The CDM Gallur track will relive one of the great duels of European speed on February 6th at the World Indoor Tour Madrid, the fourth stop on the World Athletics Gold category circuit.
The reigning European indoor 400m champion, Dutchwoman Lieke Klaver, will face the Spanish record holder in the distance, Paula Sevilla. They will be rematching the final of the 2025 European Championships in Apeldoorn, where Klaver achieved the best continental time of the year (50.38) to win her first title, and Sevilla broke the Spanish record (50.99) to take the bronze.
Lieke Klaver arrives in Madrid firmly established as one of the best European sprinters of her generation. In addition to her continental gold in Apeldoorn, she has two Olympic medals and six World Championship medals with the Netherlands relay teams. She was the 2024 World Indoor 400m silver medalist and a two-time World Outdoor Championship finalist in 2022 and 2023. Her time of 50.10 is the eighth fastest European time in history in the short track, while outdoors she has run as fast as 49.58.
Paula Sevilla, meanwhile, is competing at home, on a track she knows like the back of her hand, in front of a crowd that adores her and to whom she'll be looking to deliver her first victory on the World Indoor Tour. And who knows, perhaps a track as fast as the one at the CDM Gallur, combined with the support of her fans, will propel her to break her own Spanish record (tied with Sandra Myers)...
The duel between the Spanish and Dutch athletes will feature several truly exceptional competitors who threaten to cause an upset. The 'Golden Bubbles' will be on the starting line of the 400m in Madrid. World Relays champions alongside Paula Sevilla with Spain Athletics, Blanca Hervás (51.44), Eva Santidrián (51.46), and Daniela Fra (51.64) will be looking to ensure the Klaver-Sevilla showdown isn't just a two-horse race. After all, all three were among the top 12 in Europe in 2025.
Also competing will be the winner of the 2024 WIT Madrid, Romanian Andrea Esanu-Miklós (51.11), fifth at the last European Championships in Rome and an Olympic semifinalist. Kenyan and Puerto Rican record holders Mercy Oketch (50.14 outdoors) and Gabby Scott (50.52 outdoors) complete a field of top-level international sprinters.
Don't miss the best 400m race in Europe in Madrid on February 6th. For more information about the event and ticket sales, visit our website: madridindoorathletics.es