Portuguese veteran Lorene Bazolo takes on up-and-coming British sprinter Mabel Akande in the women’s 60m at the Meeting Nantes Metropole, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Bronze meeting, on Friday (23) evening.
The Meeting Nantes Metropole will be streamed live on the European Athletics YouTube channel from 7.00pm CET without any geoblocking restrictions.
Bazolo turned 42 last year but that didn’t prove to be any impediment to the Portuguese sprinter setting national records in both the 100m (11.10) and 200m (22.61) last year, the latter at the European Athletics Team Championships in Madrid.
Bazolo began her season in solid form, finishing fifth at the CMCM Indoor Meeting in Luxembourg on Sunday evening when she clocked 7.28 in the heat and then 7.30 in the final.
More than 20 years her junior, 19-year-old Akande won silver in the 100m at the European Athletics U20 Championships behind Kelly Doualla before winning another silver behind a Doualla-powered Italian team in the 4x100m relay.
Recent form favours youth over experience with Akande opening her season with a lifetime best of 7.24 in Sheffield earlier this month.
There is also a reasonable chance of Portuguese success in the men's 60m with Carlos Nascimento one of the leading contenders. Nascimento, who has a lifetime best of 6.61, faces South Africa's Tsebo Matsoso and Nigeria's Alaba Akintola who are slightly faster on paper with respective PBs of 6.59 and 6.60.
French patriotism continues in pole vault
Berenice Petit, a World University Games silver medallist, will compete in the women’s pole vault as she chases redemption after narrowly missing out on selection for the Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships.
Au lendemain de sa deuxième place au Meeting de Nantes (4,25 m), Bérénice Petit remporte le concours "National" du Perche Elite Tour de Rouen avec 4,16 m ! 🏆✅️
— STADION (@stadion_actu) January 26, 2025
🎥 @stadion_actu
©️ Tous droits réservés pic.twitter.com/JwzIYsEsmQ
This will be the Frenchwoman’s second competition of the season, after jumping her best season opener of 4.45m at the CMCM Luxembourg Indoor Meeting on 18 January.
That mark is under 10cm behind her personal best of 4.54m from last July, and shows she is more than in form for the 2026 season as she chases another chance to represent France.
International fields assembled for the 60m hurdles
Alia Armstrong, who improved to 12.32 in the 100m hurdles last summer, is one of the headline acts in the meeting in the 60m hurdles.
The American is the fastest in the line-up with a 7.81 lifetime best and faces a line-up which includes fellow sub-eight second performer Adoabi Tabugbo from Nigeria and Poland's Marija Majewska.
In the men's 60m hurdles, Czechia's Jonas Kolomaznik and Mauritius' Jeremie Lararaudeuse are the fastest entrants with respective lifetime bests of 7.64 and 7.65.
The line-up also includes leading French hurdlers Matteo Ngo and Raphael Mohammed who finished fourth in the 110m hurdles at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome.
