World Athletics Indoor Championships: Schedule, start times and how to watch

Georgia Hunter Bell, Jeremiah Azu, and Molly Caudery will headline British hopes at this week’s World Athletics Indoor Championships, with a strong contingent heading to Nanjing.

Building on last week’s European Championships in Apeldoorn, the event is a key stepping-stone to the highlight of the season, this September’s World Championships in Tokyo.

Hunter Bell will be looking to put the disappointment of the European Championships behind her after illness hampered her preparation and she failed to win a medal in the 1500m, despite being hotly tipped for gold. Team-mate and European bronze medallist Revee Walcott-Nolan will also be in action, as will new 60m European champion Azu, who clocked a personal best of 6.49 seconds en route to winning the title last week.

Caudery is the defending champion in the pole vault and opted to skip last week’s event to manage a minor calf injury, but is in blistering form, having comfortably won the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold in Madrid in late February with a clearance of 4.85m. Her counterpart in the men’s event, Olympic sensation Mondo Duplantis, will also be competing for yet more glory in Nanjing.

Neil Gourley is in action over 1,500m - aiming to deprive the all-conquering Jakob Ingebritsen of another double gold over both the 1,500m and 3,00m - but George Mills, silver medallist over 3,00m in Apeldoorn, has pulled out due to injury.

Here’s everything you need to know about the championships:

The World Championships runs from Friday 21 to Sunday 23 March at the Nanjing Sports Training Centre in Nanjing, China.

In the UK, the Championships will be shown live on the BBC and BBC iPlayer.

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All times in GMT

Saturday 22 March

Morning session

02:05 – 60m (Heptathlon M)

02:10 – Pole Vault (W) – Final

02:25 – 60m Hurdles (M) – Heats

02:45 – Long Jump (Heptathlon M)

03:15 – 60m (W) – Heats

04:05 – 800m (W) – Semi-final

04:10 – Shot Put (Heptathlon M)

04:31 – 800m (M) – Semi-final

Afternoon session

10:34 – Pole Vault (M) – Final

10:37 – High Jump (Heptathlon M)

11:10 – Triple Jump (W) – Final

11:15 – 3,000m (W) – Final

11:33 – 3,000m (M) – Final

11:50 – 60m Hurdles (M) – Semi-final

12:15 – 60m (W) – Semi-final

12:44 – 400m (W) – Final

12:55 – 400m (M) – Final

13:05 – 60m Hurdles (M) – Final

13:18 – 60m (W) – Final

Sunday 23 March

Morning session

02:05 – 60m Hurdles (Heptathlon M)

02:19 – Long Jump (W) – Final

02:25 – 60m Hurdles (W) – Heats

03:10 – Pole Vault (Heptathlon M)

03:35 – High Jump (W) – Final

Afternoon session

11.35 – 60m Hurdles (W) – Semi-final

11:38 – Shot Put (M) – Final

11:40 – Long Jump (M) – Final

12:02 – 1,000m (Heptathlon M)

12:15 – 1,500m (M) – Final

12:28 – 1,500m (W) – Final

12:40 – 800m (M) – Final

12:54 – 800m (W) – Final

13:01 – 60m Hurdles (W) – Final

13:11 – 4x400m Relay (M) – Final

13:21 – 4x400m Relay (W) – Final