seems likely they’ll be the ones chosen to score. The other 3 weren’t technically supposed to compete at the championships in the first place, so if all that’s on the table are world ranking points, why go all the way to Copenhagen to earn them? Not to mention all the extra asterisks that have had to be added on to the competition’s rules, including one preventing the US runners all forming one big pack, and who knows how that can possibly be enforced.
One set of chaos has definitely been resolved, but somehow it feels like another entirely new one has been created in the process.
3. The London Marathon- Sifan Hassan is out, and a 2 day event is in?
Plenty of revelations concerning the London Marathon this week. First was the one that Sifan Hassan, 2023 winner in an incredible marathon debut which involved casually stopping midway to stretch out her leg, is no longer running. After her third place finish last year she was hoping to make a return not just to London, but to the top of the podium, although unfortunately her achilles was not so onboard with the plan. So there will be no Sifan Hassan at the 2026 London Marathon. The women’s elite field took a blow, but it still stands incredibly strong. 3 entries are in the marathon all-time top 10, including former world record holder and reigning London champion Tigist Assefa, and Olympic bronze medallist Julia Paternain is still on track to make her debut.
What is planned for the 2027 London Marathon?
This year’s London Marathon will be great, there’s no doubt. It’s next year’s we have questions about. Earlier this week it was revealed that organisers are considering holding the 2027 edition over two days rather than one. A record 1.1 million people applied this year via the public ballot, a feat which now occurs practically ever year. London and New York have been passing records back and forth when it comes to the number of applicants and marathon finishers. The only difference is this year the New York Marathon’s public acceptance rate hit an all-time low of 1%, and the London Marathon is getting eerily close to that figure at 5%.
Apparently the London Marathon organisers simply don’t have the heart in them to say no, so are instead saying yes to double the number of people, and double the number of marathons. 100,000 people and 2 marathons across 2 days. Charity-wise it’s a great solution: a lot more money can be raised if a lot more people can run, but when it comes to marathon-running as a competitive sport, that’s where it starts to tear at the seams.
Should the London Marathon take place over two days?
A lot of people now run marathons for fun. Like almost everything nowadays, it’s a trend. Maybe even a phase, who knows. But just as many people run marathons to compete. The whole idea of the marathon majors was built on showcasing elite competition. There is also joy in taking running seriously. A 2-day London Marathon would separate the elite men’s and women’s races across both days. Since most of those additional entries would be charity runners and not avid competitors, it would also likely shift the spotlight to them. What are the chances that the men’s elite race takes place on the first day and everyone rushes there to watch, but come the second day there far fewer spectators for the women’s race?
Amidst all this sudden fanfare, the actual sport of major marathon running seems to be getting lost in the crowd. A crowd that will only get bigger if London takes place on two days, big enough to swallow it whole. Everyone has fun at the London Marathon- it’s what it’s known for. But not everyone runs it for fun. Elite competitors don’t make money for charity, but what they do do is make the major marathons what they are today. That deserves equal value.
4. Australians come out on top at the Maurie Plant Meet
They say competing at home gives you an advantage, and for the Australians racing at this weekend’s Maurie Plant Meet that may ring true. Although so does a whole lot of talent, and in the case of Claudia Hollingsworth in particular, also the fact that your main competitor won a world indoor title less than one week ago.
Australia was the first stop on the Continental Tour Gold, and Georgia Hunter Bell wasted no time in kicking off her outdoor season, flying straight from Poland to Melbourne almost as soon as that gold medal was hung round her neck. Understandably, she didn’t have quite the same kick in her as last weekend, and couldn’t chase down a strong finishing Claudia Hollingsworth, who came through in 4:01.30 compared to Hunter-Bell’s 4:01.52.
Australia’s Cam Myers on the other hand was not running on tired legs. The 19 year old destroyed the men’s 1500m field, winning by a 7 second margin and clocking his second fastest time ever, which also happens to be the fastest time ever recorded on Australian soil. 3:30.42.
The Josh Kerr vs Cole Hocker 1500m rivalry might just have earned itself a third wheel.
5. Dalilah Muhammad isn’t retiring- she’s trying the 800m instead
Normally, March is the month for easing in to the outdoor season. Starting slowly, gradually building up in distance and intensity, until by June, you’re ready to go. Opening up with an 800m in March, I would say, is the exact opposite of that. But it just so happened to be what many 400m runners decided to do this weekend.
The 400m to 800m switch seems to be trending right now. Femke Bol‘s announcement last year was the spark, and her incredibly successful debut 4 months later set it all alight. Gianna Woodruff, world 400m hurdle finalist last year. Dalilah Muhammad, former 400m hurdle world record holder. Marileidy Paulino, world 400m silver medallist. 3 world class 400m athletes who all stepped out over the 800m this weekend. They may not necessarily be switching events, but even to dabble in the 800m is something I doubt we would have seen a few years ago. We’re in an era of athletics that’s all about testing limits, and it’s never been so exciting.
Is Dalilah Muhammad retiring or not?
Perhaps that was what pulled Dalilah Muhammad out of retirement: unfinished business. You would have thought it was with the 400m hurdles, given both Sydney Mclaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol have changed focus, but maybe it’s the 800m instead. In her first race over the distance in 11 years, she came 2nd in a time of 2:04.51. Dalilah Muhammad said last year that 2025 would be her last season, but in 2026 where there are no major championships for the Americans, now’s the time to see if there’s more where that came from.
Marileidy Paulino was the other surprise. The 3rd fastest woman of all-time over the 400m, 1 of 3 to ever go under 48 seconds, opened her season over the 800m. Not quite as fast as Dalilah Muhammad with 2:04.79, but this race was a comfortable win. Maybe Femke Bol’s 400m speed won’t be unmatched in the 800m this season after all.
Say what you want about Jarmila Kratochvilova, but she was the last woman to successfully compete in the 400m and 800m in major competitions. Since then athletes have either gone one way or the other, but it might just be time to bring the double back.
Hello outdoors
There’s no denying it: the 2026 indoor season was one for the ages. But after the brief glimpse we got this weekend, I think it’s safe to say we’re in good hands with the outdoor season. The World Athletics Indoor Championships were just the springboard, and now it’s time for take-off.
Written by- Rosana Ercilla
