Australia has announced an 11-athlete team led by back-to-back high jump champion Nicola Olyslagers for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 in Toruń, Poland, from March 20-22. The squad includes six global medallists, such as pole vaulter Kurtis Marschall and middle-distance runner Jessica Hull, aiming to build on recent successes. Olyslagers targets a rare third consecutive indoor title.
The World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 will take place in Toruń, Poland, on March 20-22, 2026. Australia’s team of 11 athletes features six with prior global medals, highlighting the nation’s depth in track and field events.
Nicola Olyslagers, the reigning world indoor high jump champion from 2024 in Glasgow and 2025 in Nanjing, leads the contingent. She also claimed the outdoor world title in Tokyo last September and set an Australian record of 2.04m en route to the Diamond League title in Zurich. As the 2025 world number one and World Athletics’ female field athlete of the year, Olyslagers seeks a three-peat. “Last year was good as far as the awards and trophy component go, but there is still much more to go for. I’ve been trying to think like that, so I can be on fire for this season,” she said. “You look back on the success of last year, then 2026 ticked over and it was like, put those trophies in the cupboard, get back to training and look ahead.”
Joining her in high jump is Eleanor Patterson, the 2022 world champion who earned silver at the 2025 indoors in Nanjing and bronze at the 2022 Belgrade event, as well as Olympic bronze in Paris.
Kurtis Marschall, who recently cleared six metres to become the fourth Australian man in the elite club alongside Steve Hooker, Dmitri Markov, and Paul Burgess, targets a third global medal after bronzes in Budapest and Tokyo. “A lifelong goal for mine was just to clear that elusive six metre barrier and finally after attempting it around 45 times, I managed to do it,” Marschall said. “There’s already been six guys over six metres this year, which is the most in history. It might even be the case that you jump six metres and miss out on a medal this year. If I can put myself in the position to jump as high as I can, I am definitely in medal contention.”
Jessica Hull, Olympic 1500m silver medallist, won 3000m bronze at the 2025 Nanjing indoors and 1500m bronze in Tokyo. She enters both events, joined by Linden Hall in the 3000m. The team also includes long jumper Liam Adcock, who took bronze in Nanjing with a recent qualifying leap of 8.23m.
The full women’s team comprises Hayley Kitching (800m), Hull (1500m and 3000m), Hall (3000m), Michelle Jenneke (60m hurdles), Olyslagers and Patterson (high jump). Men’s athletes are Bob Abdelrahim and Peter Bol (800m), Adam Spencer (1500m), Adcock (long jump), and Marschall (pole vault). Support staff includes team leader Scott Goodman, coach Justin Rinaldi, and physio Helen van Kempen. Australian viewers can watch live on 9Go! and 9NOW.
