Czech Indoor Gala 2025 is Approaching: Stars of Athletics Return to Ostrava

The last Czech Indoor Gala featured several event records, and three stars will attempt to improve on their performances from last year.

For the second consecutive year, the Czech Indoor Gala is part of the Gold Series of the World Athletics Indoor Tour, ranking among the nine most elite indoor meetings of the season. This status brings top-level competitors, many of whom have achieved medal success at the Olympic Games and World Championships.

Maňasová to face her favorite rival

Sprinter Karolína Maňasová had a disappointing experience at last year’s Czech Indoor Gala, where an injury right after the start of her race dashed her hopes of a successful performance in front of a home crowd. Shortly after, however, she confirmed her quality by winning the Czech national championship with a new national record of 7.15. She came close to breaking the Czech record of Jarmila Kratochvílová at the 100-meter race during the Olympic Games in Paris, running 11.11, just two hundredths of a second off the record. Now, she is aiming for redemption at the Czech Indoor Gala. "This will be my second start of the season, and I hope I can manage it without complications at the start. It’s a great opportunity to take advantage of the top competition and clock a good time. I am most excited to race against Ewa Swoboda. I’m a fan of hers, so I’m happy we will meet in Ostrava," she says, looking forward to her duel with the Polish star.

Swoboda, who has already won the Czech Indoor Gala twice (once in 2018 and again last year with a new meeting record of 7.07), will be a formidable opponent. She went on to win silver at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, with a national record of 6.98, making her the fourth-fastest European in the history of the 60-meter indoor race. Outdoors, she earned silver in the 100 meters at the European Championships in Rome.

Swoboda won't be Maňasová’s only rival. Luxembourger Patrizia van der Weken, who secured second place last year, will return to defend her position. Van der Weken set a national record of 7.09 last year, and also broke her country's historical 100-meter record, clocking exactly 11 seconds. She finished fourth at the European Championships in Rome and went on to win her first Diamond League race in Paris. Another interesting competitor will be Australia’s Torrie Lewis, a junior record holder in Oceania, silver medalist at the World Junior Championships in Lima, and Diamond League winner in Xiamen. She has never raced indoors before.

Strong African Competition for Sasínek Mäki

Kristiina Sasínek Mäki will compete in the 3000 meters at the Czech Indoor Gala. The Tokyo Olympic finalist has been training under Swiss coach Louis Heyer since last autumn and is eager to show her progress during the indoor season.

However, she will face stiff competition, especially from African stars. One of them is Ethiopian Freweyni Hailu, the World Indoor Champion in the 1500 meters from Glasgow 2024. Last year, Hailu dominated the mile at the Czech Indoor Gala, setting a meeting record of 4:17.36.

Fans can also look forward to Sembo Almayew, another Ethiopian, the world junior record holder in the steeplechase. Almayew finished fifth in the Paris Olympic final, then went on to dominate her age group at the World Championships in Lima, earning recognition as one of World Athletics' rising stars of the 2024 season.

Norah Jeruto originally from Kenya, the 3000-meter steeplechase World Champion from Eugene 2022 will be representing Kazakhstan. Currently she is fifth in the world’s all-time rankings with her winning time of 8:53.02 from the World Championships. She is another contender to break the seven-year-old meeting record of 8:38.81 set by Kenya’s Hellen Obiri.

Can Nader break his own meeting record?

Portuguese runner Isaac Nader made a splash at last year’s Czech Indoor Gala when he won the 1500 meters in a new meeting record of 3:34.23, also setting a national record. This year, he is targeting another record at the Ostrava hall, aiming to break the two-year-old one-mile record of 3:55.90 held by Serbian Elzan Bibić. Nader is a strong contender to do so. In addition to his success at the CIG, he also finished fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow and narrowly missed the 3:30 barrier in the 1500 meters outdoors.

Also British runner Elliot Giles will return to Ostrava. Giles won the event at the 2022 Czech Indoor Gala and is the second-fastest man in history for the indoor 800 meters, having missed the world record by less than a second with a time of 1:43.63 four years ago.

The Czech Indoor Gala is organized with significant financial support from the Moravian-Silesian Region, with the City of Ostrava as the event's partner.