Two FIM gold medals are on the line as the sport’s brightest female stars return to former FIM Croatian Speedway GP venue Donji Kraljevec this week.
Women from 10 different countries take part in the FIM Women’s Speedway Academy on Thursday and Friday, where they will receive expert coaching from Slovenia’s former Speedway GP winner and European champion Matej Zagar, plus FIM Track Racing Commission director Armando Castagna, FIM Speedway race director Phil Morris and FIM Long Track race director Glen Phillips.
A comprehensive programme will take riders through many aspects of the sport including riding technique, race craft, machine setup and nutrition as well as physical and mental preparation and guidance on dealing with sponsors and the media, plus social media content creation.
For the first time, the week culminates with not one, but two FIM Women’s Speedway championships on Saturday, with 500cc stars competing for the 2026 FIM Women’s Speedway World Cup – upgraded from Gold Trophy status by the FIM for the first time.
Germany’s Hannah Grunwald bids to follow up her 2025 FIM Women’s Speedway Gold Trophy win in Croatia. She has enjoyed an incredible year, which saw her become the sport’s first-ever female world champion, when she was part of Germany’s 2025 FIM Speedway of Nations – SON2 world title-winning squad in Torun on October 3.
While she did not take to the track in Poland, Grunwald followed that up by winning 2026 SON2 bronze in Prague on May 22, contributing three points as she made a pacy pursuit of Poland’s former SGP2 world champion Wiktor Przyjemski in heat 24.
Grunwald is set to face tough competition from the likes of 2024 FIM Women’s Speedway Gold Trophy winner Celina Liebmann, also from Germany, who appeared in the 2022 SGP2 series and used to race for British Cab Direct Championship side Workington. They are joined by a real track racing all-rounder, 2024 runner-up Nynke Sijbesma from the Netherlands.
The line-up also includes Denmark’s Louise Funch Larsen, who was fourth in 2025, Slovakian talent Anna Hajkova, who finished fifth, and Australia’s Tayla Street, who was placed sixth.
Poland’s Martyna Mroz, who is part of former Polish champion Janusz Kolodziej’s academy in Tarnow, also competes.
The line-up also features Germany’s Alina Zimmermann, Swedish pair Indra Holmsten-Bister and Chanell Lekander and Denmark’s Katja Stoffer Jorgensen.
In addition to the FIM Women’s Speedway World Cup, a 2026 FIM Women’s Speedway Gold Trophy will still be staged. But this time it will be contested by 250cc under-16 riders, offering them the chance to win an FIM medal for the first time.
Great Britain star Demi-Blu Harris won the Youth Women’s Speedway Gold Trophy of Croatia in 2025. The Ipswich-based racer took the title with a 12-point maximum. She comes up against Aussie rival Ruby Chapman, as well as Germany’s Lenja Tebbe and Sanne Meijerink from the Netherlands, who all took part in the 2025 250cc event. They are joined by Tia Zorko from Slovenia and Maja Joma from Poland in a six-rider competition.
Follow the action from Croatia on @SpeedwayGP social media and FIMSpeedway.com throughout the coming days.