The Road to the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham (© Getty Images)
February is set to be a pretty busy month with a whopping six IAAF World Indoor Tour meets taking place over the course of less than four weeks. We take a look at each of them and give you the 411 in which disciplines wild cards for the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham in March are up for grabs.
For those of you who have no idea how the Tour works, it’s pretty straightforward. Athletes’ performances count towards a ranking, with points awarded to the top four finishers in each event, with standardised cash prizes for the top six (eight in distance events). At the end of the Tour, there will be an overall winner for each ranking. They will scoop a cool $20,000 and get a wild card for the world indoors on 1st – 4th March.
Unlike in previous years, this year’s Tour kicks off in Karlsruhe, Germany. Nearly a month ahead of the event, the organisers announced the meet had already sold out. No surprise really, with Renaud Lavillenie in the pole vault and Genzebe Dibaba in the 1500m the meet features not one but two current world indoor record holders and a whole host of world and Olympic medallists.
For details on who else is competing, timetable and everything else, head this way.
After Karlsruhe, the Tour will stay in Germany for another stop, as many athletes will make their way just over 200 miles north to Düsseldorf. The women’s long jump will see Olympic and two-time world long jump champion Tianna Bartoletta clash with Olympic and two-time world bronze medallist Ivana Spanovic. Until last week, Bartoletta hadn't jumped indoors since 2009, while Spanovic on the other hand recorded a huge 7.24m on her way to the European indoor title last year.
In the men’s 800m Adam "Mr PSD Bank Meeting" Kszczot will be gunning for his seventh victory in Düsseldorf, while 1500m world champion Elijah Manangoi will headline his main event.
For details on who else is competing, timetable and everything else, head this way.
Both Dibaba and Kszczot are confirmed in the Spanish capital, but the field events will be sure to provide some of the highlights of Madrid’s Indoor Meeting, a new addition to the Tour in 2018. One of the headlining acts – and postergirl – is Maria Lasitskene, who has already shown impressive form this season. The reigning world high jump champion currently tops the world lists with 2.04m, the highest indoor jump in the world in six years.
For details on who else is competing, timetable and everything else, head this way.
Just two days on from Madrid, the Tour will continue on the other side of the Atlantic in Boston, Massachusetts. In the men’s 60m all eyes will be on American Christian Coleman, who opened his 2018 indoor campaign with a blistering 6.37 world record (pending ratification).
In the women’s 400m, world champion Phyllis Francis will face meet record holder Natasha Hastings, while world steeplechase champion Emma Coburn will go head-to-head with last year’s world 1500m silver medallist Jenny Simpson over the 3000m flat.
For details on who else is competing, timetable and everything else, head this way.
After its short stint on US soil, the Tour returns to Europe for its penultimate stop in Torun, Poland. Local star Konrad Bukowiecki will face two-time world champion David Storl in the shot put, while Polish middle distance specialists will be another highlight.
With Maria Lasitskene, Yuliya Levchenko and Kamila Licwinko all three medallists from the IAAF World Championships in London last year are lining up in the women’s high jump, which will without a doubt take centre stage as the Tour nears its completion.
For details on who else is competing, timetable and everything else, head this way.
The final stop on the Tour will be in Glasgow, where plenty of wild card spots are up for grabs to those who showed their strength over the course of the previous four weeks.
An extra treat for spectators will certainly be the non-scoring women’s 60m as two-time 200m world champion Dafne Schippers lines up against double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson, double world silver medallist Marie-Josée Ta Lou.
For details on who else is competing, timetable and everything else, head this way.
And if you’re more of a video kinda person, here’s a handy clip that explains the essentials of this year's Tour:
