Veselin Jevrosimovic, Sebastian Coe and leading athletes ahead of the World Indoor Championships Belgrade 22 (© Getty Images)
More than four years have passed since the last edition, which has only served to heighten the anticipation of the World Athletics Indoor Championships Belgrade 22, which begins on Friday (18) in the Serbian capital.
At the pre-event press conference, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, Serbian Athletics Federation president Veselin Jevrosimovic and five of the leading medal contenders at the championships spoke about their excitement ahead of the three-day competition.
“I’m very excited,” said Coe. “It seems incredible that the last time had a World Indoor Championships was back in 2018. We all know why we’ve had to wait so long for the next edition; the world has been through some trying times and it remains a complicated place. But I’m delighted to be here, I’m delighted that sport can show the healing powers it does, and the ability to bring more than 100 nations together for these championships.
“I’m also delighted that this will be the first time since the 2019 World Championships in Doha that there will be a live crowd,” he added. “For the athletes I’m sure it will make a huge difference in their performances. Having said that, the lack of a crowd hasn’t obviously been a diminishing factor in the way they’ve performed over the past two years. But the intimacy of indoor racing, the occasion of a World Championships, the ability as a federation to do all the things that we are pioneering and doing around our sport’s presentation is really important. It’s no better exemplified than at a World Indoor Championships. I know we’re going to be blessed with some great competitions and some exciting head-to-heads.”
Jevrosimovic spoke of his pride in bringing a global athletics event to Serbia.
“I have to thank Sebastian and World Athletics for trusting us in hosting the World Indoor Championships, one of the biggest sporting events in the world,” said Jevrosimovic. “The arena is completely ready, we have achieved an amazing feat in engineering within a very short space of time. We’re ready to start the competition tomorrow with more than 680 international athletes who’ll be competing for the highest honours in athletics.
“I’d like to thank a number of people and institutions, including the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, the government of the Republic of Serbia, the city of Belgrade, the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Serbia, and the Olympic Committee of Serbia.”
For home star Ivana Vuleta, the competition offers the opportunity to return to the scene of the 7.24m Serbian record she soared to win the European indoor title in 2017. That mark is a big target, as is retaining the world indoor title she won in Birmingham in 2018.
“I have been thinking about that number (7.24m) since 2017, not just in the couple of days before this competition,” she said. “I am really happy that I will defend my title in front of a home crowd. I think I am capable of producing similar jumps. I am ready and really happy and of course I want to use all that energy and repeat the performance or produce even better.”
A lot has changed in the four years since her win in Birmingham but she remains highly motivated.
“I was thinking that if I did manage what I wanted to do in Tokyo last summer, I wanted to end my career as Olympic champion, but things change,” said the 2016 Olympic bronze medallist, who finished fourth at the Games in Japan. “I am not 27 any more, now I am 31, so a lot of things have changed in a couple of years. I don’t feel I have achieved my maximum (in the sport). Everything I do in this sport is because of the love.”
While improving her own performance is a focus, she also has an eye on the rivals she will need to beat.
“I love strong competitions, because those are the moments when you can produce even better results," said Vuleta, who leads the entries with the 6.88m she jumped at the World Indoor Tour Silver meeting in Belgrade last week. "I will of course jump with Khaddi Sagnia and Lorraine Ugen, they are the girls who are the best so far in this indoor season. I always say that I am competing against myself. I am really looking forward to defending my title, that is the main goal, and of course I have to get close to that 7.24m I achieved in 2017.”
While Vuleta's CV includes a medal of every colour at the World Indoor Championships – her gold in 2018 joined by silver in Portland in 2016 and bronze in Sopot in 2014 – USA's world shot put record-holder Ryan Crouser makes his long-awaited debut at the event in Belgrade.
"I unfortunately have not done a World Indoors and I have wanted to since 2016. It just hasn’t been on the cards for me," said the two-time Olympic champion, who threw 22.82m to break the world indoor record in January last year and then improved the global outdoor mark with 23.37m in Eugene last June.
"So I am excited to be here. I do really enjoy competing indoors because it’s just one less variable to worry about. I am very analytical when it comes to my training and performing, so I love competing indoors.
"I was fortunate enough to do a street shot competition here in the city square promoting the World Indoor Championships, in 2020. I threw well at that competition and I love the city of Belgrade, it has so much history. It is a city that I look forward to coming back to."
At the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, the top three were separated by a single centimetre in an epic clash for the title. So can we expect similar at this global competition, or at the World Championships on his home soil in Oregon later this year?
"I can’t speak for the other guys, but I’ll do my best!" said Crouser, who threw 22.90m to finish second behind his compatriot Joe Kovacs with 22.91m in Doha, while New Zealand's bronze medallist Tom Walsh – who is among Crouser's rivals in Belgrade – also threw 22.90m.
"Doha was such a fantastic competition, three throwers within one centimetre, all of the top four over the championship record. I don’t know if we’ll see that again, I almost hope that we don’t! The shot put is such a deep event right now and there is so much talent. We have a very full field, I feel like I’m in good shape. I want to get out there and if anyone can touch 22.90m, that would be an indoor world record, so that would be pretty good."
Ahead of the men’s heptathlon, most fans are in the dark about the form of Olympic decathlon champion Damian Warner, and it seems that’s also the case for the Canadian, who has only competed in the 60m hurdles this year – clocking just 0.01 outside his PB with a time of 7.63 a fortnight ago.
The question put to him on Thursday: is he in the same form that saw him score 9018 points in Tokyo?
“I hope so,” he said. “Last year was very good. We don’t know where we’re at but based off what we saw (in training), I think I’m in pretty good shape. I’m happy, healthy and I’m ready to go.”
His chief threat will come from Garrett Scantling who posted a world-leading 6382 points to win the US indoor title last month, marginally better than Warner’s best of 6343, which the Canadian scored to win silver at the last edition of these championships in 2018.
“That’s still eating at me,” he said of the runner-up finish in Birmingham. “But I’m looking forward to amending that.”
He will also have to contend with formidable 22-year-olds Ashley Moloney and Simon Ehammer, along with 25-year-old Andri Oberholzer.
“I’m 32 now, I’m one of the old guys here which feels weird,” said Warner. “I’m always following what my competitors are doing. All those guys are eager to go out and perform really well and it’s going to take a pretty big performance.”
For Marcell Jacobs, life has changed considerably over the past seven months, but the Olympic 100m champion is adamant he has remained the same person despite being catapulted to global fame.
“I’ve never left the ground,” he said. “Winning the two Olympic medals was very important for my own development, but I never lost the focus.”
Jacobs said he “took my time off and enjoyed every single moment” of his off-season. “I cut my season short last year as I have a very long season this year. I decided to start training earlier than everyone else so I could focus on all my goals this year.”
So far in his career, Jacobs has memories of this arena that he’d rather forget, having failed to make the long jump final at the 2017 European Indoor Championships in Belgrade, while he false started on his 60m appearance here earlier this month. But he’s able to see the silver lining in both as he aims to write a better chapter in Belgrade.
“I was favourite for the long jump (in 2017) and bowed out in qualification. After that I got injured several times, but because of that injury I changed my focus from the long jump to the sprints and I’m thankful for that injury: it’s why I’m now Olympic champion.”
He said he was “in a way, happy about the false start last week,” saying “it’s better to happen then and not this weekend.”
The favourite for 60m gold is USA’s Christian Coleman, the world record-holder who tops the 2022 lists with 6.45. Jacobs’ best this year is 6.49, but he has a habit of finding a new gear when it matters most.
“The one who wins is the one who makes less mistakes, especially in the 60m,” he said. “Christian Coleman will be the man to beat and I’ll try stay as close as possible to him and maybe dip my head ahead. The 60m is harder for me (than the 100m), with the way I run, but nothing is impossible.”
Olympic 800m silver medallist and European indoor champion Keely Hodgkinson says she and her team have coped well with the post-Olympic comedown as they turn their attention towards a busy 2022.
“Straight after Tokyo, I had to turn my focus to the last few Diamond League meetings of the year, so it was only around mid-winter that I started to process everything that had happened in 2021,” she said. “It was a whirlwind season for me, but I really enjoyed it. For me it was all about managing my time, and making sure that training is my No.1 priority. That’s what gets me the results and puts me in the position I am.
“I’m really excited about the 4x400m,” she added of her competition schedule this weekend. “There’s an hour and a half between the 800m and the relay, so I think that’s doable. Hopefully we can pull through and win a medal.”
Cathal Dennehy, Jess Whittington and Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
