Athletics Meeting In Luxembourg With Many Impressive Results, As Many As Six Of The Fastest Races In The World!

Another very successful edition of the CMCM Luxembourg Indoor Meeting has gone down in history. The highlight of the competition at the Coque arena were six performances that topped the world lists.

This year’s world leaders included Fanny Arendt and Mark English in the 800 metres, Jakub Szymański in the 60 metres hurdles, Samrawit Mulugeta and Pieter Sisk in the 1500 metres, and Ruben Verheyden in the 3000 metres. The World Athletics Indoor Tour Silver meeting is, for many athletes, one of the first major tests during preparations for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26, which will take place in March in Toruń, Poland.

Competition in Luxembourg began with a victory in the first 60 metres qualifying heat by the home favourite Patrizia Van Der Weken, who clocked 7.11. The first final of the day was the men’s 400 metres, where Germany’s Jean Paul Bredau won, becoming the second athlete in the world this year to break the 46-second barrier (45.94) and setting a new meeting record.

Another reason for celebration for the local fans was provided by Victoria Rausch, who broke the national record in the 60 metres hurdles heats with a time of 8.08. The sprinters then returned to the track, and Van Der Weken once again did not disappoint, even though she ran 0.03 seconds slower than an hour earlier. Spain’s Joel Bestue finished second in 7.18, equalling her personal best.

Meanwhile, competition was also taking place in the field. The men’s long jump was won by Spain’s Jaime Guerra with a mark of 7.84, achieved in his second attempt. After the women’s races, the hurdlers appeared on the track. The favourite was European champion Jakub Szymański, but he was challenged by Belgium’s Elie Bacari. In the heats, Bacari ran 7.51, at that moment the fastest time in the world, also equalling his personal best. In the final he improved by another hundredth, edging Spain’s Enrique Llopis in a photo finish, but the Pole did not disappoint and with a time of 7.48 took the lead on the world lists. In the women’s final of the same event, France’s Sacha Alessandrini won, covering the 60 metres in exactly 8.00 seconds (the joint third-best time in the world) and finishing 0.02 seconds ahead of Finland’s Saara Keskitalo, who set a personal best.

Both 800 metres races produced exceptionally valuable results. In the women’s race, Luxembourg’s Fanny Arendt came close to the two-minute barrier, eventually finishing in 2:00.83. It was a new national record, a meeting record, and the fastest time in the world this year. Ireland’s Mark English also moved to the top of the world lists in the men’s race. He broke the national record and equalled the meeting record with a time of 1:44.65.

The longest distance contested at the Coque arena was the men’s 3000 metres. Belgium’s Ruben Verheyden and home athlete Ruben Querinjean battled for victory until the end. Verheyden prevailed with the world-leading time of 7:40.31, while Querinjean finished 0.41 seconds behind but set a new Luxembourg national record.

The pole vault competition ended at a height of 4.45 metres, cleared by three athletes, but only France’s Bérénice Petit did so without any failures, and she claimed the victory. The penultimate events of the meeting were the 1500 metres races, both of which delivered excellent results. Ethiopia’s Samrawit Mulugeta won ahead of France’s Adèle Gay, despite the latter setting a personal best. Mulugeta’s 4:07.59 moved her to number one on the world lists, as did Pieter Sisk’s 3:34.63. The Belgian finished with a clear advantage, set a new meeting record, and came close to the national record. To conclude the programme, the sprinters returned to the track, this time for one lap of the Coque arena. Spain’s Paula Sevilla was the fastest over 200 metres, clocking 22.16 seconds and moving into second place on the world lists.

– Another very successful meeting is behind us. The combination of outstanding performances, especially at this stage of the season, with equally strong presentation and atmosphere has become the hallmark of the CMCM Luxembourg Indoor Meeting – said Stéphanie Empain, President of the Luxembourg Athletics Federation (FLA). – I am also very pleased with the success of the accompanying events alongside the professional competition, which further strengthen the position of our meeting on the sporting map of Luxembourg and Europe.

And there were many such events – youth athletes competed on the track, as did Special Olympics athletes, and special Influencer Race and Business Race events were held. In addition, two days before the meeting, on Friday, 16 January, the second edition of the Athlete@Work conference took place, dedicated to the dual careers of athletes. The main theme of the discussion was “Performance & Mindset”, with experts, including a group of renowned psychologists, debating what makes the difference between people with the same skills.

The full results of the CMCM Luxembourg Indoor Meeting 2026 can be found at:

https://fla.laportal.net/Content/documents/18079/resultlist.pdf

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