BERLIN (March 7) — Poland’s Jakub Szymański and Dutch shot putter Jessica Schilder set records at the ISTAF Indoor on Friday (6), sharpening their form for the upcoming World Athletics Indoor Championships on European soil. At the same meeting, Great Britain’s Jeremiah Azu continued his 60m title defense preparations with a personal best to win the 60m dash on a very productive evening for Europeans.
Szymański, the European indoor 60m hurdles champion, broke his own Polish record with a time of 7.37 seconds at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meeting, equalling the fastest mark in the world this year. The result keeps the 23-year-old unbeaten in 11 races this season and lifts him to joint seventh on the global all-time list.
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Only Britain’s Colin Jackson has run quicker among Europeans, clocking 7.30 and 7.36 in 1994. Szymański’s compatriot Damian Czykier ensured a Polish one-two in Berlin, but he finished well behind with 7.55 seconds for second place, while Dutchman Job Geerds clocked in at 7.62 for third place.
World shot put champion Schilder delivered a dominant display to extend her season lead in the women’s shot put with a throw of 20.69 metres — matching the Dutch record she set when winning the European indoor title last year in Apeldoorn. It was the farthest indoor throw in the world since 2013 and adds 20 centimetres to her previous world lead from last month.
After fouling on her opening two attempts, the 26-year-old’s series included efforts of 20.38m and 20.03m before she sealed victory on her final attempt. Schilder now owns three of the four longest throws registered this indoor season and remains unbeaten in 2026.
Elsewhere, Great Britain’s Jeremiah Azu, the world and European champion, won the men’s 60m in a personal best and meeting record 6.47 seconds, placing him joint fifth on this year’s world list ahead of his world indoor title defence in Kujawy Pomorze. The time also bettered Briton’s previous season best of 6.53, set when winning in Düsseldorf in January.
Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme finished second in 6.55, followed by Irish sprinter Bori Akinola, who clocked 6.57 for third place.
Canada’s Sade McCreath took the 60m dash in 7.12, beating USA’s Maia McCoy, who ran a personal best with 7.16, and the Netherlands sprinter Minke Bisschops (7.19).
In the women’s hurdles, twice European champion Nadine Visser (7.81) of the Netherlands edged current European champion and the world 100m hurdles champion Ditaji Kambundji (7.82) of Switzerland by a hundredth of a second,
Ernest John Obiena of the Philippines, the 2023 world silver medalist, won the men’s pole vault with a season-best clearance of 5.78m, the same height cleared by Norway’s 2025 NCAA champion and World University Games champion Simen Guttormsen.
