The 15th European Indoor Masters Championships in Torun, Poland – and once again, the city delivered. Over 3,500 athletes from more than 15 countries gathered at one of Europe's fastest indoor tracks for a championship that has become a landmark event on the Masters Athletics calendar. Eight new world records. Nine European records. And a field so large that restaurants, bars and streets overflowed every evening after competition.
In this special episode of MainAthlet International, host Jan Boyke Seemann reports directly from Torun – and sits down with Italian multi-event athlete Alessandra de Robertis, competing in the W50 category despite battling a hamstring injury and back problems that had her questioning whether to show up at all.
Alessandra shares what it means to compete at the highest international level after years of building toward that first podium finish – her best result so far being fourth at the European Masters Indoor Championships in 2024. She talks about training five to six days a week between the track and the gym, her love for the heptathlon and pentathlon, and why that one international medal feels like the final piece of a long athletic journey.
Beyond the personal story, Boyke walks through the medal table, the standout performances and the atmosphere that makes Torun unlike any other Masters venue. Germany leads the medal standings with 210 medals, including 85 gold. Poland follows in second on home soil. Italy punches well above its weight with 50 medals, including 14 gold – from the 60m hurdles to the 400m and the triple jump.
Notable performances covered in this episode include Lionel Martinez burning a 6.96 in the 60m sprint, Anita Westlund dominating the 60m hurdles in the W85 category, and Iris Holder setting two new world bests in the long jump and triple jump. German athletes Andy Dittmar and Olaf Schumann added world records in the field events, while Marty Hermann claimed the pentathlon title with a lead of over 400 points.
This is Masters Athletics at its best – competitive, international, and full of stories that go far beyond the scoreboard. Whether you're a Masters athlete yourself, a fan of track and field, or simply someone who believes that sport has no expiration date, this episode is for you.
Topics covered: Masters European Indoor Championships 2026 · Torun athletics · Alessandra de Robertis interview · W50 pentathlon · Masters world records · Italian athletics team · Germany Masters Athletics · indoor track and field
","author_name":"Benjamin Brömme, Linn Kleine and Jan-Boyke Seemann"}