The ISTAF Indoor celebrates its anniversary this year. The indoor track and field event will take place in the capital on Friday for the tenth time and offers the spectators plenty of show and a star-studded field of participants.
What disciplines are on the program?
The athletes will compete in a total of five different disciplines. The program includes 60-meter sprint (women and men), 60-meter hurdles (women and men), pole vault (men) and long jump (women).
At the end, the spectators can expect a unique discus duel between men and women. Four discus throwers will compete against four discus throwers in head-to-head duels. The winner gets two points, the loser one. In the end, the team with the most points wins. This duel already happened at the ISTAF Indoor in 2019 and 2020. The women narrowly won the premiere, while the men came out on top in the second edition.
Which track and field stars are there?
Numerous German and international stars will start at the ISTAF Indoor. In the long jump, Olympic champion and world champion Malaika Mihambo meets Serbian European champion Ivana Vuleta, third-placed Jazmin Sawyers and fourth-placed Maryna Bech-Romantschuk, who won the European title in the triple jump at the European Championships in Munich.
Armand Duplantis, one of the most successful track and field athletes of the past year, will take part in the pole vault. The US-Swede became world and European champion in 2022, broke the world record three times and completed an unbelievable 15 competitions with heights over six meters.
Of course, audience favorite Gina Lückenkemper should not be missing. The sprinter from SCC Berlin celebrated a double success at the European Championships in Munich last year and secured the title over 100 meters and in the relay. She describes the ISTAF Indoor in the capital as her “favourite meeting”, but has to be prepared for strong competition this year. Because with Daryll Neita, last year’s winner is also back at the start, who crossed the finish line at the European Championships just a hundredth of a second behind Lückenkemper. In addition, Alexandra Burghart, her successful relay partner with whom she won the title in Munich, is also there.
In the big discus duel, the women’s team is led by Kristin Pudenz, who came second at the Olympics and is Vice European Champion. With Shanice Craft, Claudine Vita and Liliana Cá, she wants to beat the men’s quartet consisting of Mauricio Ortega, Daniel Jasinski, Henning Prüfer and U20 world record holder Mika Sosna.
Is there a supporting program and what is the schedule?
In addition to the competitions of the track and field stars, the ISTAF Indoor has other program items to offer on Friday. At the beginning of the event, the fastest young sprinters will compete against each other in the “SCHOOLS CUP”. After that, the high-speed wheelchair users will also compete against each other on the blue track in the arena at the Ostbahnhof.
In addition, the audience can expect a lot of show, pyrotechnics and music. They also have the chance to get up close and personal with their favorite athletes in the fan zone, which is accessible throughout the event. Former stars will also be there.
Are there still tickets?
After the event took place last year with spectator restrictions, it will now be really crowded again in the arena at Ostbahnhof. According to the organizers, almost 11,000 of the 12,500 tickets have already been sold. So if you still want to be there live on site, you have to be quick now. Remaining tickets are available in the online ticket shop and by telephone on 030 30 111 86-30. For last-minute visitors, the box office at the arena will also open at 9:00 a.m. on the day of the event.
Will the ISTAF Indoor be broadcast live?
Those who are not in the arena at the Ostbahnhof can also watch the athletics spectacle in the rbb|24 live stream pursue. The transmission starts on Friday at 5:55 p.m.
Broadcast: rbb24, February 9th, 2023, 6 p.m
