(L-R) Zaynab Dosso, Italy; Mujinga Kambundji, Switzerland; Patrizia van der Weken, Luxembourg;
Credit: FLA
On Saturday 22 March 2025, Luxembourgish sprinter Patrizia van der Weken won the country's first-ever medal in the 60m event at the World Athletics Indoor Championships.
At the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Patrizia van der Weken began her 60m campaign by finishing second in her heat with a time of 7.21 seconds. In the semi-final, she clocked the fastest time in her race – 7.12 seconds – finishing ahead of Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji, who had recently beaten her to silver at the European Indoor Athletics Championships 2025 in Apeldoor, the Netherlands.
“Her coach, Arnaud Starck, had identified the necessary technical adjustments to further improve her performance,” the Luxembourg Athletics Federation (Fédération Luxembourgeoise d'Athlétisme - FLA) said in a statement.
In the final lineup, six of the eight athletes had also competed in the European Indoor Championships final in Apeldoorn earlier this month, and the podium featured the same trio of sprinters. Patrizia van der Weken secured the bronze medal for Luxembourg with a time of 7.07 seconds. This time, however, the gold and silver medallists swapped positions: Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji claimed gold in 7.04 seconds, while Italy’s Zaynab Dosso, the European champion, settled for silver with a time of 7.06 seconds.
Thus, following her historic debut bronze at the European Championships, Patrizia van der Weken went on to secure another bronze for Luxembourg at the World Championships.
Another Luxembourg representative, Charel Grethen, did not qualify for the final in the 1500m event at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships. Despite recording the fifth-fastest overall time in the preliminary rounds (3:38.10), he did not finish among the top two in his heat, which was required to advance.
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