Two months before the event, the organizers of the Czech Indoor Gala (February 4) announce that it is sold out. The athletes will be supported again by a full arena in Ostrava. Among other things, they can look forward to another Olympic medallist.
The Czech Indoor Gala will continue to be in the highest gold category of the World Athletics Indoor Tour in 2025. It ranks among the nine highest quality events of the tour, which is why the biggest stars of the current queen of sports are coming to Ostrava. They will be welcomed by a sold-out arena.
„It will again be an extraordinary two-hour athletic spectacle and I am pleased with the great interest in the start of the world’s leading athletes and our local stars. I am happy that it is sold out, the atmosphere in the arena will be great. Those who won’t be able to be in the arena can look forward to the live broadcast on Czech TV,“ says Libor Varhaník, the President of the Czech Athletic Federation.
The Czech long-jump duo will challenge Furlani
After the Canadian pole vaulter Alysha Newman, another athlete who reached the podium at the recent Olympic Games in Paris has confirmed his participation at the upcoming Czech Indoor Gala. It is the bronze medallist in this year’s competition under five rings in the long jump event, Italy’s Mattia Furlani.
The 19-year-old talent has had a unique season. Although he still fell into the junior category in terms of age, he already flew to silver at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow in March. Subsequently, he also shone on home soil at the European Championships in Rome, where he took the same precious metal in the junior world record of 8.38 metres and topped his medal record with Olympic bronze. His performance earned him the Rising Star Award from World Athletics for the best under-20 athlete of the year. It will be his first time in the Czechia.
„I am very excited to be able to participate in this year’s Czech Indoor Gala,” Furlani said. “After taking some time to enjoy the success of this year during the off-season as well as rededicating myself to a very good winter training program, I really can’t wait to see what 2025 will bring. Mostly, I can’t wait to compete in front of the public in Ostrava. I’ve heard so many great things about competing in front of Czech athletics fans, and I hope to do my best for them.“
Experienced Juška…
Furlani will face In the Ostrava sector among others, a pair of our elite long-distance runners. The Czech record holder Radek Juška is a traditional participant of the Czech Indoor Gala and even dominated it in 2021. Last year, he reached 8.03 metres, beaten only by the star Greek Miltiadis Tentoglou. This year Radek jumped the Olympic final with Furlani, in which he finished tenth, after having shone in the qualification with a fine performance of 8,15 m.
„I look forward to the Czech Indoor Gala every year because it is a competition on home soil and I am very comfortable jumping in Ostrava. I hope that we will be in good shape and we will show an exciting duel of experience against youth and the spectators will enjoy it,“ says Juška.
…and youngster Meindlschmid
Eighteen-year-old Petr Meindlschmid was shining this season. He improved the junior national record four times and, like Furlani, recorded his most valuable career jump to date in the European Championships final in Rome, where he cleared 8.03 m and jumped to a flattering seventh place in the senior continental competition. He was then the youngest member of the Czech athletics team at the Paris Olympics.
Meindlschmid competed at the Czech Indoor Gala for the first time this year and finished seventh, which is certainly not something he will settle for this time. „We had a great atmosphere at the Czech Indoor Gala last time, so I am looking forward to it this time as well. I believe I will be in good shape. Training is going according to plan so far, so I would like to put in a good performance. The competition in the form of Furlani is a big attraction. It will be a challenge for me to compete again with someone from my age group who is at the highest level,“ says the crown prince of the Czech long jump.
Home champion against elite Brits
The men’s 60 metres flat has been part of every edition of the Czech Indoor Gala so far and the upcoming one will be no exception. Home matador Zdenek Stromšík was absent for the first time this year when he was unable to compete due to a minor muscle injury. Shortly afterwards, however, he won his fifth national title in a quality time of 6.60. He achieved his most valuable career performances at the national championships in Ostrava arena, but he hasn’t done so well at the Czech Indoor Gala. His best is third place from 2020, and he would certainly like to change that.
However, the Czech number one will have a hard time in the strong competition. British Jeremiah Azu will try to follow up his 2023 triumph in Ostrava. A member of the British bronze medal-winning relay team from the Olympic Games in Paris, he boasts a personal best of 9.97 in the 100 and can complete the 60 in 6.56. He finished fourth at last year’s Czech Indoor Gala. Azu has been one of Europe’s top athletes for several years, as evidenced by his bronze in the 100 at the 2022 European Championships in Munich.
Another top representative of the British sprint school at the start should be Romell Glave, the 100m bronze medallist at this year’s European Championships in Rome, whose personal best over the distance is 10.02.
Sweden’s national 60m record holder Henrik Larsson will also return to Ostrava after a year. He set the record when he won the bronze medal at the Istanbul Indoor Championships two years ago, when he flew the straight in 6.53. He also finished thi
rd at the last Czech Indoor Gala, which was his first start in the Ostrava athletics arena.