The German Indoor Athletics Championships will take place in Dortmund on the weekend (February 27th to March 1st, 2026). Here are the most important things about the third day with 14 decisions.
4×200-meter relays – Brückenkemper leads Berlin to victory
In the last race of the three days in Dortmund, sprint star Gina Lückekemper also appeared on the track – and with her SCC Berlin relay she secured victory in a superior manner. With Skadi Schier, Michelle Janiak and Lena Leege, Brückenkemper achieved by far the fastest of the three finals in 1:35.11 minutes. The quartets from Bayer Leverkusen and Munich Athletics, who competed against Berlin, finished just over six tenths behind and took silver and bronze.
The Bayer Leverkusen quartet prevailed among the men. Eddie Reddemann, Kristoffer Hildebrand, Gianluca Wessendorf and Younes El Makrini won one of three final runs in 1:25.37 minutes and had the best time at the end. The Stadtwerke München narrowly came up short in 1:25.80 minutes.
Long jump, women – ninth victory for Mihambo
It took Malaika Mihambo a while to get into the competition, but she ended up winning it. With 6.57 meters on her fourth attempt, the 32-year-old secured her ninth indoor title in a row and set a season’s best. Libby Buder (6.41 meters), who had already jumped one centimeter further than Mihambo in Dortmund this year, came second, while Anna-Elisabeth Ehlers (6.35) took third place.
Long jumper Malaika Mihambo in action
High jump, men – Wendrich with favorite win
As expected, the title went to Falk Wendrich, who was the only one in the field who had heights of over 2.20 meters. To become German champion, 2.14 meters was enough for the 30-year-old, behind him Marlon Gräfe and Niklas von Zitzewitz shared silver with 2.10 meters and the same number of failed attempts. Wendrich still went one better and jumped 2.19 meters.
800 meters – Stepanov flies to the World Cup standard, Spill surprises
In the first few meters, Alexander Stepanov made it clear that victory would only go to him and pulled away. In the end, the 21-year-old won with a personal best of 1:45.89 minutes and thus also broke the standard for the World Indoor Championships in Torun (Poland). Silver winner Rocco Martin (1:48.14 minutes) and third-placed Tim Holzapfel (1:48.64) were far behind.
Among the women, Smilla Kolbe surprisingly didn’t manage to make her 24th birthday sweeter. The favorite only came second in 2:03.29 minutes, Tanja Spill (2:02.38) ran past in the last 100 meters.
200 meters – Ganter wins, surprise by Pfetsch
There was a favorite victory and a big surprise in the indoor round on the final day of the German Championships in Dortmund. In the men’s category, Robin Ganter was ahead with 21.01 seconds, but Karl Gattinger (21.06) made it anything but easy for last year’s champion. In the women’s category, Svenja Pfetsch managed to get ahead of favorite Jessica-Bianca Wessolly in 23.52 seconds, who came second in 23.60 seconds.
Pole vault, women – Otchere shows strong nerves
Jacqueline Otchere, who had already crossed 4.60 meters this season, almost made a mistake – but on her third attempt the 29-year-old managed 4.55 meters and won the championship title. Anjuli Knäsche had previously hoped that her opponent would make another failed attempt, as she had previously jumped 4.50 meters while Otchere missed the height. Moana-Lou Kleiner won bronze (4.40 meters).
Jacqueline Otchere was able to celebrate after jumping 4.55 meters.
400 meters, women – Martin leaves skis in the final sprint
Johanna Martin won the 400 meter title for the third time in a row – at the age of just 19. In a thrilling finale, Martin narrowly beat Skadi Schier (personal best of 52.26 seconds) in 52.09 seconds and overtook her biggest competitor in the final meters. In the preliminary run, Martin stayed under the 52-second mark for the first time in 51.92 seconds.
400 meters, men – Bredau wins confidently
There was only one real candidate for the championship title over two indoor rounds – and he won it. Jean Paul Bredau gave his competitors no chance in 46.21 seconds, behind him Fabian Dammermann (46.60 seconds) took silver, bronze went to Thorben Finke (47.15).
1500 meters, women – Kolberg in a class of its own
The eagerly awaited duel with Nele Weßel did not take place because she canceled her second race after her 3000 meter title – but the 1500 meter runners still caused a lot of enthusiasm. Maitje Kolberg crossed the finish line first in 4:20.47 minutes in one of the most atmospheric moments of the three days in Dortmund. With a strong finish, Adia Budde (4:21.01 minutes) won silver, Vera Coutellier came third (4:21.87).
Maitje Kolberg won the championship title over 1500 meters.
1500 meters, men – Start-finish victory for provost
The men’s favorite, Marius Probst, also prevailed. Unlike Kolberg, the 30-year-old ran from the front from the start and secured his eighth indoor championship title in 3:38.90 minutes, for the sixth time over 1500 meters. Surprisingly, Karl Bebendorf had no chance in fifth place in 3:43.90 minutes, while Tobias Tent (3:40.69 minutes) and Marvin Heinrich (3:41.96) made it to the podium.
Triple jump, men – Osazee decides the competition immediately
His last jump was just for the gallery, so Peter Osazee aborted it and rolled forward into the sand pit. In the triple jump, the 19-year-old had already clinched the title with his first attempt. With 15.80 meters, he not only exceeded his previous personal best by 35 centimeters, but also gave his competition an impossible task. Mohammed Amin Alsalami came closest to Osazee with 15.78 meters, while Maximilian Skarke took bronze (15.66 meters).
