The European indoor all-time lists underwent revision on a standout day for the 60m across the continent with many countries staging their national indoor championships this weekend.
Mujinga Kambundji was the fastest of the lot with a standout performance to claim the title at the Swiss Indoor Championships in Magglingen on Saturday (18). Kambundji impressed with 7.25 in the heats and 7.15 in the semifinal before motoring to a world-leading mark of 7.03 in the final.
Kambundji sliced eight-hundredths from her national indoor record set three years ago at the European Athletics Indoor Championships and the 25-year-old has overtaken some of the greats of European sprinting, moving to equal fifth on the European indoor all-time lists alongside Bulgaria’s Anelia Nuneva and behind Irina Privalova (6.92), Ekaterini Thanou (6.96) and Dafne Schippers (7.00) and Cooman (7.00).
Kambundji is now faster over 60m than both Marita Koch and Silke Gladisch, who jointly hold the German record at 7.04, and it is this record that Tatjana Pinto is getting closer and closer to. At the German Indoor Championships in Dortmund, Pinto improved her lifetime best to 7.06 which would have stood as the world lead if it wasn’t for Kambundji’s statement performance just fifteen minutes earlier.
“The German record is now only two hundredths of a second away, so close, but still so far away,” said Pinto, who is targeting the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham which begin on 1 March. “Everything must be right from the beginning to the end.”
The standard of sprinting was such that Dafne Schippers’ winning time at the Dutch Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn was only the third fastest time of the day. The two-time world 200m champion stopped the clock in the 60m final in 7.09, defeating Jamile Samuel (7.17) and Naomi Sedney (7.21) in a high quality final.
National champion in 7.09! pic.twitter.com/yYwQWAkUDn
— Dafne Schippers (@dafneschippers) February 17, 2018
Reigning European indoor champion Asha Philip won her fifth 60m title at the British Indoor Championships in Birmingham, equalling her season’s best of 7.12 in the process.
At the French Indoor Championships in Lievin, Carole Zahi claimed the title in 7.17 and reigning European U23 100m champion Ewa Swoboda won the Polish indoor title in Torun in 7.22.
Here is that women's 60m final won by @missashaphilip.#SPARIndoorChamps pic.twitter.com/yD07moU6W9
— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) February 17, 2018