The arena in Leipzig is sold out, and the best atmosphere is expected at the German Indoor Championships for track and field athletes this weekend. Many top stars have reported. It starts on Friday evening with the outsourced shot put competitions. Here is an overview of the most exciting competitions.
60 meters women: Burghardt has the advantage
This year, Alexandra Burghardt (LG Gendorf Wacker Burghausen) has a good chance of winning her first indoor title after already having three outdoor titles under her belt. At 7.20 seconds she achieved the fastest time of the year. Not there: defending champion Gina Lückekemper (SCC Berlin), who is foregoing the indoor season.
60 meters men: Kranz runs in front
In Leipzig, Kevin Kranz is the favorite because Cologne’s best of the year, Joshua Hartmann, is skipping the indoor season in favor of extensive summer preparation. The German indoor record holder Kranz (6.52 seconds) was the only DM starter to break the 6.60 second mark in the indoor season (6.59 seconds). The 25-year-old is aiming for his third national 60 meter title after 2019 and 2021, when he sprinted to DM gold in 6.59 and 6.52 seconds respectively.
Aleksandar Askovic also wants to have a say in the race for the title. The Munich native is in second place on the entry list with 6.63 seconds and is of course particularly motivated as the defending champion.
200 meters women: A close race is expected
Eight DLV sprinters led by defending champion Louise Wieland (Hamburger SV) stayed under 24 seconds this indoor season, seven of them registered for the indoor DM – and they are joined by Rebekka Haase (Wetzlar sprint team). This sets the stage for exciting races, in which the distribution of lanes in the hall always plays a major role. So it’s important to step on the gas in the semi-finals in order to get a favorable wing for the final.
400 meters men: Bredau wants his first title
The fastest German long sprinter of the year is Jean Paul Bredau. The Potsdamer ran 45.78 seconds a few days ago. However, this was done outdoors as part of his training camp in South Africa.
Marc Koch (LG Nord Berlin) leads the German indoor best list for 2024 with a relatively clear time of 46.78 seconds. He was the only long sprinter this winter to stay under 47 seconds. The 29-year-old ran his best indoor time in Leipzig in 2017. Seven years ago he won DM gold with 46.40 seconds.
1500 meters men: Farken takes the field challengers
Robert Farken competed in two indoor 1,500 meter races this winter. Both times the Leipziger ran world-class times of 3:34.51 and 3:36.11 minutes. This means that the 26-year-old is of course the top favorite for the title in his home stadium.
His probably strongest competitor was in top form this winter. Marius Probst (TV Wattenscheid 01) ran 3:40.18 minutes at the start of the season and confirmed this last weekend with a new 800 meter best time of 1:46.29 minutes.
High jump women: Honsel and Onnen in a duel
There are signs of a duel between defending champion Christina Honsel (TV Wattenscheid 01) and Imke Onnen (Hannover 96). Honsel is building on her strong indoor season last year and is arriving as the best of the year. Eighth place at the World Championships in Budapest also boosted her self-confidence.
Onnen is in as good shape as she was at the best times of her career in 2019 and winter 2020. In both years she also mastered her highest height of 1.96 meters indoors. This winter, the 29-year-old has already cleared 1.94 meters in Cottbus and Weinheim.
High jump men: Potye in top form
Tobias Potye couldn’t have chosen a better time for his first 2.30 meter jump under the hall roof. The vice-European champion shone with this height at the meeting in Banská Bystrica (Slovakia) this week. The form is right shortly before the indoor championships, and the Munich player has impressively underlined his role as favorite. Last year, the currently best German high jumper won the indoor DM with 2.28 meters. Will it go one level higher this time?
Pole vault men: Top athletes gain momentum
The DLV stabilizers have not yet offered the really high altitudes this winter. European Indoor Championships fourth-placed Torben Blech (TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen) is getting back to his old strength after an injury break, as is Vice European Champion Bo Kanda Lita Baehre (SB: 5.60 m), who is starting again in the ART Düsseldorf jersey.
In the last two years Blech has had to share his gold medal: once with Schwerin’s Tom-Linus Humann, who is also taking part this time, and a year ago with Bo Kanda Lita Baehre. Now the Leverkusen player is eager to assert himself as the sole title holder.
Long jump women: Mihambo is hunted by “young savages”.
This time everything is different. In front is Laura Raquel Müller, 19 years old. The name of Mikaelle Assani appears behind it, only two years older. And then comes Malaika Mihambo – the long jump queen is actually only number three in the country ahead of the German indoor championships for track and field athletes this weekend.
It’s “very nice that something is coming along, there was more of a vacuum for a few years,” said the former world champion at sportschau.de. No matter what Müller (6.81 m) and Assani (6.72 m) jump in Leipzig, the main thing for Mihambo is to continue to gain momentum after their comeback. After her injury break, she has “only” jumped 6.65 m and also performed a “Salto Nullo”.
Source: SID/DPA/leichtathletik.de