Madrid witnessed another record-breaking evening at the fourth stop of the World Indoor Tour Gold, the World Athletics global circuit. A European record, seven national records (three Spanish), and three world-leading marks of the year once again cemented Madrid's status as one of the top meets on the international scene, making it a historic day for Spanish athletics.
It was an afternoon and evening in which two athletes shone brighter than the rest: Mohamed Attaoui and Quique Llopis. Attaoui snatched the European 1000-meter record from none other than Wilson Kipketer. Llopis shattered the Spanish 60-meter hurdles record, confirming his status as the leading European athlete in his event. In addition, Marta Mitjans broke the Spanish under-23 800-meter record, and Jordan Geist and Agate de Sousa achieved the best marks of the year in shot put and long jump, respectively.
He aimed for the stars and landed on the moon. Mohameda Attaoui was chasing the 1000-meter world record in Madrid, four decades after another Spanish middle-distance runner, José Luis González, last conquered the world summit in his specialty (1500 meters in his case). Despite running a tremendous race, Attaoui fell just 32 hundredths of a second short of Ayanleh Souleiman's record, but with a time of 2:14.52, he shattered Kipketer's European record… who just a week earlier had also lost his 800-meter world title.
Since 2010, no European record had been broken in Spain in short track, and Attaoui's record is also the first achieved at the World Indoor Tour Madrid and a CDM Gallur that did have two world records from Yulimar Rojas (triple jump, 2020) and Grant Holloway (60m hurdles, 2021).
I'd been looking for it for a long time, but it could only happen in Madrid. We're talking about Quique Llopis and the Spanish 60-meter hurdles record. The Gandia native, fourth in his class at the Olympics and World Championships, and European runner-up, had little left to prove, but at the CDM Gallur, Toni Puig's protégé raised the bar once again. In a historic race, Llopis triumphed over a field of top-tier rivals and shattered the Spanish record he shared with Orlando Ortega at 7.48. He lowered it to 7.45, no more, no less. The second-best time in the world this year and the 16th fastest European time of all time. A performance befitting the athlete Llopis is, despite being only 25 years old: a living legend.
Following the Spaniard, the Italian Lorenzo Simonelli achieved his best mark of the season with 7.50 to finish second and the American Jamal Britt set his new personal best with 7.51 in third position.
The first major race of the afternoon had taken place half an hour earlier, in the women's 800m heat B, where Rocío Arroyo delivered a stellar performance… and a major upset. With a devastating surge with 150 meters to go, the runner from Alcalá de Henares triumphed over rivals of the caliber of Switzerland's Lore Hoffmann, Canada's Maeliss Trapeau, and Spain's Lorea Ibarzabal. Furthermore, Arroyo became the second Spanish woman in history to break the two-minute barrier in short track, and with a time of 1:59.97, she came within just 45 hundredths of a second of the national record. Following her, in fifth place, Marta Mitjans broke the Spanish U23 record with a time of 2:02.44, surpassing by eight hundredths of a second the previous record held by Esther Desviat since 2003.
The biggest surprise came an hour later in the A final, packed with international medalists, when no athlete was able to beat Rocío Arroyo's 1:59.97. In a conservative race where none of the stars took risks from the start, Switzerland's Audrey Werro and Ethiopia's Nigist Getachew battled for the win on the final lap. Werro edged out the top spot by just eight hundredths of a second with a time of 2:00.68. The podium thus saw Arroyo in first place (1:59.97), Werro in second (2:00.68), and Hoffman, another athlete from the B series, in third (2:00.69).
Italian Nadia Battocletti arrived at the WIT Madrid meet as one of the biggest stars of the event, and her performance did not disappoint. The Olympic 10.000-meter medalist faced the challenge of dropping down to the 1500 meters and competing against a field of top-level middle-distance runners. The result was spectacular: Battocletti took the lead with 400 meters to go and engaged in a close duel with Birke Haylom, the 2026 world leader, which the Ethiopian ultimately won with a time of 4:02.37. Battocletti also celebrated, equaling the Italian record with a time of 4:03.59, thus achieving her eighth national record in distances from 1500 to 10 kilometers. Marta García finished sixth with a time of 4:07.18, the sixth fastest Spanish time in history.
Another of the meet's biggest stars was Lieke Klaver, who arrived in Madrid as the reigning European champion and world leader in the 400 meters. The Dutchwoman left the starting blocks determined to reaffirm her star status and ran a supersonic first 200 meters in 23.25, suggesting an exceptional final time. However, Klaver paid the price for her initial effort on the home straight and had to fight hard to defend her victory in 51.26. Spain's Blanca Hervás finished second with a season's best (51.59), and Sofia Lavreshina, who had earlier won the B heat with a personal best of 52.07 (a Portuguese record), came in third.
In the men's 3000 meters, the CDM Gallur arena buzzed with excitement during a nail-biting finish, with four athletes battling for the win on the final lap. South African Tshepo Shite, with a decisive attack, took the victory in 7:39.11, less than a second shy of his own South African record. The podium was decided by a mere half-second, with Uruguayan Valentín Soca in second place (7:39.91) and Ethiopian Getnet Wale in third (7:39.98), just ahead of Portugal's José Carlos Pinto (7:40.47).
In the women's 60m hurdles, the two favorites engaged in such a close race that it had to be decided by a photo finish. It seemed that American Alaysha Johnson was clearing the final hurdle poised to take the victory, but France's Laeticia Bapté managed to slip past at the last moment to snatch the win by just two thousandths of a second! Both finished with an official time of 7.90. Kreete Verlin came in third with 7.96, an Estonian record.
And in the men's 60m, Omani Ali Al Balushi lived up to his status as favorite to take the victory with 6.53, ahead of Cuban Yenns Reynold Fernández (6.56) and Briton Eugene Amo-Dadzie (6.59).
Geist and De Sousa, world leaders
And if the races were exceptional, the competitions of the World Indoor Tour Gold Madrid 2026 were not far behind with two world best marks of the year, in men's shot put and women's long jump.
The shot put competition had a thrilling finish with three athletes separated by just 16 centimeters. All three achieved their best throw on their fourth attempt, when American Jordan Geist launched the shot 22.04 meters, the same mark he had achieved three days earlier in Ostrava, which had put him in the world lead. Jamaican Rajindra Campbell finished second with 21.94 meters, and American Roger Steen took third with 21.88 meters.
In the long jump, Portugal's Agate de Sousa made a statement by achieving the world's best mark of the year on her fourth attempt with 6.97 meters. This is the second-best mark ever for the Portuguese athlete and her best since 2023. Following her, Spain's Irati Mitxelena shone brightly, completing a brilliant competition with five jumps over 6.50 meters, her best being 6.70 meters.
And in the high jump, American Charity Hufnagel achieved her personal best to win with 1.96 meters ahead of Poland's Maria Zodzik, runner-up in the world championship last year.
National records:
Attaoui 1000m Spain 2:14.52
Llopis 60m hurdles Spain 7.45
Verlin 60m hurdles Estonia x2 7.97 and 7.96
Battocletti 1500m Italy 4:03.59
Mitjans 800m Spain sub23 2:02.44
Lavreshina 400m Portugal 52.07
PHOTO GALLERY (RFEA | Sportmedia)