Beijing, China has been confirmed as the host city for the 2027 World Athletics Championships by the World Athletics Council.
“The decision was made at the 234th World Athletics Council Meeting, held in Glasgow ahead of the World Athletics Indoor Championships (1-3 March),” a statement from World Athletics read.
With this choice, the athletics world made a historic return to Beijing, over 20 years after the city triumphantly hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2022 Winter Games.
“The 2027 World Athletics Championships will welcome the sport’s biggest stars back to Beijing, 12 years on from the Chinese capital’s successful staging of athletics’ flagship event and almost two decades on from the Beijing Olympic Games,” the statement further read.
The World Athletics Indoor Championships will also be held in China, in Nanjing, the following year.
Beijing’s successful bid was praised by World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, who pointed out the city’s previous experience hosting the 15th edition of the championships and China’s prominence as a major sports market.
“Congratulations to Beijing on their successful bid to host the World Athletics Championships in 2027, 12 years after our athletes lit up the National Stadium for the 15th edition of our global showpiece,” World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said in a statement.
“With a population of more than 1.4 billion, China is one of the biggest sports markets in the world. It was the top performer for Wanda Diamond League broadcast consumption in 2023 with a cumulative audience of 368.9 million. This poses a massive opportunity to grow our sport and fan base in one of the biggest commercial markets in the world,” he added.
“With the announcement of China as our next host, our last four World Athletics Championships have now been awarded to the world’s four largest economies; the USA (Oregon), the EU (Budapest), Japan (Tokyo) and China (Beijing),” Coe stated.
Beijing’s sports officials have thanked everyone for their confidence and promised to prepare rigorously for the event. They aim to offer an exceptional experience to both players and fans by leveraging the city’s distinct blend of old charm and modern dynamism.
Wang Nan, Vice President of the Chinese Athletics Association and member of the World Athletics Council expressed gratitude to the Council for assigning China the task of hosting the World Championships and guaranteeing a high-quality tournament.
Wang Nan, World Athletics Council Member and Vice President of the Chinese Athletics Association (CAA), said, “Thank you to World Athletics for the recognition and trust in China and Beijing. The CAA will work together with the Beijing organising committee to make every effort to prepare for the championships, ensure that the championships will be held to the highest quality standard, and strive to present a wonderful World Athletics Championships to make more contributions to the development of athletics across the world.”
Tokyo will host the 2025 World Athletics Championships, which were last hosted in Budapest in August.