Three long jumpers, each with a personal best of 6.91 meters, and a 1,500-meter showdown with a special connection to Dortmund: At the 10th Sparkassen Indoor Meeting Dortmund on Saturday, January 23, 2027, reigning German champion Mikaelle Assani will face strong international competition from Milica Gardašević of Serbia and Dutch record holder Pauline Hondema. In the 1,500 meters, former LGO athlete Mohamed Abdilaahi will challenge Norwegian meeting record holder Håkon Moe Berg.

For Mikaelle Assani (Karlsruher SC), the Helmut-Körnig-Halle has long been a lucky venue. As early as 2023, she won the long jump at the Sparkassen Indoor Meeting with a jump of 6.70 meters. In each of the following two years, she finished in second place: in 2024, she jumped 6.72 meters, and in 2025, she was beaten only by Olympic champion Malaika Mihambo with a jump of 6.67 meters. The 24-year-old has had a remarkable year. After a serious injury and a break from competition lasting about 15 months, Assani made an impressive comeback last summer. At the German Championships in Bochum-Wattenscheid, she secured the title with a jump of 6.67 meters, relegating Malaika Mihambo to second place.

One of the strongest contenders is Milica Gardašević. The 28-year-old Serbian won the U20 European Championship in 2017 and placed fourth at the 2025 European Indoor Championships. She, too, is already very familiar with the Dortmund indoor arena: In 2024, Gardašević finished third with a jump of 6.69 meters, just three centimeters behind Assani. Her personal best stands at 6.91 meters.

Pauline Hondema has also achieved the same distance. With a jump of 6.91 meters, the Dutch athlete set a new national record in the summer of 2025; a few months later, she placed seventh at the World Championships in Tokyo. In March 2026, she won the ISTAF Indoor in Berlin, beating Malaika Mihambo, among others. Hondema has also stood on the podium in Dortmund before: in 2023, she finished third behind Assani.

The international field also includes Petra Bánhidi-Farkas from Hungary, the 2021 U23 European champion, as well as Filippa Fotopoulou from Cyprus, who placed third at the 2025 Sparkassen Indoor Meeting. Both are heading to Dortmund with a personal best of 6.78 meters.

The men’s 1,500 meters promises to be another highlight. Håkon Moe Berg—the very athlete who delivered one of the most outstanding performances of the entire meeting at last year’s event—is returning to Dortmund. The Norwegian, who was just 19 at the time, dominated the race and set a new meeting record of an impressive 3:34.02 minutes. At the same time, the two-time U20 European champion set a new European U23 indoor record. Outdoors, the now 20-year-old has even run as fast as 3:30.28 minutes.

He’ll face Mohamed Abdilaahi (Cologne Athletics), an opponent who is very well known in Dortmund. The 27-year-old wore the LG Olympia Dortmund jersey for many years and competed in the 1,500-meter race at the 2022 Indoor Meeting. Under his former name, Mohamed Mohumed, he finished sixth with a time of 3:38.73 minutes.

Since then, Abdilaahi has made impressive strides. As early as 2025, he set a new German record in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 12:53.63 minutes. Last year, he set additional national records in the 3,000 meters (7:25.77 minutes) and the 10,000 meters (26:56.58 minutes). With his victory in the 3,000-meter race at the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai, he firmly established himself among the world’s top runners. Following an injury-related break in the summer of 2026, his appearance in Dortmund could now mark an important step on the road to the 2027 World Championships season.

Tickets are available online at www.reservix.de as well as at all ticket outlets connected to the Reservix system. All tickets include free travel to and from the event via VRR public transportation (2nd class) throughout the entire network area. For more information, visit www.sparkassen-indoormeeting.de.