The World Athletics Championship is a biennial competition organized by the sport’s global governing body, World Athletics (formerly International Association of Athletics Federations). The event is regarded as the highest level of senior international outdoor track and field competition. It is the premier global championships in track and field athletics and is run concurrently with the Olympic Games. It is a core part of the World Series of Events. There are also separate World Championships for marathon running and race walking, along with other age-group competitions.
There have been 15 World Championships held to date, and it is the most prolific tournament in which athletes from around the globe have competed for gold medals. It has been the site of several major achievements, including a remarkable streak of pole vault world records by Sergey Bubka in the early 1990s, and the remarkable double titles from British hurdling duo Colin Jackson and Sally Gunnell in the triple jump in 1995.
Kenya boasted a golden generation of female runners at the 2025 event, with a trio of women securing two individual gold medals each. Beatrice Chebet emulated Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba (Helsinki 2005) and Vivian Cheruiyot (Daegu 2011) by completing a 10,000m-5,000m double, and Faith Kipyegon won the 1500m and 5000m in one remarkable championships.
GB ended the nine-day competition with five medals, their lowest return since Helsinki in 2005. Their tally included two failed changeovers and one disqualification in six relay races. The team will now look forward to next year’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games, the Beijing World Championships in 2027 – which, like this week’s event, will be in a timezone friendly for Australian audiences – and the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.