World Indoor Championships: Julien Alfred Begins Title Defence in Style but Dina Asher-Smith Fires Warning
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Olympic champions Julien Alfred made a statement of intent when she clocked the joint fastest time of the first round of the 60m at the 2026 World Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland on Saturday.
Alfred, who is looking to defend her World Indoor title, strolled to victory in her heat, winning it in 7.06 seconds. To show just how dominant she was, the second-placed runner clocked 7.16 seconds in the fourth heat that the St Lucian athlete ran in.
Only Jamaican Brianna Lyston clocked the same time as Alfred, when she managed a season’s best, and the Olympic champion will be looking to win her semi-final heat and make it to the final with both races set to take place later on Saturday.
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Asher-Smith Makes Massive Statement
#WorldIndoorChamps women's 60m semi-final qualifiers pic.twitter.com/zoNFySjzjR
— Travis Miller (@travismillerx13) March 21, 2026
Meanwhile, Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith showed that she is still a top contender when she won her heat in a time of 7.07 seconds, being among three who recorded the same time in the first round.
Asher-Smith ran a dominant race to easily sail into the semi-final and keep alive Britain’s hope for gold but will be worried by Alfred, Lyston, who had better times, as well as Italian Zaynab Dosso and American Jacious Sears, who both stopped the clock at 7.07.
Other top contenders who made it to the semi-final include Poland’s Ewa Soboda, who clocked 7.08, and the experienced British runner Amy Hunt (7.15), the world 200m silver medalist, who will be looking to make amends after not having a great first round.
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The women’s 60m dash semi-final is set for Saturday night (10.14pm Kenyan time) before the final closes Day 2 programme at (11.20pm).
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