"VAN" (Sports Desk - 04.12.2025) :: World Athletics President Sebastian Coe reflected on a successful year for the organisation at the 239th World Athletics Council Meeting in Monaco and reinforced how 2026 offers an unprecedented opportunity to build lasting geopolitical and geoeconomic relationships for the world’s most universal sport.
The Council also decided on updates to the eligibility rules and regulations and competition matters during the two-day meeting on 2-3 December.
“Our recent World Athletics Awards celebrated the very best in our sport and provided the perfect opportunity to reflect on what has been another outstanding year,” said Coe.
“Attendance figures across all three World Athletics Series events were strong, reflecting our focus on full stadia through a targeted marketing strategy. For our two championships in China, the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing had a sell-out crowd of 12,000 and the World Relays in Guangzhou attracted 37,000 fans. In Tokyo we saw full evening sessions and impressive morning sessions with a total crowd of 619,288, making it the third-highest attendance for a World Championships after Beijing 2015 and London 2017.
“Our media reach outside of broadcast in 2025 was 38 billion, our social media followers grew by 3 million, from 14 million to 17 million, and we signed up more than 1 million new fans to reach a total of 2.15 million addressable fans, literally at our fingertips.
“On the field of play, a record 84* countries achieved a finalist or top eight placing at the World Championships in Tokyo. This shows how far we have come in 30 years – just 47* countries achieved the same feat in Tokyo in 1991. No other sport has this reach. I never tire of saying that and I never tire of finding the proof points to show it.”
Next year features a calendar of six World Athletics Series events as well as the new World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest and Run X World Treadmill Championship, Area Championships, a Commonwealth Games, and Youth Olympic Games. Preparations will also continue for the World Athletics Championships in Beijing the following year.
“Next year we have an unprecedented opportunity to build lasting geopolitical and geoeconomic relationships, with world championship events in Europe, Africa, USA and South America, and the ongoing work we are doing to raise our sport’s profile in China. Don’t underestimate this opportunity,” added Coe to his Council colleagues.
“We are doing more than just holding an athletics event in these countries. The relationships we form, the respect we show, will stand us in better stead in the coming years as geopolitical rivalries reshape global markets. And our Member Federations, the lifeblood of our organisation, sit at the epicentre of what will be a challenging few years ahead. We all need to understand this and seize the opportunity to build strong alliances and networks.”
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