The World Athletics Championship is the main global track and field competition of the year, with the best athletes competing to determine the world’s top performers. It’s been held every two years since its inauguration in 1983 and is organized by World Athletics (formerly the International Association of Athletics Federations).
Previously, the only time that track and field’s elite athletes came together was at the Olympic Games. But as the sport’s popularity grew and calls for a tournament that would truly decide the best in the sport increased, World Athletics agreed to set up the event.
From record-breaking sprints to tactical distance races and dramatic field events, there are standout moments every day at the World Championships. The 2025 edition in Tokyo is no exception.
There was a moment on the opening night of the World Championships in Tokyo when the bottled-up energy that is part of the magic of this competition suddenly seemed to be unleashed. It came as Beatrice Chebet ripped through the final kilometre of the women’s 10,000m, chasing down Italy’s Nadia Battocletti like Wile E Coyote catching Roadrunner.
The World Athletics Championships are the highest-level biennial athletics competition for track and field, including marathon running and race walking. The most successful athlete at the World Championships is Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, who won five titles between 2003 and 2011. Other big winners include American Carl Lewis (four), British duo Colin Jackson and Sally Gunnell (3 each) and Bulgaria’s Stefka Kostadinova (2 titles). Since the introduction of the sport of doping in the 1980s, there have been many claims of doping at the event. Some of these have been substantiated, while others have not.