Some of the world's top track and field athletes will converge in Ostrava for the Czech Indoor Gala, the fourth stop on the prestigious World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold series, set to take place on Tuesday, February 4, 2025. This high-profile meet will showcase an elite lineup, including Poland’s world indoor and European silver medallist Ewa Swoboda, Italy’s Olympic bronze medallist Mattia Furlani in the men’s long jump, and European outdoor silver medallist Leonardo Fabbri in the shot put, among other standout competitors. Here’s a detailed event-by-event preview of what to expect at this thrilling competition.
Poland’s Ewa Swoboda returns to Ostrava, where she has won twice before—in 2018 and 2024, setting a meeting record of 7.07 seconds.
Swoboda had an exceptional 2024 season, winning silver medals at both the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, where she clocked 7.00 seconds after setting a Polish national record of 6.98 seconds in the semifinals, and at the European Championships in Rome, where she finished second in the 100m final with 11.03 seconds. She is currently the fourth-fastest European indoor sprinter in history.
Her main challenger will be Patrizia Van der Weken of Luxembourg, who finished second in last year’s Ostrava meeting with 7.17 seconds. Van der Weken also placed fourth at the European Championships in Rome and claimed her first-ever Diamond League victory in Paris, running 11.06 seconds.
Also in contention is Australia’s Torrie Lewis, competing in just her second-ever indoor race. The rising star won the World U20 silver medal in the 200m in Lima (22.88 seconds) and stunned Sha’Carri Richardson in Xiamen, claiming her first Diamond League win in 22.96 seconds. She set the Australian indoor 60m record (7.14 seconds) at the Belgrade World Indoor Tour.
Lewis, born in Nottingham, England, has Jamaican and Indian heritage from her father and a Scottish mother. She moved to Australia at six, initially excelling in gymnastics before shifting her focus to athletics. In January 2024, she broke Melissa Breen’s Australian 100m record, running 11.10 seconds.
Italy’s Mattia Furlani, a 19-year-old prodigy, opens his 2025 season just two months after being named World Athletics Rising Star of the Year.
Furlani had an outstanding 2024, winning silver at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow with 8.22m, losing only to Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou on countback. He then took European silver in Rome, setting a world U20 record of 8.38m, and won Olympic bronze in Paris (8.34m), becoming Italy’s first Olympic long jump medallist since 1984.
His main rival is Sweden’s Thobias Montler, who recently won the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Belgrade with 8.23m, defeating Tentoglou. Montler has been a consistent performer, earning World Indoor silver in 2022 (8.38m), European silver in 2022 (8.06m), and the 2021 Diamond League title.
Another strong contender is Bulgaria’s Bozhidar Saraboyukov, a versatile jumper who opened his 2025 indoor season with 8.19m in Miramas. He finished just 1cm behind Furlani at the European U20 Championships in 2023, setting a Bulgarian U20 national record of 8.22m, while also securing high jump silver (2.10m).
The men’s shot put will feature an exciting showdown between Leonardo Fabbri (Italy), Zane Weir (Italy), Tomáš Staněk (Czech Republic), Konrad Bukowiecki (Poland), and Roger Steen (USA).
Fabbri had a breakthrough season in 2024, setting Italian records of 22.95m (Savona) and 22.98m (Brussels Diamond League Final), where he defeated Olympic champion Ryan Crouser. He also took bronze at the World Indoor Championships (21.96m) and gold at the European Championships in Rome (22.45m).
Weir, his training partner, won the European Indoor title in 2023, setting a previous Italian record of 22.06m, and holds a PB of 22.44m. He started his 2025 season with 20.53m in Nordhausen and 20.28m in Rochlitz.
Czech favorite Tomáš Staněk opened his 2025 campaign with 20.49m in Jablonec. A former World Indoor bronze medallist (2018), he has five major international medals and has won two editions of the Czech Indoor Gala.
Steen has been in impressive form, winning the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Belgrade with 20.94m—currently the second-best mark worldwide this season.
Bukowiecki, a former European indoor champion (2017), started his season with 20.40m in Luxembourg.
Olympic bronze medallist Alysha Newman (Canada) will battle against Tina Šutej (Slovenia) and Amálie Švábíková (Czech Republic).
Newman, a Commonwealth Games champion (2018), improved her Canadian record to 4.85m, winning Olympic bronze in Paris.
Šutej, a World Indoor bronze medallist (2022, 4.75m), is the two-time defending champion at the Czech Indoor Gala, winning in 2023 (4.82m) and 2024 (4.73m).
Švábíková, a European Indoor bronze medallist (2023, 4.70m), placed runner-up at this meet in 2023 (4.57m) and 2024 (4.63m). She made history at the Paris Olympics, finishing fifth with 4.80m, breaking a Czech national record that stood for 11 years.