Olympic champion Yemisi Ogunleye was in excellent early season form as she took her third victory at the International Nordhausen Indoor Shot Put meeting, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Challenger meeting, on Saturday (1) evening.
Ogunleye handily defeated a strong field with a best mark of 19.86m in the fourth round, the fourth longest mark of her career so far as well as a meeting record.
The German defeated a strong field with Portugal’s two-time European indoor champion Auriol Dongmo (19.02m) and two-time world champion Chase Jackson from the United States (18.94m) finishing second and third respectively behind the home favourite.
"That gave me so much in my development, showing me we're on the right track. It just gives you a great feeling when you come to a competition like that and know the atmosphere is good and the focus is mainly on the shot put. That's truly unique. That's why I always love coming back to Nordhausen,” said Ogunleye as quoted by Leichtathletik.de.
Italy’s Zane Weir also won the men’s competition for the third time with his first round throw of 20.56m before retiring from the competition with an injury.
Fortunately for Weir, nobody surpassed this mark although Christopher Licata from the United States did come close, taking the runner-up spot with 20.44m.
Fast 3000m at the Nordenkampen
Sweden won both the men's and women's matches at the Nordenkampen on Sunday on home soil in Karlstad against neighbours Norway and Finland and a combined team from Iceland and Denmark.
Samuel Pihlström won the men's 3000m in 7:44.94 ahead of former European U20 champion and teammate Jonathan Grahn in 7:45.97. Julia Henriksson also provided maximum points for the hosts by winning both the 60m in 7.31 and the 200m in 23.09.
Denmark's Ida Beiter Bomme also took a double victory, winning both the 60m hurdles in 7.96 ahead of Norway's Elea Jorstad Bock in 7.99 as well as the long jump with 6.58m.
Mette Baas also smashed her Finnish indoor 400m record, becoming the first Finn to break the 52 second-barrier indoors with 51.65 while European U20 1500/3000m champion Hakon Moe Berg won the 800m in 1:47.90.
Another Slovakian record for Zapletalova
World 400m hurdles bronze medallist Emma Zapletalova opened her season by smashing her Slovakian indoor 400m record at the IFAM Indoor Gent, a World Athletics Indoor Tour Challenge meeting, on Saturday.
Zapletalova became the first Slovakian to break the 52 second-barrier indoors, reducing her national record from 52.61 down to 51.67.
Other highlights included Belgium’s Michael Obasuyi winning the men’s 60m hurdles in 7.58 and Germany’s Sophia Junk winning the women’s 60m in 7.24.
There was a breakthrough performance from Italy’s Christian Falocchi who cleared a lifetime best of 2.28m at the International High Jump Gala Emos in Herentals, Belgium on Saturday.
The 29-year-old, who won a silver medal at the 2017 European Athletics U23 Championships, added three centimetres to his previous lifetime best of 2.25m which also dates back to 2017 when he was just 20.
Elsewhere around Europe…
There were fast times in the 60m in Apeldoorn on Saturday on the same track which played host to the 2025 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
Minke Bisschops and Nsikak Ekpo, both of whom were part of the Dutch 4x100m teams that won in national records at the 2025 European Athletics Team Championships, won the women’s and men’s 60m in lifetime bests of 7.16 and 6.57 respectively while European U23 champion Jonas Phijffers won the 400m in 46.21 ahead of Tony Van Diepen in 46.44.
European 800m silver medallist Gabriela Gajanova opened her season with an outright lifetime best of 1:25.83 in the 600m in Magglingen, Switzerland on Saturday.
Italy’s Pietro Arese, who has won three mixed relay titles at the SPAR European Cross Country Championships, set an Italian indoor mile record of 3:54.64 in Padua on Saturday.
Former European indoor silver medallist Kevin Kranz from Germany clocked 6.59 for 60m in Frankfurt on Saturday.