The Czech Indoor Gala once again confirmed its status among the world’s best indoor meetings. This year’s edition delivered a European record and nine meeting records. Among Czech athletes, the standout performer was Lurdes Gloria Manuel.
The highlight of this year’s Czech Indoor Gala was provided by Hungarian 400 m runner Attila Molnár. A year ago, he missed the European record in the Ostrava arena by just three hundredths of a second. This time, however, the long-standing mark jointly held by Germany’s Thomas Schönlebe and Norway’s Karsten Warholm finally fell. Molnár improved it by four hundredths to 45.01, making him the fastest European in indoor history. Dutchman Jonas Segers equaled his national record with a time of 45.48. Belgian Daniel Segers, winner of the first heat, also dipped under 46 seconds with 45.94. He was closely followed by the fastest Czech, Matěj Krsek, who significantly improved his seasonal best to 46.12. Vít Müller was also satisfied with his 46.28. Tomáš Horák lowered his own Czech junior record by another five hundredths to 46.31 and came within just 0.15 seconds of the European U19 all-time best held by Britain’s Edward Faulds.
Dutch quarter-miler Lieke Klaver claimed her fourth consecutive victory at the Czech Indoor Gala, but this time she had to fight hard all the way to the finish. She was strongly challenged by Lurdes Gloria Manuel and Emma Zapletalová, with all three entering the home straight virtually together. Klaver ultimately held on to win in a world-leading time of 51.00. Lurdes Gloria Manuel finished right behind her in a new personal best of 51.12, improving her previous career mark by two hundredths after nearly a year-long competition break and comfortably meeting the tough qualifying standard for the World Indoor Championships in Toruń. Emma Zapletalová ran a new Slovak national record of 51.24. For Lada Vondrová, the race did not go well tactically and she was not satisfied with her 52.34, though she did at least record a confirmation performance for Toruń.
The Ostrava arena witnessed a 22-metre shot put throw for the first time ever. American Jordan Geist produced it with an excellent second attempt that landed at 22.04, improving the six-year-old meeting record of Poland’s Konrad Bukowiecki by 16 centimetres and making him the first shot putter this season to surpass 22 metres. Former record holder Bukowiecki had to settle for third place with 20.60, as he was also beaten by the winner of Sunday’s New York meeting, Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell (21.04). The only Czech competitor, Tadeáš Procházka, finished eighth with 18.31.
In the pole vault, the competition for victory was decided at 4.70 metres. Experienced Slovenian Tina Šutej cleared the height on her first attempt, while Amálie Švábíková failed twice. Coached by Jiřina Kudličková, Švábíková then opted for a tactical move and saved her final attempt for 4.75, but the bar did not stay up. She thus followed up her second places from 2023 and 2024 with another second place at 4.60. Šutej recorded her sixth overall victory at this meeting. Medalists from last year’s youth championships, Viktorie Ondrová and Apolena Švábíková, shared sixth place with a clearance of 4.20.
The men’s 800 metres provided a truly spectacular race. Belgian Eliott Crestan successfully defended last year’s victory and once again improved his own meeting record, this time by almost a second to 1:43.83, which moved him to fourth place on the all-time world indoor list. Thanks to a Polish national record of 1:44.07, Maciej Wyderka climbed to sixth on the same list. Third-placed Mark English recorded a new Irish national record of 1:44.23. Fourth was Dutchman Samuel Chapple with an excellent 1:44.75. Jakub Dudycha unfortunately did not arrive in Ostrava fully healthy, which was evident from the opening metres, and he finished in 1:49.98.
Karolína Maňasová entered the 60 m heats at the Czech Indoor Gala as the current world leader and finished second in 7.20, just three hundredths behind Britain’s Amy Hunt, advancing to the final with ease. In the final, she hoped for a significant improvement and ended up sharing third place with Hunt in 7.17. Italy’s Zaynab Dosso sprinted to her first victory in Ostrava with a time of 7.09, beating Luxembourg’s defending champion Patrizia van der Weken (7.14).
The meeting record in the women’s 60 m hurdles fell already in the heats. Polish favorite Pia Skrzyszowska cut two hundredths off her own two-year-old record to 7.78, making her the fastest woman in the world this season. Helena Jiranová finished third in 8.11, which was enough to advance to the final. There, she struggled more and finished eighth in 8.23. Skrzyszowska confirmed her favorite status by winning the final in another excellent 7.80, ahead of American Alaysha Johnson (7.88) and Finland’s Lotta Harala (7.96).
In the men’s 60 m hurdles heats, Jonáš Kolomazník impressed with a new personal best of 7.82, improving his year-old career mark by two hundredths and moving into sole fifth place on the Czech all-time list. His joy was doubled as he also met the entry standard for the World Indoor Championships in Toruń. Bronze medalist from last year’s European U20 Championships Matyáš Zach equaled his personal best with 7.87, but it was not enough to reach the top eight. Kolomazník then produced an excellent start in the final and, despite a slight collision midway through the race, finished fifth in a strong field with 7.64. Poland’s Jakub Szymański won in a new meeting record and an equaled world-leading time of 7.48, ahead of American Eric Edwards (7.53), breaking the record of the legendary Cuban Dayron Robles by three hundredths.
Italian long jumper Mattia Furlani once again celebrated victory in the Ostrava arena after a year. The reigning world indoor and outdoor champion embellished his successful title defense with a new meeting record, improving last year’s mark by seven centimetres to 8.30. Second place went to three-time Czech Indoor Gala winner Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece (8.23), while Bulgarian European indoor champion Bozhidar Saraboyukov was just two centimetres behind. Among Czech athletes, Radek Juška performed as expected but his 7.76 was only enough for fifth place.
The women’s 1500 metres was clearly dominated by Ethiopian runners, who took the top three places. Birke Haylom won in a new meeting record and world-leading time of 4:00.62, lowering the two-year-old mark of her compatriot Freweyni Hailu by 0.41 seconds. Saron Behre pushed her all the way to a new world junior record of 4:01.23. Ethiopia’s dominance was confirmed by third-placed Haregeweyn Kalayu (4:01.92).
The winner of the women’s 800 metres was also Ethiopian, Nigist Getachew, the silver medalist from last year’s World Indoor Championships. She too set a meeting record, stopping the clock at 1:59.98, improving the record set just hours earlier by Slovenia’s Živa Remič from the B race by 0.75 seconds. Gabriela Gajanová celebrated a Slovak national record of 2:00.45.
If anyone truly thrives in Ostrava, it is Portuguese runner Isaac Nader. The world 1500 m champion from Tokyo recorded his third meeting record in a third consecutive event at the Czech Indoor Gala. This time he broke the 2018 record of Bahrain’s Mohammed Tiouali in the 3000 metres. Nader slashed it by more than six seconds with a time of 7:38.05, narrowly defeating South African Tshepo Tshite (7:38.17). Filip Sasínek’s attempt at the Czech record was unsuccessful, as he finished tenth in 7:53.94.