A year after stolen over 1500m of gold in Glasgow, Ethiopian Freweyni hailu is aiming to win a title that is twice as far away as Nanjing.
The 24-year-old enjoyed an undefeated indoor season last year. So far, her 2025 campaign has been shaped in a similar way to her relatively new distance, despite being over 3000m.
She won that event with Ostrava at 8:24.17 in the world-leading PB at 8:24.17, and was even faster with Leevin at 8:19.98 nine days later, beating three-time global champion Gudaftsgay and third in the world indoors.
Hailu will be taking part in the 3000m as Tsegay focuses on Nanjing’s 1500m.
However, Ethiopia dominates the event indoors, winning nine of nine out of the last 11 titles, but last year’s edition showed nothing certain.
The winner of the occasion, American El St. Pierre will not defend her title in Nanjing, but the US still has strong expressions in the form of Whitni Morgan and Shelby Hourihan.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s Sarah Healy is refreshing after winning the European indoor title with Apeldoorn. Olympic 1500m silver medalist Jessica Hal is also fearless on the global stage and could be on a medal hunt. Australian teammate Linden Hall should also be in the mix, and the same is always true for Tanaka in Japan.
John Murkine for World Athletics
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