Portugal’s Salomé Afonso set a new European best for the indoor 2000m with a brilliant run of 5:30.31 at the Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais Trophee EDF in Lievin, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting, on Thursday (19).
The 28-year-old clipped 0.12 seconds off the mark set by Romania's Gabriela Szabo in 1998, a world indoor best when she ran that time.
While Australia’s Jessica Hull pushed clear with a world record attempt at the front, Afonso expertly judged her pace in the chasing pack. She picked her way through the field to be perfectly placed by the bell. She ran a strong last lap, visibly closing on Hull, who won in 5:26.68.
But Afonso, who won 1500m silver and 3000m bronze at the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships, had judged it perfectly. She ran clear of France’s Agathe Guillemot, who was also rewarded with a national record of 5:32.18 in third place.
Hull moved to second on the world all-time list behind the 5:23.75 world best of Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba, while Afonso is now the third fastest ever and Guillemot the fifth.
Brilliant Nader makes it a night to remember
On a brilliant night which also included a sensational world record in the women's 800m by Keely Hodgkinson, it was also a very special occasion for Portugal.
Following on from Afonso's success, there was an equally impressive display from her boyfriend, world champion Isaac Nader, who won the men’s 1500m with a performance of controlled speed.
He tracked the pacemakers from the gun and, as they peeled away, strode clear of a world-class field to win in a Portuguese indoor record of 3:32.44.
There were also three more national records in his immediate wake for Italy’s fast-finishing Federico Riva (3:33.04), Ireland’s Andrew Coscoran (3:33.09) and the Netherlands’ Stefan Nillessen (3:33.64).
Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Georgia Hunter Bell produced another assured display to win the women’s 1500m in 4:00.21.
It was her second victory at a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting this year, having triumphed in Karlsruhe on 8 February.
In the men’s 800m, Elliot Crestan was an impressive winner in 1:43.92, just 0.09 outside the Belgian record he set in Ostrava on 3 February. Twice a world indoor medallist, he looks set to challenge again at the Kujawy Pomorze 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships from 20–22 March.
Llopis and Kwaou-Mathey dead heat
There was a dramatic dead heat in the men’s 60m hurdles between France’s Just Kwaou-Mathey and Spain’s Enrique Llopis, both timed to the thousandth of a second at 7.446.
Llopis looked to have edged it after powering through the field from a sluggish start, but the Frenchman’s dip meant they shared the victory. While not an outright win, Llopis could also celebrate another improvement on his own Spanish record.
In the women’s 60m hurdles, twice world indoor champion Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas won in 7.79. Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska maintained her strong early-season form to finish second in 7.83, while Switzerland’s world 100m hurdles champion Ditaji Kambundji showed she is moving towards her best form with a season’s best of 7.84 in third.
In the women’s 400m, Slovakia’s world 400m hurdles bronze medallist Emma Zapletalová overhauled her training partner Lieke Klaver in the finishing straight to win by 0.27 seconds in 51.40.
Karalis clears six metres
In the men’s pole vault, world silver medallist Emmanouil Karalis won with 6.00m, his first clearance over the symbolic barrier this year. It also gives him the world lead ahead of Mondo Duplantis opening his season in Clermont-Ferrand on Sunday (22).
Karalis raised the bar to a new indoor personal best height of 6.07m and looked well clear on his first two attempts, but clipped the bar on his way down.
In the women’s pole vault, Slovenia’s world bronze medallist Tina Šutej triumphed on countback with a best of 4.70m.
World leader and European champion Leonardo Fabbri won the men’s shot put with 21.82m.
Having thrown a brilliant 22.50m in Stellenbosch, South Africa, during winter training eight days earlier, he opened his indoor campaign in confident style.