Mark English, Cameron Myers, Jarsolava Mahuchych, Larissa Iapicchino and Jake O’Day-Jordan are wasting little time in 2026.
Mark English rounded off an indoor athletics weekend by breaking his Irish 800m indoor record of 1:44.65 at the CMCM Luxembourg Indoors on Sunday (January 18).
The time is also a meet record and came in an impressive close from the 32-year-old, who lowered his national mark of 1:45.15 set last year at the Millrose Games in New York.
He wasn’t the only middle-distance man to show impressive form this early in the year, as Australian teenager Cameron Myers set a brilliant mark on Saturday (January 17) to set the world record in the mile.
Running at the Washington Indoor Preview in Seattle, the 19-year-old led a race that saw eight competitors break four minutes in 3:49.81 to beat American duo Sam Prackel and Brannon Kidder by nearly five seconds.
This is the fastest indoor mile ever run in January and broke Yomif Kejelca’s meet record of 3:52.61.
Two other athletes turned in world-leading performances on the same day, with Jaroslava Mahuchych and Larisa Iapichino also starting 2026 as they look to continue in the high jump and long jump respectively.
The Ukrainian Olympic champion cleared 2.03m on his third attempt at the Lviv Demjanyuk Memorial, his highest jump since setting a world record of 2.10m in the summer of 2024.
The Italian Iappichino also shone on the home turf. The European indoor champion recorded his longest season-opening jump of 6.93m at the Alessio Giovannini Memorial in Ancona, a distance just four centimeters shy of his indoor best.
There was no shortage of sprint action over the weekend either, with British teenager Jake O’Day-Jordan in record form on Saturday. At the Virginia Showcase meet, the 18-year-old clocked 32.64 in the 300m, breaking Robert Tobin’s national mark of 32.76 from 2006.
Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles also began his indoor season over 300m, his first race at the distance since 2017, winning the Carnes Invitational in Florida in 32.60 seconds ahead of Ace Malone (32.70) and George Franks (32.88).
Meanwhile, at the Corky Classic in Texas, British record holder Dina Usher-Smith opened her season with a 7.18 in the women’s 60m, beating her training partner Semira Killebrew (7.31).
Jamaican Olympic and World 100m silver medalist Kishan Thompson started his year with a 6.52 outdoor 60m victory at the Puma JAAA Fuller Anderson Development Meet in Spanish Town. Olympic 100m finalist Tia Clayton clocked 7.02 in the women’s race.
