World champions Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay and Mondo Duplantis are the first star athletes confirmed for the ‘Astana Indoor Meet for Amin Tuyakov Prizes’ – the first World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting of 2024 – in the Kazakh capital on 27 January.
Ethiopian distance runner Gudaf and Swedish Pole-Vaulter Duplaintis enjoyed superb seasons in 2023. They both won their second world titles in Budapest, having struck gold in Oregon one year prior.
Just a few weeks after the World Championships, both athletes went on to triumph at the Wanda Diamond League Final, where they each broke world records, Gudaf clocking 14:00.21 for 5000mand Duplantis vaulting 6.23m.
Another similarity between both athletes is that they excel indoors.
Gudaf has set a world U18 best, a world U20 record and a senior world record for the indoor 1500m during the course of her career while Duplantis has set five world records indoors. They both also won world indoor titles in 2022.
In Astana next month, Gudaf will compete in the mile, an event in which she holds an indoor PB of 4:16.16, making her the second-fastest woman in history for the distance behind world record-holder Genzebe Dibaba (4:13.31).
More than 50 meetings feature on the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Tour calendar, including seven Gold level events. The first of those Gold meetings is in Astana – the first ever World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Asia.