Torun (Poland), March 21 (NationPress) World record holder and Paris Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh captured the first gold medal at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships held in Torun, located in north-central Poland, marking an electrifying start to the event.

The 24-year-old high jumper from Ukraine, who had previously secured only bronze medals at last year's World Indoor and Outdoor Championships, successfully cleared 1.93m on her initial attempt and subsequently surpassed the height of 2.01m to clinch the gold during the morning session on Friday.

Yuliia Levchenko of Ukraine, Nicola Olyslagers of Australia, and Angelina Topic of Serbia were unable to clear the 2.01-meter mark, resulting in them sharing the silver medals after each achieving a height of 1.99 meters. Following her championship win, Mahuchikh attempted to jump 2.06 meters three times but was unsuccessful, as reported by Xinhua.

“It was only after arriving in Torun that I realized how much I craved the gold,” Mahuchikh remarked post-victory.

American Chase Jackson, a holder of two world indoor bronze medals and a silver, secured the women's shot put gold with a top throw of 20.14 meters in the fourth round, becoming the only competitor to surpass the 20.00 meters threshold.

Sarah Mitton, the defending Canadian champion, earned silver with a throw of 19.78 meters in her fourth attempt, while the bronze medal was awarded to Axelina Johansson from Sweden, who raised her national record to 19.75 meters.

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

In the men's 60m final, Jordan Anthony, a 21-year-old from the United States, sprinted to victory with a world-leading time of 6.41 seconds in his debut at the World Indoor Championships. Kishane Thompson of Jamaica took silver with a time of 6.45 seconds, while American Trayvon Bromell narrowly missed silver, finishing with a bronze by just one-thousandth of a second.

Meanwhile, Andy Diaz retained his championship in the triple jump, achieving a world-leading distance of 17.47m, confirming his status as the first back-to-back winner since 2004. The Olympic bronze medalist soared to this winning mark in the first round, leaving his competitors with no viable response.

Jamaica's Jordan Scott set a personal season's best at 17.33m to secure silver, marking his first global medal, while Algeria’s Yasser Mohammed Triki, who had entered as the world leader with a jump of 17.35m, achieved 17.30m to add a world indoor bronze to his silver from 2024.

The USA's Chase Jackson completed her collection of world indoor medals by winning gold in the women’s shot put, throwing 20.14m in the fourth round to secure her first indoor global title. She becomes only the second US athlete to claim this title, following Michelle Carter in 2016.

Canada's Sarah Mitton captured silver to accompany her two gold medals from 2024 and 2025, with a throw of 19.78m recorded in the fourth round and matched in the sixth.

The bronze medal was awarded to Axelina Johansson from Sweden, who improved her own national record to 19.75m, making her the first athlete from her nation to achieve a medal in women's throws at the world level.

The 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championship is taking place from March 20 to March 22 in Torun, Poland.

The second day of the event will showcase Swedish pole vault legend Armand Duplantis, who returns to the city where he set his first world record at 6.17 meters six years ago. He is expected to face tough competition from a world-class lineup, including Greece's Emmanouil Karalis.