The women’s 800m uncovered a new star at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 as Tsige Duguma became Ethiopia’s first women’s world indoor champion in the discipline, and her nation’s first gold medallist of the championships.

During a race for which the volume at the Glasgow Arena went up another notch, the 23-year-old held off the challenge from home favorite Jemma Reekie to announce herself to the world.

Duguma stepped up to 800m for the first time in 2023, making her indoor debut just this year. But she raced in a way that belied her experience to get gold in 2:01.90, almost a second ahead of Scottish star Reekie, racing on her home track.

The early stages of Duguma’s career were focused on the sprints and she won the African U20 200m title in 2017. She graduated from 400m bronze at the Ethiopian Championships in 2019 to silver in 2021 and gold in 2022.

But she ran a 1:59.40 800m in Belgium last July and found her forte. That mark remained her PB until she improved to 1:58.35 to win her semi final in Glasgow. 

In what proved to be a tactical final, Duguma went straight to the fore – leading through 200m in 29.38 with Reekie right on her shoulder. Duguma and Reekie remained in control, and running side by side they hit halfway in 1:03.39.

Duguma then had a narrow lead at the bell, with her compatriot Habitam Alemu – this year’s world leader – joining them at the front, the teammates running either side of Reekie. 

As the crowd’s roars grew louder, Olympic fourth-placer Reekie couldn’t respond when Duguma kicked and that move carried her to victory.

Reekie secured silver – her first global medal – in 2:02.72 and they were followed over the finish line by an elated Noelie Yarigo, whose bronze was also a first global medal for the 38-year-old.

“This race was really amazing and it is hard for me to find proper words,” said Duguma. “The tactic I used was to push it forward and that is why I was able to get first place. 

Now, the focus is on the Olympics, and there is no doubt that I want to bring this medal home.”

Ethiopia waited until the closing stages of the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 to win their first gold medal of the weekend. But then, like waiting for a bus, two came along at once.

Hot on the heels of Tsige Duguma’s surprise win in the women’s 800m, Freweyni Hailu produced a more expected victory in the women’s 1500m, the closing event of the championships.

It was something of an unusual race, though, with the pace and lead changing hands several times.

Hailu darted into an early lead, closely followed by her compatriot, world road mile champion Diribe Welteji. Birke Haylom soon made it an Ethiopian trio out in front, and they had a lead of about six metres on the chase pack.

The pace settled after three laps and the pack began to bunch up. Hailu spent a brief moment in the middle of the pack while Welteji led the pack through 800m.

One lap later, USA’s Nikki Hiltz had moved up into second place. Emily Mackay, Hiltz’s teammate, then darted into the lead with two laps to go, bidding to make a long run for home.

At this point, there were two US runners, two Ethiopian athletes and two British runners – Georgia Bell and Revee Walcott-Nolan – in contention for the medals.

Mackay held on to the lead until the final bend, when Hailu and Hiltz eventually charged past. Hailu kicked ahead to win in 4:01.46 with Hiltz taking silver in a PB of 4:02.32 and Mackay earning bronze in 4:02.69.

Bell, who recently returned to the sport after focusing on duathlon for several years, crossed the line in fourth in 4:03.47, 0.35 ahead of Welteji.

Ethiopian Sutume Assefa and Kenya’s Benson Kipruto set respective Japanese all-comers’ records of 2:15:55 and 2:02:16 to win at the Tokyo Marathon – a World Athletics Platinum Label road race.

Both secured convincing victories from strong fields in the Japanese capital. Ethiopian world champion Sutume triumphed ahead of Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru and Amane Beriso while the 2022 Chicago Marathon champion, won ahead of Timothy Kiplagat and Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich in a Kenyan top three.

Sutume and Kipruto improved the records of 2:16:02 by Brigid Kosgei and 2:02:40 by Eliud Kipchoge in 2022. 

The women’s race, seven athletes – Sutume, Wanjiru and Amane plus multiple Olympic and world track gold medallist Sifan Hassan, Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, Betsy Saina and Buzunesh Getachew – ran together in a group alongside male runners and reached 15km in 48:38.

Sifan Hassan was towards the back of that pack at 20km – reached first by defending champion Wanjiru in 1:04:45, with Hassan four seconds behind.

Hassan, who won the London and Chicago marathons last year, had let them get away by 28km but she carried on, running solo.

The podium seemed decided at 30km, reached by Wanjiru, Sutume  and Amane in 1:36:43, and after Beriso was dropped, Sutume also managed to shake off Wanjiru and sealed victory over the closing kilometers.

Sutume won in 2:15:55, taking more than two minutes off the PB she set in Seoul in 2022 to move to No.8 on the world all-time list. Wanjiru was second in 2:16:14 and Beriso was third in 2:16:58.

Hassan held on to fourth place, clocking 2:18:05, while Saina was fifth in 2:19:17 and Japan’s Hitomi Niiya sixth in 2:21:50.

Elle St Pierre ran a perfectly judged race to win the women’s 3000m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24, outsprinting Ethiopia’s world indoor 1500m champion and outdoor 10,000m champion Gudaf Tsegay to set a North American and championship record of 8:20.87.

A performance that took almost five seconds off her personal best saw her step up to the top of the podium having won silver in this event two years earlier in Belgrade.

St Pierre (nee Purrier), who gave birth to a son almost exactly a year ago on 4 March 2023, tailgated the lead group of four for most of the race before making her move on the final bend as she came past the leader on the outside and held her form to the line.

St Pierre’s win bucked the trend of this event at the World Indoor Championships, in which nine of the past 10 gold medals had gone to Ethiopia.

Gudaf Tsegaye, the world 5000m record-holder, came within a whisker of the world indoor 3000m record with 8:17.11 in Lievin on 10 February, but here she had to settle for silver in 8:21.13.

Bronze went to Kenya’s steeplechase world record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech, who had taken the race off at a brisk early pace. She clocked a national indoor record of 8:22.68, with Australia’s Jess Hull just missing out on a medal as she clocked an Oceanian record of 8:24.39.