Mahuchikh claims 1st gold at World Indoor Championships in Torun

World record holder and Paris Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh claimed the first gold medal at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships on Friday in Torun, north-central Poland, reported Xinhua.

The 24-year-old high jumper from Ukraine, who had only won bronze medals at last year's World Indoor and Outdoor Championships, cleared 1.93m on her first attempt and then improved to 2.01m to secure the gold in the morning session.

Yuliia Levchenko of Ukraine, Nicola Olyslagers of Australia and Angelina Topic of Serbia failed to clear 2.01 meters, earning joint silver medals with a height of 1.99 meters. After securing the championship, Mahuchikh made three unsuccessful attempts at 2.06 meters.

"It was only after arriving in Torun that I realized how much I longed for the gold," Mahuchikh said after her victory.

American Chase Jackson, holder of two world indoor bronze medals and a silver, secured women's shot put gold with a fourth-round best of 20.14 meters and became the only competitor to exceed the 20.00 meters mark.

Canada's defending champion Sarah Mitton took silver with a throw of 19.78 meters in the fourth round. The bronze medal went to Sweden's Axelina Johansson, who improved her own national record to 19.75 meters.

In the men's triple jump final held later in the evening, Italy's Andy Diaz Hernandez defended his title with a first-round leap of 17.47 meters, becoming the first back-to-back champion in the event since 2004. Jordan Scott of Jamaica and Yasser Triki of Algeria took silver and bronze, respectively.

In the men's 60m final, 21-year-old Jordan Anthony of the United States stormed to victory in a world-leading time of 6.41 seconds in his World Indoor Championships debut. Kishane Thompson of Jamaica took silver in 6.45 seconds, while American Trayvon Bromell had to settle for bronze by a margin of one-thousandth of a second.

The 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships is scheduled from March 20 to 22 in Torun, Poland. Chinese athletes Chen Yuanjiang and Liu Junxi will compete in the first round of the men's 60m hurdles on Saturday morning.

The second day will also feature Swedish pole vault superstar Armand Duplantis, who returns to the city where he earned his first world record of 6.17 meters six years ago. He will face stiff competition from a world-class field including Greece's Emmanouil Karalis.