World Athletics is now inviting potential hosts for three World Athletics Series events, including the new World Athletics Road Running Championships, to register their interest by 1 March.
The World Athletics Road Running Championships, which will become part of the prestigious World Athletics Series in 2023, will be a week-long festival of road running.
Encompassing the existing World Athletics Half Marathon Championships, the inaugural edition will also feature championship races over 5km. There will also be mass races to allow recreational runners to be part of the event.
Bid guides for the 2023 World Athletics Road Running Championships, the 2023 World Athletics Relays and the 2025 World Athletics Championship are now available to download.
The World Athletics Relays is a hugely popular event, featuring a range of men’s, women’s and mixed relay disciplines. The highest-placed teams in the 4x100m and 4x400m finals earn qualification for the World Championships later that year.
The World Athletics Championships, meanwhile, is the jewel in the crown of World Athletics’ global competition programme. It is the third-largest sporting event in the world, involving approximately 2000 athletes from more than 200 nations competing for 49 gold medals.
Through its globally appealing and accessible events, World Athletics aims to attract the world’s best athletes to the world’s greatest places to inspire people on and off the field. For host cities, World Athletics Series events help to boost the local economy, drive sport tourism, promote active lifestyles, inspire youth, and put existing infrastructure to good use.
“By partnering with World Athletics, a host city takes on a global spotlight, driving the elite profile of athletics both locally and internationally, and encouraging more active communities through legacy programmes that we can help our host cities to develop,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said.
The bid documents contain pages of useful information for prospective host cities of World Athletics Series events, outlining the benefits for hosts, the social and environmental impact, and the revenue potential. Bidding requirements, processes and timelines are also included in each bid guide.