Poland's former European indoor champion Ewa Swoboda will launch her season at the Sparkassen Indoor Meeting Dortmund on Sunday (8), which will be live streamed via the European Athletics YouTube channel from 14:30 CET.
The popular 60m sprinter headlines the meet as she starts her build up to the Kujawy Pomorze 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships on 20-22 March on familiar territory in her home country.
She has the joint 11th fastest time over 60m of all-time but narrowly missed out on medals last year, placing fourth at both the Apeldoorn 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships and World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing.
She will come against a field including Hungarian record-holder Boglarka Takacs, who defeated Swoboda in the 100m at the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships in Madrid, and Great Britain’s young sprint talent Mabel Akande who won silver at the Tampere 2025 European Athletics U20 Championships and has clocked 7.24 already this season.
Also in the line-up and leading German sprinters Rebekka Haase and Sophia Junk and fellow Brit Imani Lansiquot who was part of Great Britain's silver medal-winning team in the 4x100m at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
In the men's 60m, European indoor bronze medallist Andrew Robertson is due to face strong opposition from South Africa's Bayanda Walaza who improved to 9.94 in the 100m last year.
Can Moe Berg strike again in the 1500m?
Hakon Moe Berg will also continue his indoor season over the 1500m after opening up his year in Sweden and clocking 3:34.32.
The Norwegian won gold over 1500m and 3000m at the Tampere 2025 European Athletics U20 Championships and will be looking to continue his transition to the senior stage.
He will come up against a familiar competitor in Belgium's Elliot Vermeulen who placed third in the 1500m at Tampere 2025 as the pair reignite their rivalry.
European medallist Filip Sasinek of Czechia and former U23 European champion Marius Probst of Germany will also take to the track to race over seven-and-a-half laps.
In the 400m, two-time world indoor and European relay medallist Jonathan Sacoor from Belgium will open his indoor season against German champion Jean Paul Bredau and Czechia’s young talent Tomas Horak who was part of their gold medal-winning team in the 4x400m at the European Athletics U20 Championships last August.
Turkish record-holder Ersu Sasma leads the pole vault start-list where he will be targeting his second successive victory in Dortmund.
In the women's triple jump, Germany’s Caroline Joyeux, the Madrid 2025 European Athletics Team Championships 1st Division winner, faces strong international opposition from Cuba's Davisleydi Velazco who improved to 14.72m last year.
But the tight field also includes Neja Filipic of Slovenia who placed sixth at Nanjing 2025 and ninth at Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships, and Sweden’s 2021 European and world U20 champion Maja Askag from Sweden.
The men's long jump field include Olympic sixth-placer Simon Batz and his German teammate Luca Herden who has already set an outright lifetime best of 8.18m this year.