Audrey Werro and Bozhidar Saraboyukov delivered statement performances as they both set new world leads at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Belgrade on Wednesday (11).
Werro, who was named European Athletics Women’s Rising Star in 2025, was utterly dominant, racing away to win the women’s 800m in a Swiss indoor record of 1:57.27. Not only was it a world lead, but it was also the fastest women’s indoor 800m time in nearly three years.
Her victory came just three days after Femke Bol opened her season with a Dutch record of 1:59.07 in Metz.
With Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson set to open her season at this weekend's UK Indoor Championships (14-15) and then make her international opener in Liévin next Thursday (19), the event is shaping up nicely ahead of the Birmingham 2026 European Athletics Championships in August.
Another Bulgarian record for Saraboyukov
Saraboyukov maintained his rich run of form, winning the men’s long jump with a superb world-leading mark of 8.45m. The performance extended his own Bulgarian record, which he had set three days earlier in Metz.
His fifth-round effort was complemented by additional jumps of 8.23m, 8.26m and 8.29m in another impressive series. It also secured him a confidence-boosting victory over Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece, who finished second with 8.27m.
Serbian jumps victories
World bronze medallist Angelina Topic thrilled her home fans with victory in the women’s high jump, equalling the meeting record with a clearance of 1.96m.
There were also crowd-pleasing victories in the women’s horizontal jumps, with Milica Gardašević winning the long jump with 6.61m and Ivana Španović taking the triple jump with 14.27m.
Dosson shines in 60m
Italy’s European indoor champion Zaynab Dosso was a brilliant winner of the women’s 60m in a meeting record of 7.02, just 0.01 outside her national record set on her way to gold at Apeldoorn 2025.
World 200m silver medallist Amy Hunt of Great Britain finished second in 7.09, equalling her lifetime best, while Switzerland’s Géraldine Di Tizio Frey was third in 7.19.
There was another meeting record in the men’s 60m, won by Hungary’s Dominik Illovszky in 6.52, with Toluwabori Akinola just 0.02 behind in second, setting a new Irish record.
Jakub Szymański was an impressive winner of the men’s 60m hurdles in 7.43, well clear of Olympic silver medallist Daniel Roberts, who finished second in 7.57. There was also a breakthrough for third-placed Enzo Diessl, the European U23 champion clocking a personal best of 7.60.
Denmark’s Ida Beiter Bomme won the women’s 60m hurdles in 7.96.
Joceline Wind of Switzerland won the women’s 1500m in a meeting record of 4:08.87, while Spain’s Lorea Ibarzabal took the women’s 800m in 2:04.17. Yervand Mkrtchyan set a new Armenian national record of 7:55.51 when placing fourth in the men’s 3000m.
Germany’s Jean-Paul Bredau won the men’s 400m in 46.42.
Photos courtesy of Nikola Skenderija and Marko Spasojevic