Andre De Grasse and Mondo Duplantis will be the focal points as the World Athletics Indoor Tour calendar opens with its first ever Gold Level meet in Asia on Saturday at the Astana Indoor Meet for Amin Tuyakov Prizes.

It has been three years since De Grasse has competed indoors, but the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the 200m will kick off his title defense season with a 60m race here. He clocked his personal best at the distance of 6.60 way back in 2015.

He will be joined on the headliners card by follow Olympic champion Duplantis, who capped the 2023 season by breaking his own world record in the pole vault with a 6.23m/20-5.25 clearance at the Diamond League finale at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene. The 24-year-old’s indoor best is 6.22m/20-4.75, which he jumped last year in Clermont-Ferrand.

This will be the first of what Duplantis has indicated will be a “short and sweet” indoor season of four competitions. After Astana, he plans to jump at his own meet, the Mondo Classic, on February 6, then he will return to Clermont-Ferrand for Renaud Lavillenie’s meet before defending his World Indoor title in Glasgow in March.

The women's 60m hurdles also figures to be an event to watch, with two strong heats on tap. In the first heat, American Nia Ali, the two-time World Indoor champion in the 60m hurdles, will make her season debut against Olympic bronze medalist Megan Tapper of Jamaica and American Evonne Britton. In the second heat, 100m hurdles world record holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria is set to face US 60m hurdles champion Alaysha Johnson and Sarah Lavin of Ireland.

Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia was originally scheduled to open her 2024 campaign in the Kazakhstan capital, but has pulled out of the competition. Tsegay, who smashed the 5000m world record at the Pre Classic, is now reported to be making her season debut in the 1500m at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston on February 4.

There is more at stake on the World Athletics Indoor Gold Tour this year.

In a change of format, athletes’ top three performances will count towards their overall point tally. The athlete amassing the most points in each scoring discipline will earn a $10,000 bonus but will also be offered a wildcard entry into the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow.

Prize money for the Gold events has been set at a minimum of $7,000 for each individual discipline, including $3,000 for the winner.