Over 600 athletes from 51 different European nations will be competing in the European Athletics Indoor Championship 2023 at the Atokoy Arena.
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The European Athletics Indoor Championships 2023 is scheduled to take place in Istanbul, Turkey. The stage is set and many European, Olympic and world champions are ready to battle it out for the ultimate European indoor crown. Over 600 athletes from 51 different European nations will be competing in the championships at the Atokoy Arena. Let’s take a look at some of the top favorites in the track and field events which are starting from tomorrow, March 2 and continue till March 5, 2023. Besides these, Keely Hodgkinson in women’s 800m, Laura Muir in women’s 1500m, Karsten Warholm in men’s 400m, and Marcell Jacobs in men’s 60m are prime contenders in their respective events.
Femke Bol, a Dutch athlete who is known for her 400m hurdles, broke the women’s indoor 400m world record with a time of 49.26 seconds at the Dutch nationals on 19 February. Bol is the only woman in the Istanbul 400m field who has gone below the 50-second barrier. Her teammate Lieke Klaver is her closest competitor with a personal best of 50.34 seconds. Bol won the 400m/400m hurdles double at the 2021 European Athletics Championships and anchored the team to gold in the 4x400m relay. She is expected to be the favourite in Istanbul.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen is looking to defend his 1500m and 3000m double titles at the Istanbul 2023, but the injury of his potential challenger Jake Wightman has left the field wide open. Ingebrigtsen, who is the reigning Olympic 1500m and world 5000m champion, is hoping to repeat his 2021 success in Torun where he won gold in both the Olympic 1500m and non-Olympic 3000m. Neil Gourley, who recently set a British record in the 1500m, could be a potential challenger for Ingebrigtsen, while Spain’s Adel Mechaal, with a personal best of 7:30.82 in the 3000m, is also a contender for the title.
Miltiadis Tentoglou, the reigning Olympic and World champion, is on track to win his third consecutive European Athletics Indoor Championship title in Istanbul. Tentoglou, who has won gold at the last two editions of the championships, is in excellent form this season, recording the longest jump in the world this year at 8.41m. However, he might face some competition from Sweden’s Thobias Montler, who has won silver behind Tentoglou at the last two championships and has a season-best of 8.19m. Spain’s Jaime Guerra is also a strong contender, having jumped beyond eight meters this year, while 18-year-old Italian Mattia Furlani has come close with a jump of 7.99m. Additionally, Bulgaria’s Bozhidar Saraboyukov, France’s Jules Pommery, and Romania’s Gabriel Bitan have all surpassed 7.95m. If Tentoglou can win, he will become only the second male athlete after Hans Baumgartner to win three European indoor long jump titles.
Pedro Pichardo from Portugal is the favorite to win the men’s triple jump event at the European indoor championships. He has won the Olympic, World, and European championships and has a personal best of 18.08m, which is half a meter further than any of his rivals. Although he has only competed once this year, where he jumped 17.12m, he is still expected to win. However, Emmanuel Ihemeje, Benjamin Compaore, Max Hess, and Tobia Bocchi have also performed well this year and could win if Pichardo does not perform at his best. The competition will be exciting to watch.
Ivana Spanovic, the three-time European champion, will be facing off against Malaika Mihambo, the reigning world and Olympic champion. She won the silver medal in the previous championships held in 2021. Spanovic was unable to win a record fourth consecutive European indoor title due to a leg injury in the last championship, but is back in form for this year’s competition. Other contenders for the medal include Milica Gardasevic, Jazmin Sawyers, and Khaddi Sagnia. Reigning champion Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk will not be competing due to injury.
Yaroslava Mahuchikh, a Ukrainian high jumper, had to escape her home city due to the Russian bombings and traveled for three days to Belgrade to participate in the World Athletics Indoor Championships where she won gold by clearing 2.02m. She has already won two world silver medals and an Olympic bronze medal. Mahuchikh is aiming to defend her European indoor title in Istanbul. Her fellow Ukrainian jumpers Yuliia Levchenko and Kateryna Tabashnyk have also performed well, clearing 1.96m this winter. Iryna Gerashchenko, a previous silver medalist and world and Olympic fourth-placer, didn’t make it to the team as the Ukrainian high jumping squad has a lot of depth.
Marija Vukovic from Montenegro, who won silver on countback, and Serbia’s 17-year-old Angelina Topic, who has set a national indoor record of 1.94m this year, will also be competing. Germany’s Christina Honsel and Britain’s Morgan Lake, who broke the British record with a jump of 1.99m, are among other top contenders for medals. The women’s high jump event will be highly competitive, and Mahuchikh will face a tough challenge to defend her title.
Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam is favored to win the pentathlon title at the Istanbul 2023, despite not having competed in the indoor season. She already has two heptathlon gold medals and two pentathlon titles under her belt, and a third pentathlon title is within reach. At the last European Athletics Indoor Championships, Thiam led a Belgian one-two, with Noor Vidts taking second place. Vidts won the world indoor title last year and took the Belgian record from Thiam with a total of 4929 points, but has been hampered by flu in her preparations for this year’s championships. Saga Vanninen, the 19-year-old reigning world and European U20 champion in the heptathlon, is also one to watch out for in the competition.
French athlete Kevin Mayer is aiming to win his third heptathlon title at the Istanbul 2023 after triumphing in 2017 and 2021. Despite winning his second title comfortably by 234 points, Mayer was only able to secure the win after his Swiss rival Simon Ehammer was unable to clear a height in the pole vault. Ehammer will also be competing in Istanbul and will be looking for his first major senior title after winning several silver and bronze medals in 2022. He currently leads the 2023 European list with 6292 points, followed by Norway’s Sander Skotheim who has already set a Norwegian record of 6255 points and improved his high jump to 2.20m this winter.
Read more: European Indoor Athletics Championships 2023: LIVE Streaming, When and Where to watch, Schedule
