In less than a week until the start of the Czech Indoor Gala in Ostrava, the fans can look forward to the strong field in the running events. The women’s mile will have its premiere with the participation of elite Ethiopian women.
The strong Ethiopians on one mile
Despite the fact that the women’s one-mile race will take place at the Czech Indoor Gala for the first time ever, its starting list is indeed packed. We can look forward to Freweyni Hailu of Ethiopia. The world indoor silver medallist from Belgrade 2022 and the silver medallist from the recent world championships in road running just on the one-mile course belongs to the world’s elite. This is also confirmed by her fourth places from the Olympic Games in Tokyo or the World Athletics Championship in Eugene. She has already competed in Ostrava in the past. In the 2021 season, she won Ostrava Golden Spike meeting. She can be proud of a top personal record of 3:55.68 at the 1500m.
An even more valuable career maximum is held by her compatriot Hirut Meshesha, who improved her personal best to 3:54.87 last year during her triumph at the Diamond League in Chorzów. At the world indoor championship in Belgrade, she finished in bronze position just behind Freweyni Hailu. Even for her, Ostrava is not completely unknown. Last year, she finished second at Golden Spike.
The European indoor champion from Torun 2021 Belgian Elise Vanderelst, the silver medallist from EICH in Istanbul 2023 Claudia Bobocea of Romania or the Danish running talent Sofia Thogersen will be among the elite European female runners. Simona Vrzalová and Diana Mezuliáníková, who are returning after a maternity break, also appear in the preliminary starting list. „The Czech Indoor Gala is like a little Golden Spike for me, and I honestly didn’t think that I would ever be in such a shape again to dare to run such a high-quality race. I look forward to it and appreciate the fact that I can be a part of it again,“ says the Czech record holder Simona Vrzalová, who set the value of the currently valid national historical maximum at the Czech Indoor Gala just five years ago.
The 1500m meeting record in threat
The meeting record of the men’s 1500m was set in 2022 with 3:35.93 by Briton Elliot Giles. This year, there will be several hot candidates to beat him at the start. One of them is undoubtedly Giles‘ compatriot Jake Heyward. The silver medallist from the European Athletics Championships in Munich and the former European U18 and U20 champion can run 1500m under the open sky in 3:31.08.
The Portuguese U23 bronze medallist from Tallinn 2021 and finalist of last year’s World Championships in Budapest, Isaac Nader, who finished fourth at the Ostrava Golden Spike less than a year ago, has a slightly slower career best of 3:31.49. The Kenyan running school is represented by Brian Komen (PR 3:33.84). The domestic fighters include national record holder and bronze EICH 2017 medallist Filip Sasínek or silver medallist from the University Games in Naples 2019 Jan Friš.
The Israeli star against the Czech record holder
The most interesting foreign acquisition of the men’s 200m is the young Israeli Blessing Akwasi Afrifah. A year and a half ago, he shocked with his victory at the World Junior Championship in Cali, Colombia, when he significantly improved his personal record to the current 19.96, which is also the value of the European junior record. At the last year’s European U23 championships in Espoo, Finland, he was also able to triumph. For the race in Ostrava, he will certainly be looking for the meeting record held by the Cuban Raynier Mena, who won last year in 20.64.
However, even the Czech record holder Ondřej Macík is not without a chance to conquer this goal. He went through an admirable performance progression last season, when he moved the national record value to 20.39 at the home national championship in Tábor. At the world championship in Budapest, he was only a hundredth slower and managed to make it to the semi-finals. The Polish sprint school will be represented by Albert Komanski, the fastest European so far this indoor season.
The main program of the Czech Indoor Gala 2024 will be available live on ČT sport on Tuesday 30 January from 16:50.
The Czech Indoor Gala takes place every year with the significant support of the Moravian-Silesian Region and the Statutory City of Ostrava.
The organisers of the Czech Indoor Gala are committed to fulfilling „The Athletics for a Better World Standard“ presented by World Athletics in 2020, thus fulfilling the requirements of sustainability in the economic, social and environmental fields.