As World Athletics reports, the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 concluded on Sunday (3) after three days of thrilling action that kicked off a busy year of top-level competition.

The event in the Scottish city was the first of five World Athletics Series events in 2024, a year that will include the Olympic Games in Paris in August.

A total of 586 athletes from 128 countries across all six continental areas competed in Glasgow, watched by more than 22,000 ticketed spectators from 37 countries. The event produced two world records, five championship records, 10 area records, and 54 national records.

Femke Bol broke the weekend’s first world record, improving her 400m mark to 49.17 to win her first world indoor title on Saturday. She doubled her medal haul in Glasgow by anchoring the Netherlands to 4x400m gold on the final day.

Devynne Charlton of The Bahamas also made history in the Glasgow Arena, taking 0.02 off her world 60m hurdles record with a storming 7.65 run on Sunday.

There were a number of other significant firsts, further highlighting the sport’s unmatched universality. Julien Alfred and Thea LaFond won their nation’s first-ever global gold athletics medals. Alfred claimed the women’s 60m crown for St Lucia and LaFond, leaping to the women’s triple jump title for Dominica. Hugues Fabrice Zango won a maiden world indoor title for Burkina Faso in the men’s triple jump, while Noelie Yarigo’s women’s 800m bronze was a global medal first for Benin.

Like Bol, Belgium’s Alexander Doom I also completed a golden double in Glasgow, becoming the first man to win gold in the 400m and 4x400m at the same World Indoor Championships.

Some of the stars from the World Championships in Budapest also shone on the indoor stage: Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis retaining his pole vault title, USA’s Grant Holloway equalling his championship record to retain his 60m hurdles title, Netherlands’ Bol adding world indoor 400m gold to her world 400m hurdles title, Great Britain’s Josh Kerr getting the 3000m title to go with his 1500m crown in front of home fans, USA’s Ryan Crouser throwing a championship record to win his first world indoor gold in the shot put, Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece completing an indoor and outdoor double in the men’s long jump and Burkina Faso’s Zango doing the same in the men’s triple jump.

Away from the field of play, 8600 articles were published by the world’s media for an overall reach of 60 billion.

Regarding press on site, 300 members of the media were in attendance, including 116 accredited photographers—a record number of photographers for a World Indoor Championships. The Media Development Programme also took place, with seven participants from five countries: Italy, the Netherlands, Nigeria, South Africa, and the UK.

Millions of fans from around the world tuned in to watch the action. Viewing figures around Europe were notably strong, consistently bringing in more than 1 million fans from markets such as Finland, Italy, and Spain. But the Belgium fans were watching in huge numbers, with more than 4.5 million people tuning in. At the same time, there were some 5 million viewers across the UK throughout the weekend and half a million across the Republic of Ireland – all proving that the World Indoor Championships has strong interest worldwide.

Traffic to the World Athletics website indicates at least a 40% increase compared with figures for the previous edition of the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in 2022, demonstrating the steady rise in interest in athletics and the sport’s overall health.

More than 180,000 athlete performance measures were collected, analyzed, and shared on television and digital channels during the championships, while some 5000 fans engaged in the Predict the Podium game.

The MOWA Indoor Athletics Exhibition Glasgow 24 welcomed more than 16,000 people to its activations in the St Enoch Centre shopping mall and Glasgow Arena, while more than 400 people attended the Coaches’ Club, which World Athletics organized in cooperation with the Global Athletics Coaching Academy (GACA).

Regarding sustainability, the local organizing committee (LOC) had Platinum-level ambitions against the Athletics for a Better World Standard, the certification system implemented by World Athletics in January that evaluates an event’s achievement in sustainable delivery. While the audit is not yet complete, it is evident that the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 will set a very high bar for future editions of these championships.

Efforts to include social impact and environmental sustainability in the delivery and legacy of the championships were a strong focus, and the LOC delivered several pioneering initiatives. More than 800 staff and volunteers received mental health training to help provide a mentally healthy event for themselves, athletes, officials, and spectators. The project, developed by the event’s charity partner, the Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH), was the first of its kind for an event in Scotland. Organizers also partnered with a food bank in the city’s east end to redistribute all excess food from the event. This partnership will now be implemented in all future events hosted by the Glasgow Arena.

Reflecting on another successful edition of the World Athletics Indoor Championships, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: “Glasgow has delivered a World Indoor Championships for the ages. Glasgow and Scotland always serve us well with their welcoming, passionate, and knowledgeable crowd.

“The level of competition was nothing short of outstanding. We saw sumptuous athletics and men and women of equal stature bringing the fans in. With two world records and multiple championship, area, and national records broken in Glasgow this weekend, our athletes put on a show that leaves no doubt why athletics is the No.1 Olympic sport.

“Thank you to Glasgow for a fantastic event.”

Other World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 statistics

RECORDS

Two world indoor records: Femke Bol (NED) 49.17 in 400m. Devynne Charlton (BAH) 7.65 in 60m hurdles.
Five championship records: Femke Bol (NED) 49.17 in 400m. Devynne Charlton (BAH) 7.65 in 60m hurdles. Ryan Crouser (USA) 22.77m in shot put. Grant Holloway (USA) 7.29 in 60m hurdles. Elle St Pierre (USA) 8:20.87 in 3000m.
10 area records: Femke Bol (NED) 49.17 in 400m for Europe. Devynne Charlton (BAH) 7.65 in 60m hurdles for NACAC. Zoe Hobbs (NZL) 7.09 and 7.06 in 60m for Oceania. Jessica Hull (AUS) 8:24.39 in 3000m for Oceania. Kenya 3:06.96 and 3:06.71 in 4x400m for Africa. Hamish Kerr (NZL) 2.36m in high jump for Oceania. Elle St Pierre (USA) 8:20.87 in 3000m for NACAC. Nozomi Tanaka (JPN) 8:36.03 in 3000m for Asia.
54 national records
14 world-leading performances

MEDALS AND PLACINGS

15 countries won gold medals
15 countries won silver medals
17 countries won bronze medals
32 countries won medals
49 countries finished in top eight

Countries from four areas won gold medals:
Africa – 3 golds from 2 countries
Europe – 10 golds from 6 countries
NACAC – 10 golds from 5 countries
Oceania – 3 golds from 2 countries

Female athletes reached new heights, distances, and speeds at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 (1-3 March), setting records and reaching historic milestones.

Women outnumbered men on the field of play for the first time at a global athletics championships. In Glasgow, women accounted for 50.8% of all participants (298 of the 586).

Women also led the way in terms of performance. Two world indoor records were broken during the championships, both by women: Femke Bol in the 400m and Devynne Charlton in the 60m hurdles.

Women also accounted for three of the five championship records, seven of the 10 area records, and 50 of the 93 personal bests. They also had a higher average result score (1121 for women, 1094 for men).

Even in the workforce at the championships, 11 of the 15 functional area leads were women, which accounts for 75% of the local organizing committee’s leadership.

These margins may appear small on the surface, but they mark yet another significant step forward in a sport that continues to strive for full equality and equity.

These results and historic milestones come as World Athletics kicks off another edition of Women’s Week—a week dedicated to celebrating all things women in athletics—from 5-10 March 2024, which coincides with International Women’s Day on March 8. To highlight the occasion, all World Athletics platforms will feature a version of the World Athletics logo inspired by the colors of the suffragette movement, and all related content will be about and produced by women.

Some of the content lined up for this year’s edition of Women’s Week includes an update on the pledges we made last year with a report card on our three-year-long #WeGrowAthletics campaign. Meanwhile, our ‘Athletes React’ video series will feature global gold medallists Valerie Adams of New Zealand, Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda, and Milcah Chemos of Kenya, reflecting on the stand-out moments of their careers. Another multiple global champion, Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar, will be celebrated in a Heritage feature.

Canadian international runner Sasha Gollish brings awareness to perimenopause and its potential impact on athletes. We’ll also feature some up-and-coming female Eritrean track and field athletes, targeting success on the international stage. e

In addition, on Thursday, March 7, World Athletics will be hosting a webinar entitled ‘Celebrating Women in Running’ featuring inspirational athletes and administrators from the global road running community and will include topics such as:

• the inspiring story of Mary Ngugi and how the Nala Track Club is helping female athletes feel safe and achieve their best
• case studies of women-only events in Japan and Sweden
• a wheelchair racers perspective from Catherine Debrunner
• research-based policies to increase women’s running
• creating opportunities for women of color
• what we can do to boost female leadership in the running industry

The jumping events were the most significant turning points across the two days of heptathlon action at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24.

For Ken Mullings, who came into the championships as the world leader, the pole vault proved his downfall and ultimately cost him a medal.

But for Simon Ehammer, one giant leap in the long jump – something of a bittersweet event for him in recent years – signaled the potential dawning of a new era for the Swiss all-rounder, who went on to claim gold in a national indoor record of 6418.

It was much more than just a two-person contest, though. Four or five men had potential shots of challenging for a medal in the final discipline.

Ehammer took an early lead by winning the 60m in 6.73, but Mullings was close behind with an equal PB of 6.83. Estonia’s Johannes Erm also started well, clocking a PB of 6.90. In the earlier heat, Norwegian duo Sander Skotheim (7.06) and Markus Rooth (7.08) crossed the line almost in unison behind USA’s Harrison Williams (6.95), who later withdrew with an ankle sprain. Belgium’s Jente Hauttekeete also ran well, clocking 7.06.

All eyes were on Ehammer in the long jump, an event in which he holds a personal best of 8.45m and a world bronze medal from 2022. But it’s also the discipline that, within combined events competition, signaled his early exit from the Hypo Meeting in 2021 and 2023 and the European Indoors in 2023, recording three fouls on all those occasions.

No one was more relieved than Ehammer when he nailed his first jump in Glasgow with 8.03m—even though it was just 1.4cm away from the take-off line—and he backed it up with an 8.00m effort on his third attempt, increasing his overall lead.

Sven Jansons of the Netherlands held second place overall thanks to a 7.79m PB. Mullings (7.69m) and Rooth (7.68m) also set PBs, while Erm (7.71m) and Skotheim (7.75m) performed well.

As expected, Makenson Gletty of France excelled in the shot put, launching it at 16.95m to propel himself from eighth to fourth overall. Ehammer was further down the standings in the shot put (14.39m), but it was just enough to hold on to the lead from Erm, who threw a PB of 15.72m. Mullings maintained third place thanks to a throw of 14.49m.

But Ehammer lost his lead at the end of the first day when Mullings cleared 2.16m in the high jump, elevating the Bahamian to the top of the leaderboard. Ehammer’s 1.95m clearance was enough to keep him in second place, but Erm (2.01m) and Skotheim (2.13m) were just a few points behind.

Ehammer started the second day as he had done the first: with a victory. He was the fastest in the field in the 60m hurdles, clocking 7.62, but Mullings’ strong run of 7.76 kept the Bahamian on top at the end of that discipline.

Skotheim (8.05) and Erm (8.21) switched places in the overall standings after the 60m hurdles, with the Norwegian moving ahead of the tall Estonian. Gletty also had a good run in the sprint hurdles, his 7.82 runs moving him up to fifth overall, just ahead of Rooth.

The pole vault—as is often the case in combined events—significantly impacted the competition. Ehammer seized the opportunity to bank big points, soaring over 5.20m to top the field again for the fourth discipline in the competition.

It meant that going into the 1000m, Ehammer had a comfortable 140-point lead over the field.

Mullings was 43cm off his recent PB in the pole vault, making do with a 4.60m clearance. Skotheim and Erm cleared 5.10m to narrow the gap on Mullings and consolidate their positions in third and fourth, respectively. Their superiority at 1000m meant that Mullings’ medal hopes were over.

They still hoped to gain enough distance on Ehammer in the final event to challenge for gold.

The pole vault marked the end of the competition for Rooth, who picked up an injury in that discipline.

His teammate Skotheim took out the running in the 1000m with Erm close behind. The duo soon took a significant lead over the rest of the field before Skotheim won in 2:33.23. Erm crossed the line second in 2:36.15, and further behind, Ehammer did his best to ensure the lead duo wasn’t too far ahead, finishing in a PB of 2:46.03.

Thankfully for Ehammer, that proved to be enough. He was rewarded with the gold medal and a national indoor record of 6418, moving him to ninth on the world indoor all-time list.

Skotheim also set a national record in second place, scoring 6407, while Erm took bronze with a PB of 6340. Mullings, who clocked a PB of 2:49.35 in the 1000m, eventually finished fourth overall—the highest-ever by a Bahamian athlete in a global championship combined events competition.

Gletty finished fifth in 6187, while Vilem Strasky (6080) and Jansons (6076) recorded PBs for sixth and seventh.

“It feels amazing and unbelievable,” said Ehammer. “It was a tough, tough competition. I pushed and pushed and pushed (in the 1000m) because I so wanted to win this gold. Yes, I also do the long jump, but this proves I am a multi-eventer. This is where I belong. It’s the perfect start to the season for 2024.”