Each of the six sessions features at least one final and the winner of the men’s triple jump will have the honour of becoming the very first champion of the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25.
Hugues Fabrice Zango made history for Burkina Faso in Glasgow last year as he won his nation’s first ever World Indoor Championships medal. It was gold and Nanjing could offer him the opportunity to renew his rivalry with fellow medallists Yasser Mohammed Triki and Tiago Pereira, plus the likes of Jordan Alejandro Diaz Fortun, Pedro Pichardo and Andy Diaz Hernandez, who all made the Olympic podium in Paris.
The women’s pentathlon also kicks off during this morning session, while fans will get a glimpse of the world’s fastest men as they start their campaigns in the 60m heats.

Four gold medals are up for grabs during the afternoon session on day one, when athletes will battle in the men’s high jump, women’s shot put, men’s 60m and women’s pentathlon.
 

Canada's world indoor shot put champion Sarah Mitton (© Getty Images)

The 60m could see Christian Coleman defend his title in a sprint showdown against his US compatriot Noah Lyles, the Olympic 100m champion who had to settle for silver in Glasgow last year. The women’s shot put has already seen three women surpass 20 metres so far this season, topped by Sarah Mitton with the North American indoor record of 20.68m she threw in Karlsruhe. She will want to be in similar form if she defends her world indoor title in Nanjing, where she could face USA’s two-time world champion Chase Jackson, Dutch record-holder Jessica Schilder and Olympic champion Yemisi Ogunleye. Home star Gong Lijiao, the two-time world champion, has twice earned medals at the World Indoors, while Olympic bronze medallist Song Jiayuan could also be a medal contender in Nanjing.

The final during the morning session on day two is the women’s pole vault and competition looks set to be fierce. Great Britain’s Molly Caudery won the title in Glasgow last year, when she vaulted 4.80m and won on countback ahead of Eliza McCartney and Katie Moon, and so far this season Moon and Caudery possess two of the top three clearances in the world. That list is topped by Moon’s US compatriot Amanda Moll, who cleared 4.88m in Albuquerque.
The men’s heptathlon also starts on day two, while athletes will open their campaigns in the men’s 60m hurdles and women’s 60m.

Eight champions will be crowned during the afternoon on day two – the men’s pole vault kicks things off and the women’s 60m brings competition to a close.

 Mondo Duplantis in the pole vault at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 (© Getty Images)

Those two events are set to be electric. Mondo Duplantis will be on the hunt for a third successive world indoor title in the pole vault. The world record-holder, who cleared 6.26m in Silesia in August, set a world lead of 6.10m on his season opener in Berlin and will want to go even higher when he returns to competition in China. In the women’s 60m, Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred could return to defend the title she won in Glasgow, five months before she became the Olympic 100m champion. Her rivals could include last year’s silver and bronze medallists – Ewa Swoboda and Zaynab Dosso.
Also keep your eye on the men’s 60m hurdles, in which world record-holder Grant Holloway will surely be looking to maintain a win streak in the discipline that is now in its 11th year by claiming his third world indoor title in a row.

The spotlight will be on the finals for the women’s long jump and high jump during the morning session of day three.
USA’s Tara Davis-Woodhall clinched the world indoor long jump title last year. She jumped 7.07m – the exact distance that currently leads this season’s top list, achieved by Germany’s two-time world champion Malaika Mihambo, who was unable to compete at the last World Indoor Championships due to injury. Nanjing could provide the opportunity for the pair to renew their rivalry, and perhaps push each other to even greater distances.
In the high jump, Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh should start as the woman to beat. The Olympic and world champion set a world record of 2.10m last season and was the first athlete to surpass two metres this year, clearing 2.01m in Banska Bystrica.

The final session of the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25 is action-packed.
A tremendous 10 sets of medals are up for grabs, including in both the women’s and men’s relays. The rivalry between the Netherlands and the USA in the women’s 4x400m has provided many thrills at recent major championships. The Dutch quartet will head to Nanjing as the defending world indoor champions, while the US squad are the reigning Olympic champions. Expect a nail-biting showdown.

Femke Bol anchors Netherlands to 4x400m victory in Glasgow (© Getty Images)

There could also be double the drama in the 800m and 1500m, as the women’s and men’s finals for each feature in this last session, together with the men’s shot put, men’s long jump and the women’s 60m hurdles.
The men’s shot put will offer a clash of titans. Last year world record-holder Ryan Crouser threw a championship record of 22.77m to beat five-time world indoor medallist Tom Walsh, who secured a silver to go with his two gold and two bronze medals claimed between 2014 and 2022.
Home stars – such as 2022 world long jump champion Wang Jianan and Zhang Mingkun, who finished seventh at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games – could feature in the men’s long jump.