11 Champions Seek to Retain Their Titles at the World Athletics Indoor Championships

A total of 11 defending champions will aim to defend their titles at the upcoming World Athletics Indoor Championships, starting on Friday in Nanjing, located in east China's Jiangsu Province.

Sweden's Armand Duplantis, the men's pole vault world record holder, stood atop the podium last year in Glasgow, Scotland, after clearing a height of 6.05 meters. He has set the world record 11 times in total, with his latest achievement of 6.27 meters winning him a competition in Clermont-Ferrand, France, on February 28.

In the women's pole vault, Molly Caudery of Great Britain secured the championship title last season with a height of 4.80 meters. The world record for this event is 5.06 meters, established by Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva in 2009.

Other current gold medalists in field events include New Zealand's Hamish Kerr in the men's high jump, Dominica's Thea Lafond in the women's triple jump, Canada's Sarah Mitton in the women's shot put, Australia's Nicola Olyslagers in the women's high jump, Greece's Miltiadis Tentoglou in the men's long jump, and Burkina Faso's Hugues Fabrice Zango in the men's triple jump.

On the track, Grant Holloway from the USA will seek to maintain his title in the men's 60-meter hurdles, while Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas will try to do the same in the women's event. Additionally, Ethiopia's Tsige Duguma aims to defend her championship in the women's 800 meters.

China's Olympic women's shot put gold medalist Gong Lijiao and two-time men's triple jump world champion Zhu Yaming will also compete in front of their home crowd in Nanjing.

Max Fischer for TROIB News