The Czech Indoor Gala, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting, will welcome some of Europe’s biggest stars on 3 February, with world champion Isaac Nader and European indoor champion Lieke Klaver set to compete.
Following his surge to a surprise win at the Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships over 1500m, Nader will be stepping up in Czechia to run the 3000m – his first big race over this distance.
His personal best over 3000m stands at 7:53.40, set in 2022, a time that would have only just put him within the top 300 last year over that distance.
He will be racing against Italy’s Pietro Arese, John Heymans of Belgium and Czechia's Filip Sasinek over 15 laps.
Arese and Sasinek also raced over 1500m in Tokyo 2025, with the former making it through to the semifinal, while the latter didn’t make it past his heat.
Heymans often races over longer distances, including the 5000m at Tokyo 2025, and the 3000m at the Glasgow 2024 World Indoor Championships where he placed eighth.
But earlier in the evening, European indoor champion Klaver will take to the track to compete in the 400m.
She has been a consistent force on the Netherlands’ squad, and a crucial part of their 4x400m for years, and helped win gold at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the mixed relay and silver in the women’s 4x400m.
The Dutchwoman will be going up against world 400m hurdles bronze medallist Emma Zapletalová and European fourth-placer Lurdes Gloria Manuel in the 400m.
In Tokyo, Zapletalova clinched her first world medal in the 400m hurdles, placing third with a time of 53.00, while her 400m PB and Slovakian record stands at 50.76 which she set last year.
Manuel, however, is an upcoming talent in the 400m and as the 2022 world U20 400m champion she will be hoping to cause an upset in front of her home crowd and dip under 51 seconds indoors for the first time.
Also challenging over the two laps, will be Poland’s former European champion Justyna Swiety-Ersetic, Czechia’s Lada Vondrova and Tereza Petrzilkova.
While Klaver has clocked under 50 seconds outdoors, she is yet to break that mark during the indoor season, so the race could be very tight between the line up.
In the men’s 400m there will be a fierce battle between Hungary’s European indoor champion Attila Molnar, Czech number one Matej Krsek and double European silver medallist Edoardo Scotti from Italy.
With short track PBs of 45.08 for Molnar and 45.85 for Krsek, the event is expected to be tight. However, the Italian has not raced indoors since 2024 and with an outdoor best of 44.45, it is hard to predict what Scotti will be capable of.