Great Britain took home four gold medals at the World Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland to seal the team’s most successful haul in history.
Josh Kerr started the gold rush in style on Saturday with an impressive victory in the 3,000m, outkicking a world-class field including reigning Olympic champion Cole Hocker on the final lap to win the race. Kerr, who had his hopes of defending his world outdoor title snatched away in Tokyo six months ago after sustaining a calf injury in the final, was imperious here as he crossed the line in a season’s best time of 7:35.56. Now a three-time world champion, the win marks Kerr’s fifth global podium in five years, the Scottish athlete once again proving himself at home on the sport’s biggest stages.
Elsewhere on the track, British record holder Dina Asher-Smith ran a time of 7.07 seconds to place seventh in the 60m final. Asher-Smith, who ran a PB-equalling time of 7.03 in the semi-finals to qualify for her first world indoor final, recently began a new training programme under coach Michael Ford in Texas after abruptly ending her previous partnership with Edrick Floreal halfway through the 2025 season. The gold ultimately went to Italian Zaynab Dosso in seven seconds flat, with American Jacious Sears claiming the silver medal and St Lucia’s 100m Olympic champion Julien Alfred rounding out the podium in third.
The previous day, defending champion Jeremiah Azu narrowly missed out on a medal in one of the closest 60m races in history as America’s Jordan Anthony took the gold in 6.41, the joint-fourth fastest time ever. Azu missed the podium by just 0.01 seconds as he finished in 6.46, behind American Trayvon Bromell and Jamaican Kishane Thompson, who both crossed the line in 6.45. The British team had to wait until Sunday for their greatest triumph as three athletes won three gold medals in the space of 28 minutes to complete their most successful championships of all time.
Georgia Hunter-Bell kicked off proceedings with her first global title, winning the 1500m in a world-leading time of 3:58.53. Hunter Bell, the British team captain in Torun, has now won five major international medals after returning to the sport in 2022 following a five-year break.
Pole vaulter Molly Caudery, who had already secured the silver-medal before Hunter-Bell crossed the line, brought home the second of the golds as she cleared 4.85m on her second attempt. Caudery, who has suffered several injury setbacks since her breakout season in 2024, was doubtful of her participation in the competition but returned to the field in style after sustaining an ankle injury in the warm-up at the Tokyo World Championships in September.
The third gold was claimed by current world-indoor record holder and 800m Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson, who dominated the final to take the title in a championship record of 1:55.30. The red-hot favourite for the event, Hodgkinson looked in control as she crossed the line over a second ahead of the competition.
The efforts of the unexpected British quartet closed out a fabulous day of racing as Great Britain finished the championships second in the medal table.
“Georgia Hunter Bell crossing the finish line” by Andrewnward is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.