Czech Indoor Gala has completed another successful edition. Several world-leading performances and meet records were witnessed, reinforcing Ostrava’s place in the highest gold category of the World Athletics Indoor Tour.
The men’s 400m saw the meet record broken twice. First, Poland’s Maksymilian Szwed surpassed the previous record held by Jamaica’s Edino Steele by three-tenths, clocking 45.81. However, in the next race, Hungary’s Attila Molnár ran even faster, attacking the European record jointly held by Germany’s Thomas Schönlebe and Norway’s Karsten Warholm. He fell just three hundredths short with a time of 45.08. Matej Krsek finished second with a new personal best of 45.85, improving by one hundredth, while Michal Desenský was the second-fastest Czech athlete with 46.89.
In the women’s 400m, the Netherlands‘ Lieke Klaver claimed victory for the third consecutive time, setting this year’s world-leading time of 50.92. She was followed by Lada Vondrová, competing in her first individual 400m since the Paris Olympics. However, she was not the fastest Czech athlete, as Nikoleta Jíchová ran 52.07 in the first heat, making her the eighth-fastest Czech woman in indoor history. Tereza Petržilková clocked 52.51, while Lurdes Gloria Manuel finished in 52.61.
Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu, who set the meet record in the mile last year, aimed for another historic achievement in Ostrava, this time in the 3000m. She shattered the seven-year-old record of Kenya’s Hellen Obiri, improving it by over 14 seconds with 8:24.17, moving to eighth in world all-time rankings. Portugal’s Salomé Afonso finished second, more than 15 seconds behind her. Diana Mezuliáníková placed tenth with 9:06.35, while junior runner Jana Johanová handled the elite competition well, setting a personal best of 8:26.04.
One of the event’s highlights was the men’s 800m. Belgian favorite Eliott Crestan dominated, setting a new meet record of 1:44.69, improving the previous mark by Kenya’s Collins Kipruto from 2020 by 1.89 seconds. This also placed him seventh in European all-time rankings. Italian Catalin Tecuceanu (1:45.35) and Algeria’s Slimane Moula (1:45.50) completed the podium. Czech runner Jakub Dudycha displayed excellent form, finishing sixth with a personal best of 1:46.25, just 16 hundredths short of Jakub Holuša’s national record from 2010. Daniel Kotyza also performed well, running 1:46.64, close to his career-best.
Portugal’s Isaac Nader returned to Ostrava to defend his title, this time in the mile. Like last year, he also set a new meet record, clocking 3:54.17, improving Serbian Elzan Bibic’s two-year-old mark by almost two seconds. He was closely followed by Britain’s Elliot Giles (3:54.62) and Sweden’s Samuel Pihlström (3:54.78). Czech runner Jan Friš finished sixth, breaking the national record with 3:56.29, improving Filip Sasínek’s 2023 meet record by 1.33 seconds. Filip Toul set a new Czech junior record with 4:00.13.
Czech shot put record holder Tomáš Staněk opened with a superb 20.91m throw, improving his season-best by 42cm from the Jablonec meet. However, he could not improve further and placed fourth in a highly competitive field. The podium required throws beyond 21m. Italy’s Zane Weir won with a world-leading 21.39m, ahead of Romania’s Andrei Rares Toader, who set a national record with 21.21m, and last year’s champion, American Roger Steen, who reached 21.09m.
Slovenian pole vaulter Tina Šutej continued her strong performances in Ostrava, winning her fifth Czech Indoor Gala title. She was the only one to clear 4.70m successfully. The battle for second place was close, with Canada’s Olympic bronze medalist Alysha Newman and Czech record holder Amálie Švábíková both clearing 4.50m. Newman succeeded on her first attempt, while Švábíková needed two tries, giving the advantage to the Canadian.
Sweden’s Erik Erlandsson arrived in Ostrava as the world leader in the men’s 200m and confirmed his dominance, winning with a world-leading time of 20.43 and breaking the meet record by 21 hundredths. Tomáš Němejc was the only other athlete to dip under 21 seconds, clocking 20.93.
The men’s long jump meet record also fell, as Italy’s Mattia Furlani leaped 8.23m, surpassing Sweden’s Thobias Montler’s two-year-old record by 2cm. Montler had to settle for third with 8.01m, behind Bulgaria’s Bozhidar Sharaboyukov, who jumped 8.12m. Among Czech athletes, Radek Juška performed best, finishing fifth with 7.88m, while Petr Meindlschmid placed sixth with a season-best 7.79m.
American Ronnie Baker won the men’s 60m sprint, equaling the season’s world-leading time of 6.50, just one hundredth short of Kim Collins’ meet record. Cuba’s Reynier Mena finished second in 6.55, while Britain’s Romell Glave was third in 6.56, also setting a new European record for the indoor 50m with a 5.69 split.
The women’s 60m sprint saw a thrilling battle between world leader Patrizia van der Weken and last year’s champion and meet record holder, Poland’s Ewa Swoboda. Van der Weken won with 7.08, just one hundredth shy of her national record and the meet record. Swoboda ran 7.09. Karolína Maňasová placed third, improving her season-best to 7.19.
Slovakia’s Gabriela Gajanová dominated the women’s 800m, winning in 2:02.16 ahead of Finland’s Eveliina Määttänen (2:02.40) and Switzerland’s Rachel Pellaud (2:02.63). Kimberley Ficenec finished sixth with a personal best of 2:03.99.
National Program
The men’s 60m hurdles junior national record was broken for the third time this season. Following Michal Rada and Matyáš Zach, Adam Šulc lowered it by another hundredth to 7.72. Slovakia’s Peter Dávid also ran impressively, finishing second in 7.77. In the women’s hurdles, Viktoria Forster won in 8.19, while Ester Bendová placed third with a personal best of 8.35. Pavla Kvasničková set a new PB of 7.37 in the 60m and added another in the 200m with 23.84, slightly behind Barbora Šplechtnová’s 23.80.
Slovakia’s Patrik Dömötör set a new national indoor 400m record with 46.63. Czech junior Lukáš Mareš ran a personal best of 47.48, while Tereza Fusková’s 800m time of 2:06.22 placed her third in Czech junior all-time rankings. Jan Tesař was the fastest in the men’s 800m national program with 1:49.26. In the triple jump, Emma Maštalířová achieved a significant seasonal improvement, winning with 13.25m.
Petr Jelínek