Mercy Oketch at the Kip Keino Classic/ FILE
Reigning national 400m champion Mercy Oketch will be chasing her second victory of the 2026 season on Friday at the World Indoor Tour Gold Madrid meeting, keen to extend her early-season surge on the global indoor stage.
Oketch has already laid down a bold marker in the opening weeks of 2026 after cruising to victory in the women’s indoor 400m at the Internationales Leichtathletik Hallen Meeting in Germany on January 24.
The 23-year-old stopped the clock at 52.98, comfortably holding off Germany’s Johanna Martin, who finished second in 53.05, while the Czech Republic’s Katerina Smilauerova rounded off the podium in 54.15.
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Buoyed by that confident opener, Oketch revealed that faith in her preparation paid dividends on German soil.
“Season opener and first indoor meet of 2026, I showed up ready,” Oketch shared. “I trusted my training, embraced the nerves and competed with confidence,” she added.
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The Kenyan ace exuded belief that greater rewards lie ahead, starting with the Madrid showdown.
“This was just the beginning and I set the tone the right way. Hungry for what’s next,” she said.
While Oketch will be aiming to maintain her rich vein of form on the indoor circuit, she faces a stern test against a stacked European lineup.
Chief among her challengers is Dutch star Lieke Klaver, the 2024 European 400m bronze medallist, who arrives in Madrid fresh from a commanding win at the Czech Indoor Gala, where she clocked 51.00.
Also in the mix is Spain’s Paula Sevilla, the reigning European Indoor 400m bronze medallist.
Sevilla has also enjoyed a flying start to her 2026 campaign, posting back-to-back indoor victories over 200m at the Luxembourg meet (23.16) and the Salamanca meeting in Spain (23.11).
Further adding depth to a quality field are Spain’s Carmen Aviles, Daniela Palmer and Blanca Hervas, Peru’s Gabby Scott and Portugal’s Sofia Lavreshina.  
Despite the formidable opposition, Oketch heads into the Madrid clash buoyed by an impressive body of work from 2025 that firmly announced her on the global scene.
Last season, Oketch was a dominant force both at home and abroad.
She launched her campaign with victory at the fifth Athletics Kenya weekend meeting at Ulinzi Sports Complex, teaming up with Mary Moraa, Esther Mbagari and Mercy Chebet to clock 3:25.80  in the 4x400m relay.
Her rise continued on the world stage when she claimed bronze at the World Relay Championships in Guangzhou, China, as part of the 4x400m mixed relay squad alongside David Sanayek, Mercy Chebet and Brian Tinega, posting 3:13.10.
Oketch went on to rack up a string of podium finishes across Europe, placing second in Marseille (50.89), Poznan (50.91) and Hungary (50.69), before sealing victories in Madrid (50.54) and Brussels (51.26).
However, her otherwise stellar season was tinged with disappointment at her maiden World Championships appearance, where she narrowly missed out on a place in the final after clocking 51.36 for seventh in her semi-final heat.