By: Elizabeth Egan
Published on: Jan 23, 2026
Share this post:
The first of eight World Indoor Tour Gold meetings will be held tomorrow (Saturday 24 January 2026) in Boston, USA. The final is scheduled for Sunday 22nd February in Torun, Poland, the venue for the World Indoor Championships from 20-22 March.
Four Irish athletes are scheduled to compete in the first meeting, at least two are confirmed for the second one, and it's likely that a number of others will compete at the remaining meetings across the brief season.
The World Indoor Tour has gold, silver, bronze and challenger meetings. The Gold meetings, which carry Cat A points for world ranking and championship qualification purposes, are a bit like the indoor version of the Diamond League in that they attract the top athletes, and the tour winners will be decided at the tour final.
Unlike the Diamond League, however, only half the disciplines are World Tour Series events. The events alternate from season to season and between genders. For example, the women’s 60m was a World Tour event in 2025, and the men’s 60m will be a World Tour event in 2026.
| 2026 World Indoor Tour Disciplines | |
|---|---|
| Women | 400m, 1500m, 60m Hurdles, High Jump, Long Jump |
| Men | 60m, 800m, 3000/5000m, Pole Vault, Triple Jump, Shot Put |
Some of the World Indoor Tour Gold meetings also include events that are not tour events, but which are still classified as gold events and are eligible for Cat A world ranking points. This means that athletes have an opportunity to get top competition, decent prize money and world ranking points, even in the years when their event is not a World Indoor Tour event.
| Gold Stops on the 2026 World Indoor Tour | |
|---|---|
| 24 Jan | Boston, USA |
| 1 Feb | New York, USA |
| 3 Feb | Ostrava, Czechia |
| 6 Feb | Madrid, Spain |
| 8 Feb | Karlsruhe, Germany |
| 11 Feb | Belgrade, Serbia |
| 19 Feb | Liévin, France |
| 22 Feb | Toruń, Poland (World Indoor Tour Final) |
Each athlete’s best three results count towards their World Indoor Tour points score, with 10 points for a win, 7 points for the runner-up, 5 points for third place and 3 points for 4th. Athletes collect an additional 3 points if they break the world record. The athlete with the most points in an event at the end of the season is the event winner. They receive €10,000 US dollars in prize money (on top of any regular meet prize money they picked up along the way) and may be eligible for a wild card entry into the 2026 World Indoor Championships. With only two places allocated per country for World Indoors, a third spot in the 3000m, for example, should an Irish athlete win the tour, would be invaluable.
| Some Useful Terminology |
|---|
| World Indoor Tour: All the gold, silver, bronze and challenger events which take place around the world across the season. |
| World Indoor Tour Gold (Cat A) Meetings: These are the nine highest standard meetings, which offer the highest prizemoney and the highest world ranking points available on the regular indoor circuit (the World Indoor Championships is the only event with higher ranking points on offer indoors). |
| World Indoor Tour Events: These are the designated disciplines within the Tour Gold meetings for which there is an overall winner, based on points accumulated across the season and decided at the Tour Final in Madrid. |
Top-eight performances at category A meetings are worth precious world ranking points. Winners in any field event, or track events up to and including 1500m get 140 placing points to add to their performance score for that event; 8th place is worth 60 points, the same as winning a category C (world tour bronze) event.
The long trip to Astana, which was part of the tour in previous years, was a particularly profitable one for a pair of Irish athletes. Sophie Becker finished second in the 400m and this, combined with her time of 53.19, earned her 1235 points, making it her highest-scoring result on the Road to Paris.Eric Favors finished third in the shot put in Astana with a best throw of 20.18. This earned him 1242 points, his best score on the Road to Paris. Neither would have made the Olympics without those points.
The lesson is simple. If you’re an athlete with aspirations of making upcoming major championships and you get offered a start at a World Indoor Tour meet, take it. It may make the difference between being within quota and not. With 3,000 US dollars for a win, the bank balance may also receive a welcome boost.
The World Indoor Tour Gold meetings will be streamed live via the World Athletics streaming service. Other meets across the tour will be shown on a variety of services, including the European Athletics website and Youtube channel. Be sure to check out our Meeting Calendar for streaming information for each individual meeting.
Full World Indoor Tour calendar
World Indoor Tour event standings
Share this post: