We're closing in on the start of yet another global championship.

The 2025 World Indoor Championships kick off on Friday (local time) in Nanjing and will run through Sunday. Each day will include a morning and an evening session, with action in the U.S. starting on Thursday evening.

Though some stars opted to skip World Indoors to keep their eyes on the World Outdoor Championships in Tokyo in September, there are still plenty of big names and storylines to keep an eye on this weekend on the indoor oval.

• Subscribe to FloTrack To Watch More Track & Field Meets All Year Long
• World Indoor Track And Field Championships 2025 Schedule: What To Know
• USATF Announces 56 Athletes For Team USA At 2025 World Indoor Championships

Josh Hoey Looks To Continue Hot Streak In Men's 800m

2025 so far has been the year of Josh Hoey.

Hoey has proved unbeatable on the indoor circuit, as he's not only won every race he's contested from the 800m up to the 1,500m, but he's set records in the process. At the 1,000m distance, he broke the U.S. men's indoor mark with a 2:14.48 performance at the University of Pennsylvania, and then at the USATF Indoor Championships, he ran 1:43.24 for a new 800m American record and world No. 2 all-time effort.

Outside of times, Hoey beat two-time Olympic bronze medalist Grant Fisher over 1,500m at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in February with an impressive 3:33.66 mark.

What's left now for Hoey is to come home with a coveted World Indoor title. It's his first time representing the U.S. at a global championship, and he'll be the favorite going into the men's 800m.

Who will be among the challengers? Paris Olympian Brandon Miller should be in the mix for medals, and may even be another favorite to chase after the gold.

Can Jakob Ingebrigtsen Sweep The 1,500m & 3,000m?

Jakob Ingebrigtsen looked nothing short of dominant pulling off the 1,500m/3,000m double at the European Indoor Championships a couple weeks back.

So is there reason to suggest that Ingebrigtsen won't do the same this weekend in Nanjing? Right now, he certainly has to be considered a favorite to win both the men's distance events.

Ingebrigtsen, who missed out on the World Indoor Championships last year due to injury, will make his return to the global indoor championship in 2025. He's had a short but stellar indoor season where he broke the world indoor mile record with a 3:45.14 solo effort in Lievin and grabbed those European Indoor titles in 3:36.56 (1,500m) and 7:48.37 (3,000m).

Can anyone challenge Ingebrigtsen in Nanjing? Look to someone like Ethiopia's Berihu Aregawi as someone who could try to beat the mulit-time World and Olympic champion. Aregawi earned silver in the men's 10,000m at the Paris Olympics and won the men's 5,000m at the Diamond League final in Brussels last September. 

Aregawi last raced a 3,000m on the outdoor oval at the Diamond League Silesia meeting shortly after the Paris Olympics, and he clocked an impressive 7:21.28.

Granted, despite his long list of wins and accolades, Ingebrigtsen has never won a World Indoor title. He only has one medal from the event -- a silver medal from the 2022 World Indoor Championships in Belgrade where he finished second to Samuel Tefera.

World Leader Chris Bailey To Chase After First World Title In 400m

Could Chris Bailey win his first-ever individual global title?

It's certainly a likely outcome.

Bailey sits as the current world leader this indoor season in the men's 400m behind his 44.70 performance in Fayetteville in Febrruary. That ranks him among some of the top Americans ever at the indoor 400m event.

Bailey finished sixth in the men's 400m final at the Paris Olympics last summer and was part of the gold medal-winning 4x400m relay squad for Team USA. He also helped the U.S. take second in the men's 4x400m at the 2024 World Indoor Championships, but Bailey has never earned an individual medal at a major championship.

2025 could be his year -- but it won't be a walk in the park.

Baylor's Nathaniel Ezekiel caught a flight to Nanjing very soon after finishing second in the 400m at NCAA Indoor Championships, and he'll look to fight for a win representing Nigeria. Though he did just lose out on an NCAA title to Georgia's Will Floyd, he owns the world's second-fastest time in 2025 at 44.74. 

Another danger to Bailey's quest for a win could be Hungary's Attila Molnar, who has proved to be quite consistent this indoor season. He's coming off a big win at the European Indoor Championships and has clocked a season best of 45.08.

Tight Competition In Women's Shot Put

Get ready for quite the battle in the women's shot put.

Two of the three medalists from the event at last year's World Indoor Championships -- winner Sarah Mitton of Canada and bronze medalist Chase Jackson from the U.S. -- will both return as two of the top entrants at the 2025 championship event.

Mitton comes in with the second-best season best among the women in the field at 20.68m. However, she'll be challenged by Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands, who narrowly has the current world lead ahead of Mitton with a 20.69m mark from earlier in March.

But you can't forget about Jackson, either. She's thrown 20.24m this season -- an American record -- and will surely want to upgrade her bronze medal from last year this time around.

Grant Holloway Hurdling For Third World Indoor 60m Hurdles Title

You can't preview at World Indoor Championship without talking about Grant Holloway.

The king of the men's 60m hurdles will be back at it this weekend in Nanjing, hoping to win the third indoor title in the event of his career.

Holloway won the title in 7.29 last year in Glasgow, and has been undefeated since high school in the 60m hurdles. It's a type of dominance in one singular event that's unmatched by anyone else in track and field.

In a year that is also a World Outdoor Championship year, though, it's great to see Holloway going for a World Indoor title since a lot of top names opted to not compete this indoor season to focus on Tokyo. He easily could have opted to skip Nanjing, but for a guy like Holloway that loves to compete, competing at World Indoors was on his list for 2025.

FloTrack Is The Streaming Home For Many Track And Field Meets Each Year

Don't miss all of the track & field action streaming on FloTrack. Check out the FloTrack schedule for more events.

FloTrack Archived Footage

Video footage from each event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloTrack subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.

Join The Track & Field Conversation On Social

• Follow us on X (Twitter) @FloTrack
• Follow us on Instagram @flotrack
• Follow us on TikTok @flotracktv
• Watch us on YouTube
• Like us on Facebook