World Athletics Championships

What are the World Athletics Championships?

The World Athletics Championships are the world championships of track and field — after the Olympics, the biggest event in the sport, gathering some 2,000 athletes from around 200 federations over nine days of competition.^[1] [2]

Who organizes them?

World Athletics owns the championships; host cities stage them with their national federations. World records set there are ratified by the federation, which also pays the prize money — more than $8 million per edition.^[1] [3]

When and where are they held?

Every two years, in odd-numbered years. Tokyo hosted the 20th edition on 13–21 September 2025; Beijing hosts in September 2027.^[2] [4]

The 2021 Eugene edition moved to 2022 after the Olympic postponement — the only break in the odd-year rhythm.^[2]

Since when do they exist?

First held in Helsinki in 1983 — before that, the Olympics doubled as the sport's world championship — and biennial since 1991.^[1] [2]

How do athletes qualify?

Through a dual pathway set by World Athletics: achieving the published entry standard in the qualification window, or ranking high enough in the event's World Rankings to fill the target field size. Athletes are then selected and entered by their national federations, within a maximum of three per country per event.^[1] [5] Both routes are objective and published — a Worlds appearance documents either an elite absolute mark or an elite world ranking.^[5]

Why do they matter?

World Championship medals stand beside Olympic medals at the top of the sport; finals places, and even qualification, are recognized markers of world class. The championships also anchor the sport's records — dozens of world and area records have fallen at recent editions.^[1] [2]

Who competes?

National teams from some 200 member federations — roughly 2,000 athletes per edition, from every region of the world, selected by their federations through the standards-and-rankings system.^[2] [5]