11 Razorbacks among World Indoor Championships field

NANJING, China – Eleven Razorbacks are scheduled to compete this weekend at the 2025 World Indoor Championships, which will begin Thursday evening locally with the first morning session in China.

Members of Team USA include Chris Bailey (400m), Taliyah Brooks (Pentathlon), and Rosey Effiong (400m) along with Alexis Holmes (400m), who trains in Fayetteville.

Competing for Great Britain are Amber Anning (400m) and Funminiyi Olajide (Long jump) while Jamaica is represented by Romaine Beckford (High jump), Ackera Nugent (60m Hurdles), Wayne Pinnock (Long jump), and Joanne Reid (400m).

Arkansas alums also include Shafiqua Maloney (800m) of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Tina Šutej (Pole vault) of Slovenia.

Coverage of the World Indoor Championships will be available through NBC’s Peacock service. Thursday evening coverage will start at 9:05 p.m. (CT) while Friday coverage will be at 5:30 a.m. and 9:05 p.m. On Saturday the Peacock streams begin at 5:35 a.m. and 9:05 p.m. while the final session will stream at 6:35 a.m. on Sunday.

Bailey enters the World Indoor Championships as the 400m world leader with a 44.70 from his victory at the USATF Championships. The field includes Canadian Christopher Morales-Williams, who set a world best of 44.49 in 2024 and has run 45.26 this season.

Brooks and Timara Chapman represent the United States in the pentathlon. This will be the first pentathlon for Brooks since 2018. In 2024, Brooks finished third in the heptathlon at the U.S. Olympic Trials with a career best score of 6,408 points and placed 11th in the Olympic Games.

Saga Vanninen of Finland, World Indoor silver medalist a year ago in Glasgow, is the current pentathlon world leader with 4,922 points from winning the European Indoor title this season.

Maloney, who finished fourth in the 800m at the Paris Olympics, has produced a pair of sub 2:00 times this indoor season. Her best of 1:59.07, second in the world for 2025, won the Millrose Games. Maloney also registered a world-leading time of 1:24.60 in the 600m this season. Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma leads the world in 2025 with a 1:58.97.

Nugent, the 2024 outdoor world leader with a 12.24 national record in the 100m hurdles, ranks equal fourth this indoor season in the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.75. Entering the meet, the world leader is Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji with a 7.67 that claimed the European Indoor title.

British champion Anning (50.57) and U.S. champion Holmes (50.51) headline the 400m field along with Norway’s Henriette Jaeger (50.44) as they rank 5-6-7 on the 2025 world list. Effiong’s best of 51.43 this season ranks 20th.

Pinnock, the Paris Olympic long jump silver medalist, makes his season debut at the World Indoor Championships among a loaded field that includes fellow Jamaican Tajay Gayle as well as the gold and silver medalist from the 2024 World Indoor in Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece and Italy’s Mattia Furlani, who claimed gold and bronze, respectively, in Paris.

Šutej, a World Indoor bronze medalist in 2022, will contest her third World Indoor Championship. She recently earned a third consecutive silver medal at the European Indoors.

Beckord, a four-time NCAA high jump champion, reached the Olympic Games final last summer and excelled in European meets. Olajide, a silver medalist in the SEC Indoor long jump, set a career best of 21-10.75 (6.67) that bettered Brooks Arkansas record of 21-6.75 (6.57) from 2018.

World Indoor Championships | Arkansas Schedule

Day 1 | Morning Session (CT)

Day 1 | Afternoon Session (CT)

Day 2 | Morning Session (CT)

Day 2 | Afternoon Session (CT)

Day 3 | Morning Session (CT)

Day 3 | Afternoon Session (CT)