The World Athletics Championship is the highest level of competition in track and field sport in the world. It is organized by World Athletics (WA)*, formerly the International Association of Athletics Federations and held separately from the Olympic Games. The championships are contested in a number of track and field events, including marathon running and race walking, with separate world championships for each event.
Saint Lucian sprint sensation Julien Alfred will look to make it back-to-back gold medals at the World Athletics Championship this summer in Tokyo. The world record holder over 100m will face stiff competition from Shericka Jackson, who made the Paris 2024 semifinals over the longer sprint and is also the defending world champion in 200m. Moh Ahmed, who narrowly missed out on a medal in the men’s 10,000m at the Olympics after tripping during his heat, will be another dangerous competitor.
There is a strong sense of anticipation around Australia, with the national team featuring a host of 21 athletes who are aged 21 or younger. Schoolboy sprinter Gout Gout is one to watch, as well as middle-distance runner Cameron Myers, Claudia Hollingsworth and Peyton Craig, long jumper Delta Amidzovski and race walker Elizabeth McMillen.
The heptathlon sees Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson face off with Belgium’s Nafi Thiam for the second time in a row. The pair have split the past four global titles between them, and Thiam will look to clinch her third world crown in Tokyo after missing last summer’s competition through injury. The long distances will showcase the endurance needed to compete over several laps in races such as the 800m and 1500m. The hurdles, with races over the women’s 100m and 110m and the men’s 400m, demand agility and quick reactions, while the pole vault displays incredible athleticism.