Addis Ababa, March 4, 2025 (FMC) — Tsigie Duguma and Freweyni Hailu of Ethiopia have secured wild cards for the World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 25, the world’s athletics sport governing body confirmed today.
The two Ethiopian women athletes are among the eleven athletes who have secured wild card places for Nanjing 25 as winners of the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Tour, following the final Gold level meeting of the series in Madrid on Friday (28).
Each of the 2025 World Indoor Tour series winners also receives a US$10,000 bonus, World Athletics said.
As a result of the wild cards, some national teams for the global event in Nanjing in China, taking place from 21-23 March, will be strengthened by having a third team member in certain disciplines.
Usually, team selection for the World Indoor Championships is capped at two athletes per nation per discipline, but these wild card places allow for a third athlete to compete.
As always, the final decision on entering any individual athlete for the World Indoor Championships rests with the athlete’s national federation.
The scoring disciplines on the World Indoor Tour rotate each year.
As the 2020 edition of the World Indoor Championships was postponed due to the pandemic, the overall winners of the 2019 and 2020 World Indoor Tour will also be offered wild card entries for Nanjing, subject to each athlete having achieved a top 50 place in the world top list for their respective discipline in 2024.
The 2025 World Indoor Tour Gold series kicked off in Astana on 25 January and ended in Madrid on 28 February. Each Gold meeting offered at least USD$7000 in prize money for each individual discipline on the programme, including USD$3000 to the winner.