World Athletics Indoor Championships in Toruń: Poland Hosts Major Track and Field Event

Toruń the Capital of World Athletics

On Friday, March 20th, the Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena Toruń became the center of the world of athletics. The 21st World Athletics Indoor Championships have begun, with 674 athletes from 118 countries competing for 26 sets of medals. The competition will last until Sunday, March 22nd, and marks the first full-scale global athletics event of 2026.

This event is of immense prestige for Poland. This is only the second time in history that our country has hosted the World Indoor Championships — the previous time was in 2014, when Ergo Arena on the border of Sopot and Gdańsk welcomed athletes. As World Athletics President Sebastian Coe emphasized: "This is the first full global athletics event of 2026."

World-Class Stars

Toruń has attracted the absolute elite of world athletics. The biggest star is undoubtedly Armand “Mondo” Duplantis — the Swedish world record holder in pole vault (6.31 m), who is competing in Toruń for his fourth consecutive World Indoor Championships title. Interestingly, it was in Toruń that his era of records began — this arena holds special significance for him.

Other stars of the tournament include Keely Hodgkinson from Great Britain — Olympic champion in the 800 meters and world indoor record holder in the same distance, for whom this will be her first World Indoor Championships. Jamaican sprinter Kishane Thompson, Olympic silver medalist in the 100m, will also be at the start, as well as Olympic sprint champion Julien Alfred from Saint Lucia.

As many as 12 gold medalists from last year's championships in Nanjing are defending their titles, including Bahamian Devynne Charlton — world record holder in the 60m hurdles — and 20-year-old Italian Mattia Furlani, the defending champion in the long jump.

Polish Medal Hopes

The Polish team consists of 32 athletes — sixteen women and fifteen men. The team captains are Natalia Bukowiecka (400 m) and Damian Czykier (60 m hurdles). Fans are particularly hoping for successes from Ewa Swoboda in the sprints — silver medalist at the 2024 World Indoor Championships, who is competing in front of her home crowd this time.

Other Polish medal contenders include Pia Skrzyszowska and Jakub Szymański in the hurdles, Maria Żodzik in the high jump, and Paulina Ligarska and Adrianna Sułek-Schubert in the pentathlon. Traditionally, the Polish 4×400 m relays are a strong card — in Nanjing, the women's relay won silver.

The best performance by Poles at the World Indoor Championships was in 2018 in Birmingham, when the Polish team brought home as many as five medals. Competing on home soil gives hope for a repeat of such a result.

Arena Proven in Battle

The Kujawsko-Pomorska Arena Toruń is one of the best indoor athletics facilities in Europe. In 2021, it successfully hosted the European Indoor Championships, which confirmed Poland's organizational competence. All competition sessions are broadcast live on TVP 2, TVP Sport and on the tvpsport.pl platform.

The next editions of the World Indoor Championships will be held in Odisha, India (2028) and in Astana, Kazakhstan (2030) — but this weekend, Toruń is the most important place on the world athletics map.