The wait is over: Germany's Olympic shot put champion Yemisi Ogunleye (MTG Mannheim) is the first top athlete to sign up for the Sparkassen Indoor Meeting, which will take place on January 18, 2025 in Dortmund's Helmut-Körnig-Halle. The exceptional athlete, who made history with her Olympic victory in Paris (France), leads the international field of participants.

Shot putter Yemisi Ogunleye attracted particular attention at the Olympic Games in Paris when she secured Olympic victory with a personal best of 20.00 meters. The devout athlete, who prayed before her final attempt in Paris, surprised the international journalists at the press conference afterwards by singing a gospel song at their request. In her home town of Mannheim, Ogunleye leads a gospel choir in her church congregation and is known for her deep faith and down-to-earth attitude. In addition to her Olympic victory, she won silver at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow (Scotland) earlier this year and took bronze at the European Championships in Rome (Italy) in June.

“We are incredibly proud to have won Yemisi Ogunleye for the Sparkassen Indoor Meeting. She represents world-class athletics and will certainly be a highlight of the event,” said Yoshi Müller, Head of Organization of the meeting. “Her participation sends out a strong signal and will not only appeal to the fans, but also in terms of the standing that the Sparkassen Indoor Meeting has acquired internationally in recent years.”

With the signing of Ogunleye, the Sparkassen Indoor Meeting in Dortmund, which will once again carry the bronze label of the World Athletics Association in 2025, is setting an early exclamation mark and promises high-class competitions at an international level. Further names will be announced in the next weeks.

Ticket sales have also already got off to a good start. “We have now made a good name for ourselves and established our place in the local sports calendar and beyond,” says Yoshi Müller. “The demand for tickets is higher than ever before at this early stage.” So it pays to be quick, especially if you have special seating requests in mind. Tickets are being sold via www.ticketmaster.de and therefore also at all booking offices connected to the TM system. Standing tickets cost 7.50 euros, seats are available in two categories (15.00/25.00 euros). A little tip: The ideal Christmas present for every sports fan.